Scenarios Read
Pumped below the crux
Your forearms are failing and the hardest moves are still above you. Push on, shake here, or go back down to the jug?
1 min read
3 sections
1 interactive
Play it
Read the situation, pick a choice, and watch the forearm gauge and the clock. Then try the other choices.
What to take away
Recovery only happens where the holding grip is light enough to let blood through. Going into a crux pumped means hard grips with almost no blood flow. A short shake buys the steep early part of the refill; a good rest a couple of moves away can be worth reversing to when no clock is running.
Model assumptions
- The route is a 40-hold diagram; the climber's position, forearm oxygen and clock are illustrations, not measurements.
- Forearm changes follow the rules of the forearm model, with the 47 s refill half-time measured in intermediate adult climbers (Fryer et al. 2015).
- Falls and top-outs are chosen to show the typical consequence of each choice. Real outcomes depend on the climber, the route and luck.
- Each reason is labelled: measured (from a cited study), coaching practice (common advice without a study), or model (this site's simplification).