The Project Effort Matrix: A Guide to Your Projecting Patterns

Every hard-won send has a story. Some are stories of precision and efficiency—a project that goes down in a few perfectly executed attempts. Others are long wars of attrition, epic battles fought over weeks or months, demanding immense physical and mental resilience.

But what do the patterns of your successes say about you? Do they reflect a natural style, or do they reveal biases in the projects you choose and the circumstances of your life?

The Project Effort Matrix is a tool for self-reflection. It analyzes your top sends to create a visual signature of your projecting history, helping you ask better questions about how and why you succeed.

How to Read the Chart: A Quick Guide

This chart is a scatter plot that analyzes the top sends from your Performance Pyramid. Each dot on the chart represents one of your hardest climbs.

• The X-Axis (Time Investment): Plots the total number of distinct days you spent trying a project before the send. Further to the right means a longer-term effort.

• The Y-Axis (Effort Density): Plots the total number of attempts you logged for that project. Higher up means a more intense, high-volume effort.

The position of each dot tells the story of that send, and together they fall into four distinct quadrants.

(A quick note on data quality: This chart is entirely dependent on you logging your attempts and sessions accurately. The more diligent you are about recording each try on your projects, the more insightful this chart will become.)

What Your Chart Can Tell You: Identifying Common Patterns

By looking at where most of your dots cluster, you can identify common patterns in your successful sends. Instead of seeing these as fixed "styles," use them as a starting point for deeper questions.

The Quick-Tick Pattern (Bottom-Left)

• What it looks like: A cluster of dots with low days and low attempts.

• What it means: These were efficient sends.

• Ask Yourself: Does this pattern reflect my skill at quick execution, or does it show a bias for choosing projects I know I can do quickly? Does my life schedule (e.g., limited time) push me toward these kinds of projects?

The Single-Session-Focus Pattern (Top-Left)

• What it looks like: Dots with low days but high attempts.

• What it means: These were intense, single-day battles.

• Ask Yourself: Does this show I have great single-day recovery, or does it reveal I'm not resting enough between attempts? Do I prefer this style because my access to the crag is infrequent?

The Patient-Campaign Pattern (Bottom-Right)

• What it looks like: Dots with high days but a relatively low number of attempts per session.

• What it means: These projects were patient, long-term efforts.

• Ask Yourself: Does this reflect a smart strategy for skin preservation and avoiding burnout? Or does it show I could be applying more focus during my sessions?

The Siege Pattern (Top-Right)

• What it looks like: Dots with both high days and high attempts.

• What it means: These were your true, all-out wars.

• Ask Yourself: What made these specific projects worth the epic investment? Were they a perfect style for me, or did they teach me something profound about resilience?

Putting Your Insights into Action

Understanding these patterns allows you to explore new strategies.

1. Analyze the Outliers: The most interesting dots are often the ones that don't fit your main cluster. If you see a single "Siege" dot in a chart full of "Quick Ticks," analyze that project. What made it different? Did it have a style you're weak at? Did it teach you a new way to try hard? Understanding your outliers can be more revealing than analyzing your main pattern.

2. Explore New Approaches: Use your patterns as a prompt for experimentation, not a prescription.

   • If you see a "Quick-Tick" pattern, you might consider this: Intentionally choose one project this season that you know will take longer. The goal isn't just to send it, but to practice the skill of long-term commitment and physical adaptation.

   • If you see a "Single-Session-Focus" pattern, you might consider this: On your next project, force yourself to take a minimum 10-minute rest between every attempt. See if you can achieve the same result with more patience and fewer attempts.

Going Deeper: The Next Level of Analysis

This chart is just the beginning. To get the full picture, you need to add more context.

• Integrate Other Data: How does this chart change when you filter by route style using your Performance Characteristics? Is your "Quick-Tick" pattern only present on crimpy routes, while your "Siege" pattern appears on slopers?

• Look at Failures: The data for projects you abandoned is often more revealing than your successes. While not a feature today, analyzing what makes you give up is a crucial part of self-knowledge.

• Use Filters: Do your patterns change with the seasons or as you move up in grades? A younger version of you might have been a "Siege General," while the current you is a "Tactical Sniper."

What This Chart Isn't

• A measure of "better" or "worse." There is no ideal quadrant. Effective projecting often means adapting your strategy to the specific route and circumstances.

• A full picture of the context. This chart doesn't know if a project took a long time because of bad weather, limited access, or a nagging injury. It only knows the numbers you log.

Your projecting history is a key part of your identity as a climber. This chart helps you ask smarter questions about that identity so you can lean into your strengths and intentionally explore your weaknesses.

Now, head to the app and explore your Project Effort Matrix. What questions does it make you ask about your own climbing?