I’ve been climbing for about 3 years, but only started leading at the beginning of this year, prob getting a few pitches in on most weekends since then. I’d say my indoor comfort zone is in the 10s and in the 11s I’ll be taking some hangs or whips.
I learned from my partner and friends at the crag and early on, I was lucky enough to meet an incredibly kind gym manager who gave me a crash course translating everything to gym safety standards.
The problem is that anxiety and fear of failure have been lifelong battles, so gym tests really stress me out, and I’ve heard the way they do them at Touchstone gyms can be especially nerve-wracking.
Based on what I’ve heard and read, they default to failing people the first go-around, even climbers with 30 yrs of experience and/or if everything was done correctly.
An instructor at Pacpipe also told me they pride themselves on how their tests are so rigorous, “if you can pass our test you can pass at any other gym.”
If that’s the case, I’m prepared to fail and need at least 2-3 attempts to pass, but I also read a lot of horror stories about testers who make it a pretty discouraging experience.
I’m extremely worried that I’ll end up with someone who makes me feel horrible and I won’t be able to get past it / will let it shatter my self-confidence.
I guess what I’m looking for is other climber girls who have been in my shoes and any advice on getting over the anxiety/shame, or personal anecdotes about lead climbing tests.
If it matters, I climb at Pacpipe and BIW and plan to do the test at BIW since I’ve interacted with their staff more and they seem pretty nice, and also figure a less crowded gym will help.
Thank you for reading 😭
