There's also Black Mountain which is on the way to J-Tree. I've never been there, but a guy I climb with here moved from the San Diego area. He speaks highly of that spot.

Black Mountain and Tramway are both supposed to be really good. I've never been to them. It's really hard to leave Bishop to go bouldering. lol

Thanks for the tip! We are going to be down there for a week so I will throw that out to my buddy that I am planning this trip with. We might be able to hit it on the way down and back for a couple days each side. We have reservations at an AirBnB for a Monday - Friday but the weekends on each side we might be able to hit Bishop.

I got to be fairly strong pretty quickly I think but it has taken a long time to get much stronger or better. Right now I have not tried to get stronger but to become more efficient and have better technique to be more consistent with my climbing. I know I have done that over the past while but it is hard to see improvement when I have stayed at the same grade for 2 years. But I think I am getting more within the grade that are less within my ideal style. And with those Genetics, I am pretty fortunate to be a marfanoid (yes that is a thing) so I have a longer wing span than my height and I am already 6' dead on. So it bothers my friends who are just a touch shorter than me but can't get close on some reaches.

I'm 5'7" and have a +5 ape index. lol

As far as getting maxed out in grades that's called a plateau and every climber hits them. If your already focusing on being more efficient the next best advice I can give you is to try things way harder then you are currently climbing.

You have to have the right mental state going in and be OK being demoralized for a bit. With that said try something super hard. Hard to the point you can't even do a single move. Try it 10 times a session. Eventually you'll do one move then another then another. That whole time your getting stronger. You should feel the gains sooner rather then later.

Go back to a problem that's at your limit and you'll usually see that the moves on that feel way easier. Constantly pushing is what will build strength. Just don't push it to the point of injury.

Of course some climbers actually train using pretty scientific methods. I never have and never will. To my climbing is just as much about having fun as climbing hard. I train by climbing. I get on stuff that's easy and I try things that are so far above my limit it feels funny at times. I can't count the number of problems and routes that felt impossible at first that I've managed to send anymore.

Have fun, keep trying hard, stay injury free. profit.

If you end up coming to Bishop let me know and I'll show you around.

That's a very good point. You ever make it up to Tahoe in the summer? I used to live in the Bay Area (mainly to be in a better location to climb) and at the time it was just sort of being developed. Seemed like there was a ton of amazing stone up there.

5'10" with a +4 ape index myself. Feel it definitely helps me, but also hurts me. I'm pretty skinny, so moves that are very tight are very hard for me. I'm not built for that stye of climbing. Plus my lock-off strength isn't particularly great. My main climbing partner is around 5'6" with a +2. You'd think I could outreach him all the time. There are times where that is the case, but he is so damn strong and can lock-off well past 90 that he can often reach further than I can. Where I have him are on long dynamic moves.

As far as hitting a plateau. Agree that it's only natural. The progression curve in climbing (as well as many other sports) is definitely sharp in the beginning with lots of gains and very slight as you progress. The gains I've made recently have occurred over the past years, whereas I could see gains in a matter of a few sessions when I started. I also feel like I am getting to an age where I'm probably close to my max outside of doing some serious focused training and/or getting my hands on something like HGH. But I echo @theesotericone above. That would suck the fun out of it. I do quite a bit of focused training now, but it is all geared towards either injury recovery or prevention. The joys of getting older!

LOL well that puts my 6' +2 ape to shame hahahah! Yeah I have hit plateau every couple of grades but so far on my largest right now. Also it does not help that I have been in school in the evenings after work so for the past 3 months I have only gone one time a week. My gym has grades S0-5 to simplify from the V grades and I would say I am an S4 climber since I can get about half of them and can get 90% of S3. I have so far gotten 1 S5 and was insanely stoked!

I would say most days that I go I try an S5 like you are said to get better. My goal for the summer is to be able to get at least one more S5 and to get more and more S4s. Especially ones that are not within my "ideal style". I have totally had the moments where I have tried a route that was so far above me that I immediately fell and just laughed how bad it was!

I will definitely let you know if we come by Bishop, thanks for the offer!

Yeah this is my largest one so far but I know that I am getting better. Progress has just been slow while in college. But I am graduated now so I will have a lot more time to hit the gym for some climbing and go outside whenever possible.

I do a very little amount of training normally but will if there is something very specific. For a while I would train for contact strength or just hang board for my fingers. But to my hitting the gym as in weights and working-out is just about the most boring thing ever so climbing has been my workout and training.

For sure. I will say that at minimum do some core workouts. Seems like as the grades increase, so does the need to be able to hold tension.

Sidenote. Went out this past weekend on an attempt to show my friend a cluster of boulders I helped developed over 20 years ago that rarely see any traffic. Know why now. Used to be state land, but is now owned by Weyerhaeuser. It's a bummer. It was a great area that had a bunch of super fun moderate climbs.

Yep. On steeper and steeper terrain with smaller and smaller holds. It's always a good sign when my abs are sore as hell after bouldering. It means I was actually engaging them. lol

I have definitely noticed that. I love myself some big overhangs and that alone has given my abs quite the workout. I can tell when I forget to engage my core on some route when I come flying off of them. I will be starting to get back into some Yoga classes as well that my gym puts on for my flexibility, balance and some core.

That is a real bummer, that sucks. Over here there has been a land battle but it is mostly off-road trails and roads getting shut down in favor of hiking and biking. And while I enjoy my hiking and biking, I would rather hike up a single path trail to the peak of a mountain or a lake. Not walk up an old logging/ mining road.

Have any of you guys ever heard of Voodoo flossing? I discovered it a little bit ago and am a total believer. Been dealing with swollen middle finger knuckles for so long I can't remember. To the point where I haven't been able to fully make a fist in that time. Cut up a medium strength band and within just 3 days of flossing, I was able to fully close my hands. I also have a set of the larger bands that I use on my forearms and elbows. Helps there too.

San Diego trad climber over here. I typically get a couple of Sierra trips in a year(rock specific and alpine). I don’t spend money on climbing gyms, lucky enough to have mount Woodson and Santee boulder for after work, and J-tree/tahquitz/eagle peak/Corte madera... for day trips. Solid 5.10 leader, I can push harder but have the most fun climbing 5.9 classics. Most recent climb with some height I did was whodunit on Father’s Day...need to get back out.

Scared of heights but dig the thread and photos.

Bishop is awesome, the womb in the buttermilk’s comes to mind. But so is black mountain, tram way is great but kinda outta the way. I can’t says enough about how amazing Mount Woodson is. That’s my after work spot. J-tree is fun for drunken night bouldering but more of a single pitch destination. All of Californian has great stuff. I’m stoked to finally have a proper 4x4. Ive been driving a flipping sports car to these places.

You should head into a local gym (if there's one local to you) and give it a go. Climbing showed me how much of a difference there is between having a fear of heights and having a fear of falling.