How to Feel Less Resentful about Being a Short Climber

I’ll just come out and say it: being a short climber can be very frustrating.

As a 5’0″ climber with a negative 1″ ape index, I regularly watch people skip through my crux moves and easily reach holds that are full lock-offs for me. Witnessing this kind of thing can evoke all kinds of emotions, including anger, resentment, and envy, and it can even make you feel like a victim.

In short, it can put you (ahem.. me) in a bad mood.

But I’m here to tell you how I’ve mostly gotten over the resentment that used to ruin climbing days for me and tempt me to quit the sport altogether. In fact, I made an entire video about the process I went through (and still go through sometimes) to help me stay in my own lane and not be bothered by what other people are doing.

You can watch the first couple minutes of it without subscribing, but after that you can subscribe with a free 7-day trial to my Patreon.

In this article, I’m going to lay out the main points of the video here for you. This is the road map I used, and maybe you can too:

Acknowledging it’s a real thing and giving myself credit
Remembering why I love climbing
Realizing there are benefits to being short

1) Acknowledge the Situation about Being a Short Climber

In the process of becoming okay with being short, I realized that I wasn’t really letting myself fully think the things I was thinking or feel the things I was feeling. It’s socially unacceptable to complain about things like that and feel frustration, or god forbid, ENVY for another human. Well, all of that suppression isn’t really getting us anywhere, is it?

So instead of pushing away the socially unacceptable thoughts about the person whose arms and legs were unjustly longer than mine…

Being a short climber isn’t fair
The system is rigged against me
He doesn’t even appreciate what he has going for him…
And instead of repressing the socially unacceptable emotions of envy, anger, and resentment…

I just let them happen. I heard my thoughts and I validated my emotions. I let myself feel it all for a long time – this took weeks, maybe months to really get out of my system. In the meantime, I asked for acknowledgment from others. Since I was never going to be able to take a harder grade for something just because I’m short, I did the next best thing.

Get the Acknowledgment You Need

I legit asked my friends if they thought certain moves and specific climbs were harder for short climbers. And when they said, “Oh totally – that’s way harder for you!” it actually helped. It turns out I wanted a little acknowledgment from my peers.

Because I’m human, and that’s ok. But most importantly, I gave myself the acknowledgment.

Yeah, actually I AM really strong.

I CAN lock off really hard

I’m good at standing up tall on terrible intermediate feet

My fingers are super solid on stupidly small holds

And I’m really good at using alternative beta that nobody has ever even fathomed before…

The more I could see and feel all of that, the less I needed the acknowledgment from others. I give that acknowledgment to myself constantly now, and it makes all of my climbing sessions way more fulfilling.

Me in the middle of a giant move that isn’t so giant for normal sized humans

2) Remember Why You Love Climbing

Remembering why you love climbing is something you can turn to WHENEVER you’re feeling ashamed, angry, frustrated, or any other uncomfortable emotion in climbing.

Why do I love climbing?

My dad asked me that question a long time ago and without any hesitation I said, “Because I like sending.” As a practicing Buddhist, he was a bit taken aback, and dare I say, disappointed by that answer. I am too now.

Why I love climbing:

The feeling of dancing up a wall
The feeling of desperately struggling up a wall
The sensations of trying hard and knowing I put it all out there
Combining my physical and mental skills at the same time
The experience of being 100% focused on a singular, all-consuming task
Pushing through fear – the definition of being courageous
Figuring out puzzles, creating beta
Being outside
Being at a gym I love
Hanging out with my partners
Having a reason to travel to amazing places
Meeting new people
Planning out climbing days, climbing seasons, projects, trips
Training
The feeling of accomplishing something, whether it’s sending, feeling stronger than I did before, figuring out beta, or getting my butt out the door for a big day

What are YOUR reasons? Why do you love climbing?

My reasons stay top of mind now.

I’m not out there climbing because I need to prove something to someone else. I’m not there to fixate on how much “easier” something is for a taller person than it is for a short climber. I’m there to try hard and have an experience.

3) Remember There Are Benefits to Being Short

Once I acknowledged my accomplishments as a short climber to myself, validated my emotions of frustration, and then remembered why I actually go out there and climb, THEN I could see things more clearly.

And that’s when I started to notice that actually, sometimes I have the upper hand (see what I did there?). Sometimes it’s beneficial to have my short body over a taller body.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

I fit in some kneebars that taller people don’t
I GET to figure out alternative beta and have novel experiences because of it
Some holds are truly better for me because of the small size of my fingers
I’ve been forced to use tiny holds, so I’m more accustomed to them
I’ve been forced to use tiny intermediate footholds, so it’s given me more practice with tricky footwork
I have to be more dynamic sometimes and that can be fun
There really are a lot of benefits to being short, and when you look around, it’s not a coincidence that some of the greatest climbers in the world are shorties:

Strong Short Climbers

Brooke Raboutou (5’2″)
Laura Rogora (5’0″)
Emily Harrington (5’2″)
Lynn Hill (5’2″)?
Many more

These people are constantly in my head, like “What would Brooke do here?” She’d find a way.

Brooke Raboutou training to overcome her shortness

Final Thoughts

In moments of comparison, envy, and frustration, I always come back to the fact that I’m doing the best I can with the body I was born with. I’m trying hard and that’s what matters to me.

You are, too.

If you want to watch the video I made on this topic, just click the link below and sign up for a free trial to Patreon. You can watch the first 2 minutes without a subscription, though.

VIDEO: How to Feel Less Resentful and Envious about Being a Short Climber

Watch the Video

About the Author, Neely Quinn

Neely Quinn is the owner and founder of TrainingBeta.com, the host of the TrainingBeta Podcast, a Certified Professional Coach (life coaching), and a nutritionist specializing in rock climbers. She has been climbing since 1997 and she’s climbed up to 5.13c and V9. She lives in Longmont, Colorado with her husband (and tech guy for TrainingBeta), Seth Lytton and their heeler mix, Willa.