Branden Lacour is a self-described climbing fanatic and a new addition to the First Ascent team. He is currently developing a climbing training program called Redpoint Training with other First Ascent instructors that he is excited to unleash shortly. In this two-part series, Branden tells the tale of his preparation for an intense multi-pitch project, and all of the heart-breaking setbacks and eventual triumphs along the way. Enjoy!
I’ve always been the type to get excited about over-the-top projects. When my climbing partner Ilya proposed a trip to El Potrero Chico, Mexico back in 2015, I immediately began searching for an epic project we could to train for.
Low and behold, Time Wave Zero stared me in the face from the Mountain Project main page, a stunning 23 pitch 5.12a with a beautiful view at the top. The climbing is all easy to moderate for most of the pitches, with a 5.12a to greet you at the 21st pitch. The pictures sold me alone.
We went ahead and trained hard, practiced our rope skills, then headed to Potrero that winter. After some chatting with local climbers, we decided it was best to do a shorter multi-pitch climb before attempting Time Wave Zero. We jumped on Yankee Clipper, a 13 pitch 5.12a. Though it was fun and we learned a lot, I got sketched out at the last pitch, the 12a pitch on the climb. When we were back on solid ground, I was glad we attempted the climb, but I was bummed that I couldn’t do the 12a pitch. We ended the night with some Tecate and Mezcal with plans of Time Wave Zero in the future.
The next year was like a dreamlike trance. I constantly followed the latest news on the Facebook group for El Potrero, as well as Frank Madden’s work on the brand new guidebook for the area. I continued to train, focusing on improving my onsight grade so that when I encounter that 12a after 7 hours of multi-pitch climbing, I can read the route and free climb it in short order. I definitely had my work cut out for me!
I trained hard, working through a few injuries and other setbacks along the way. I finally got my first 5.12a onsight last June – granted it was in the gym – so I felt like I was making good progress toward my goal. With two weeks out until a proper 4 day trip planned to the Red River Gorge, I decided to do some hard bouldering to get my explosiveness back.
I headed over to a small bouldering gym that I used frequent a lot back in the day and warmed up, worked my way up in grades, and got ready to project some hard problems. As I was working one problem in particular, I attempted a very hard cross move on crimpy holds, and – POP – just like that, there goes my finger. I knew I had ruptured a pulley immediately.
With tears in my eyes I instantly realized that the Red season was shot, and Time Wave Zero was practically impossible. I sent out some feelers to see if I could arrange a replacement partner for Ilya so he could still go on our long-awaited trip. Despite my efforts, he continued to believe I could make a full recovery in time to join him, even though I didn’t think I had a chance at the time.
In pain and heartbroken, I moped about my place, sad and frustrated, doing the best I could to rehab my finger with ice, heat, stress balls, and rice. After mourning for two weeks, I got my mind dead set on healing in time to make the trip to Potrero. And that’s exactly what I did.
For the next month I worked through my rehab every day, after which I had recovered enough to climb. Being the climbing training nerd that I am, I built a training plan for myself and my climbing partner Ilya, then bought my ticket to Mexico. At this point, I was all in.
The plan was focused on stamina and finger strength: stamina for tons of easy to moderate pitches, and finger strength for hard vertical face climbing at the end of Time Wave.
The first few weeks were excruciating mentally. I was getting pumped on 5.10s and had little to no strength. I couldn’t stay out of my head. My gains were much slower than in the past, and not being able to do what I once could was haunting me and making me doubt that I could get my fitness back in time for Time Wave Zero.
It’s times like these when you need people good people in your life, and I’m lucky to have a damn good partner to keep my head on straight. Thanks Ilya! After taking stock, I decided to focus on training as hard as I could safely and let the results present themselves as my body was ready.
Hangboard session after hangboard session, I pushed through. Believing in what is possible and knowing the results that training provides kept me going. That, and lots and lots of rap music. Holding on with up to 35 pounds starts to get painful, but blasting aggressive music helps fuel that fire to hold on.
Eventually, I went from body weight to about 40 lbs added on most holds on the hangboard, so I moved on to the next phase of training: limit bouldering. I had originally planned to campus, but limit bouldering gave me the explosive work I needed without the risk of injury from feet-less climbing.
The first day on, I felt like I couldn’t really boulder anymore. I was falling off well below my onsight level, and struggling to bring the beast out like I used to be able too. Then I thought to myself: “Branden, give yourself a break. You haven’t bouldered in two months! Let the power come back naturally. Its more in your head right now than your body. You just have to boulder a bit more and get back into the mindset of pulling really hard.”
So I relaxed a little and just put the work in. After 3 sessions, I was back to bouldering at my normal level. Pumping up the jams in my ears and staying focused, I pushed even harder. By session number 4 I had it all back and more. My limit bouldering level is usually v7, and I sent two v7s in one day! The first v7 was actually a dynamic move to a good crimp with my bad finger, and guess what? No problems. That finger is healed. I’ve been able to climb all the v6’s and 7’s with open hand crimping and have never felt stronger.
At this point, three days away from hopping on a plane to Mexico, I can’t be more ready to take on Time Wave Zero. I am unbelievably happy and surprised with the results of my training plan. Training is worth it. The 4-5 weeks of hangboarding sucked, yes, but they were well, well worth it.
As I write this, I’m laying out my things, making final climbing plans, and getting ready to crush. I’m planning to hit a ton of moderate routes before my projects out at El Potrero to get used to real rock and all the smearing that Mexican Limestone demands. Time Wave Zero, here I come!
I hope my story helps inspire others not to lose hope during tough times in their climbing career. You CAN come back stronger from huge setbacks. Whether you have plateaued or you’re dealing with an injury, keep your head up, be diligent about your rehab/training, and don’t lose the fire!!
I’ll be posting a recap of my trip once I’m back. Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Branden