How to climb 5.12

I've been pretty busy recently. Finished my last big trad project of the year, which I've called Palomita.

Palomita takes a line up the overhanging wall to the right of the corner

With the worsening weather, I've been heading back to North Wales and the quick drying slate to try and redpoint a route I got hooked on at the start of the year, namely Beltane f7b+ at Bus Stop Quarry. I'd previously worked out all the moves, and it seemed 'just' a case of getting the lead done. I've tried a couple of f7b+'s before, but hadn't yet redpointed a route as hard as this. I've read tons of training articles on climbing, and most of the good ones will repeat the same formula... so you don't need me to tell you. What very few of them point out is the difficulty you'll find clipping bolts at your absolute grade limit (or placing gear in trad). You may well find you can do all of the moves once you've put in sufficient time on the route, but when it comes to the lead you find that you can't let go to clip and you're gripped with fear! My theory is that a high proportion of these routes are put up by people who can actually climb harder than this, so letting go to clip for them is relatively easy. So how does this help you who are at your limit? I suspect most of your time spent chasing higher grades has been focussed on the actual climbing moves and strength/endurance/power training, and your tactics are lagging behind at your old grade plateau.

Me about to fall off at the last bolt of Beltane

Just thinking about the last bolt of Beltane makes my hands sweat. I know I can cleanly climb upto it, but the thought of clipping it is terrifying. The answer is in my tactics. If I try to clip too early I will over-reach and come off with rope in my hand. I have to climb up to and then one more move before clipping at a better position. It is the fear of the extra move which is the 'redpoint crux', even though that move is relatively 'easy'. If I don't execute the extra move properly because I'm gripped with fear I'll never make the clip. I know I've got to work on this, otherwise I'll start to lose focus further down the route and start falling off before I even get to that point. This is just a basic example of the tactics required to break into a new grade. Another tactic I could employ is to miss out the clip altogether, or for trad pre-place the gear for that route you really want to do! Get working on your tactics, and you'll climb harder than you've done before.  There's plenty of material out there to help you with this, good luck on your projects.