Martin Keller on Sending V16 after 150 days—at Age 46
This article originally appeared on Climbing
What's the most time you've ever put into a climb and still sent? For me, it's about 10 days over two years--and that felt like an interminable process. But 10 days is barely a blink of the eye for Martin Keller, a 46-year-old Swiss boulderer who may be the most consistently persistent climber of all time.
In 2016 Keller made the first ascent of Highlander (V14) after some 13 years of effort. In 2019 he made the first ascent of Ninja Skills Sit (V15/16) after more than 150 sessions over three years. In 2021 he sent Dreamtime after hundreds of days over 18 years. Earlier this month, after another three-years under the boulder, he made the first post-break ascent of Gateway, for which he proposes V16.
Gateway sits on the most famous boulder in Cresciano, Switzerland, home to Dreamtime (V15), The Dagger (V13), and The Story of Two Worlds (V15), but it lay overlooked until Giuliano Cameroni, Gabri Moroni, and Lorenzo Puri noticed it five years ago. In March 2019, it was finally climbed by Jimmy Webb, who called it V14.
While Webb was working on Gateway, Keller was deep in project mode on both The Story of Two Worlds and Ninja Skills Sit. After sending both problems, he turned his attention to his stylistic nemesis, Dreamtime, but also began dabbling on Gateway as a side project. "It was great fun to climb on something totally different," he told Climbing. "As soon as I sent Dreamtime in early 2021, Gateway became my main focus."
Gateway consists of 20 powerful compression moves up a near horizontal arete, followed by a "hard and slippery mantle" and a slabby topout. After several weeks of effort, Keller was close to sending, but then he broke the crux hold, which made the final moves of the problem far harder. The next year, he returned with the goal of sending it from the middle to the top, which he did, but when he began trying from the start, the crux hold broke yet again, forcing him to restart the process.
When he eventually sent Gateway--after an estimated 150 trips to the problem--he did it during an after-work night session. Keller is both a climbing coach and a teacher, and when he finished up his day job, he had some dinner and "three double espressos" and drove two hours to the boulder. Arriving at 11 p.m., he warmed up slowly. On his first redpoint attempt, at 12:30 a.m., his heel slipped on the crux move. So he ate some "cake and pastry" and went for a walk. Then, shortly after 2:00 a.m., he "had that perfect go I had waited so long for! Not one mistake." He was back home shortly after sunrise, thankful that he didn't have to teach again until that afternoon. "Epic ending of an epic journey."
I exchanged emails with Keller, who talked about projecting tactics, weight, aging, and how "siege" isn't what he does with boulders. Instead, he trains on them.
Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
THE INTERVIEW
Climbing: You're famous for sieging hard boulders, spending hundreds of days and years of effort on individual problems. What does that look like from a routine point of view? Are you climbing on other things? Are you doing specialized training?
Keller: There seems to be quite the misconception around this. I have been surprised to find that some coaches think I run for hundreds of days to the same project and just make one try after another. That would be pretty stupid and, as I am a coach myself, kind of embarrassing. Yes, I spend a lot of days on the same boulders. But there is no real "sieging." Most people go to the climbing gym for training. I simply train outdoors on my projects. I would bet I have way more structure to my outdoor training than many people training in the gym. I have a clear plan for how to train the different energy-systems on my actual projects--and it has worked for me again and again. I also put in some sessions on one or two other projects from time to time.
On the one hand I would not recommend that approach to just anybody, especially not when you're just starting out as a climber. It's important to have a wide pyramid, making lots of experiences on different boulders, areas, rock-types so you can grow a broad skill set and build your strength and fitness. I have done all that. I started out as an alpine climber when I was 20, and I have climbed for 26 years now. My first V13 boulder, which I did back in 2007, took only eight projecting days. I truly thought that was epic back then. Little did I know what would come.
On the other hand at some point it might be worth it to spend a few more sessions on a project. When you have been climbing for several years, and you have done lots of boulders or routes, if you want to test your limits you have to spend a bit more than just four or five sessions on something. You've got to prepare yourself in a really specific way, either by training on your project or doing replicas-style training. If you are ready to spend more sessions on your project, though, it's crucial to have a gameplan. You need to have a training approach, a structure for your sessions. Otherwise you will not see much progress.
Climbing: What's your mental approach when taking on such long projects? I imagine it feels quite daunting at first--quite impossible--and I wonder how you move through that?
Keller: I simply want to climb outdoors in great places, on amazing lines, enjoying great movements. I get inspired by great hard lines which I can not do quickly, but since I like problem solving this is great! Turning the impossible into possible over time is an amazing process. And the lessons you learn you can adapt to every part of your life. But that process needs a bit of time; and extra time is not something we seem to have these days.
For me, projecting is also a bit of a stance against that rat race of always doing more, more, more. It is important to have a solid pyramid in your climbing, but I have climbed a lot of boulders. I don't need to do another 150 V11s every year. At this point in my climbing I would much rather spend another 20 sessions on something unique than just climb something new just because it's new. But this approach goes against how our brains work; that is why so many people find it hard to have more than five or six sessions on a project. It's also why so many people always need the newest phone. I was curious whether I could solve that problem and override the part of my subconscious mind that always wants something new. And it's worked well for me, not just in bouldering. But this is my way. This does not mean it works for someone else. And it might change again for me in the future! If your thing is to climb 100 V8s in one year, do it! Everyone has to find their own way. Always put motivation first!
Climbing: How has your climbing changed now that you're in your 40s? Any training or diet secrets for those of us who worry that our strongest days are behind us?
Keller: When you are in your teens you basically can do "everything" and you get stronger and you progress. When you want to make gains when you pass 40 you have to be more clever in your training and all things related, like lifestyle, sleep, stress-management, mindset, nutrition, technique, and tactics. Focusing on these things and identifying a few key points in each field has been key to climbing all my hardest boulders after 40. For me it was mainly a mindset-shift, focusing on quality and not quantity in training, taking the rest I need, and feeding my body so it can adapt to the training.
Climbing: You mention how people do not need to train constantly--or at least don't need to train like a pro--in order to progress well into their 40s. What would you recommend to climbers who're busy and getting older but still want to perform?
Keller: You see all these young professionals on social media doing double and triple sessions in their daily training. For many people with a regular job and family this is both impossible and does not make sense at all. I had a customer who wanted to do double sessions. He got up at 5am to do a hangboard session before work, then did board sessions at 8pm after work. But obviously, since he was not able to get to bed at 9 p.m. to get enough sleep before his 5 a.m. hangboard, we dismissed that idea. Because of his demanding job, his family, and his social life, the benefits of getting two more hours of sleep were way higher than the benefits of two split sessions. So we integrated a shorter hangboard session into the board session. Easy fix, huge gains in the recovery area. The main takeaway: as we age we need to focus on quality instead of quantity and on recovery. I see so many people doing way too much. It just makes them more fatigued, not stronger. When people see my training volume, they often can't believe how little I train. I only do three sessions a week. But I am still progressing at 46.
Climbing: Most people worry that their fingers will feel weaker as they get heavier--but you've been outspoken about how you're stronger at a higher weight. What does that higher weight feel like? Did you put on muscle? Were you underweight in the past?
Keller: This is a tricky subject! Of course, strength-to-weight ratios are relevant in climbing; there is no point in just getting heavy. But while getting stronger can make you heavier, as long as that weight is improving your strength-to-weight ratio, it's not something to worry about. Looking back, I definitely went through a time when I had an unhealthy relationship with food and was seriously undereating. Back then I wanted to get better on small crimps and I thought getting lighter--down to, say, 145 pounds from 155 pounds--would do the job. Luckily for me, I did not send my projects. Instead I felt cold all the time, got sick quickly, and had low energy. So I dismissed the undereating strategy and started to train to get stronger. I also focused on feeding my body. Accordingly, I gained about 28 pounds over six years. I sent all my hard, crimpy V15 and V16 climbs with the higher bodyweight, and actually have stronger fingers and fewer tweaks than before. When I sent Gateway, I weighed more than 175 pounds.
Climbing: Tell me a bit about your coaching business: what sort of plans / clients do you work with?
Keller: I work with clients from all over the world, some beginners, some world class athletes. It seems that the key thing for my clients is the close personal contact I offer in my coaching. And that personal contact is important to me as well. That is why I only offer 1:1 coaching at the moment. I talk to my clients weekly over video calls and have 24/7 messenger support for them.
My coaching emphasizes a holistic approach, since it's rarely just the training that holds people back. That's why I don't just do training plans. Together with my clients we take a deeper dive into lifestyle, sleep and stress-management, mindset, nutrition, technique and tactics, and of course training and its principles, structures, and planning. I mainly coach boulderers but also have a few sports-climbers. It's great to see how motivated my clients are, and it's amazing to work together, see them grow, and support them in whatever goals they have.
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