A question I'm often asked is how much time—or attempts—should you put into a project route, before taking a break and working on other climbs. My short answer (with a few caveats) is that it’s best not to get bogged down by long-haul projects—you will improve as a climber faster by sending lots of routes just below your limit, rather than hanging all over (and repeatedly falling off) a single project route that's beyond your limit.
In this podcast I'll detail my "10-4 Rule" of projecting, which gives guidelines and solid reasoning to keep your projecting efforts brief...to around 10 attempts over 4 days. (Personally, I halve these amounts and, thus, limit myself to a total of about five attempts over two days.)
Podcast rundown:
00:55 - Introduction: How much time should you spend projecting limit routes?
3:12 - The "10-4 Rule" for effective projecting and steady improvement
12:55 - Caveats: When to break the 10-4 Rule
16:20 - Bonus: The "80-20" guideline for outdoor climbing time
20:48 - Ask Eric!
21:22 - Can someone who gets into climbing as a young adult progress to climb at a world-class level?
27:00 - "Last minute" training advice for a slightly out-of-shape route climber going on a climbing trip in one week?
29:50 - Final remarks.
