For the redpoint crux of your project, there are a number of beta options that will work. And you have to pick one.
It isn’t a matter of, “this one is right and those ones are wrong”.
Rather, it’s a process of assessing your options in context, giving thoughtful consideration to the many factors at play.
A few factors and ways to think about them:
1) Your strengths and weaknesses
- It may be worth playing to your strengths, even if that method feels a bit harder in isolation.
2) Learnability of the moves
- We have more potential for quick improvement in some areas vs. others:
- a coordinated move that involves our muscles will likely feel a lot easier after a few sessions
- our ability to pull on a small crimp won’t change as noticeably
- Is it worth choosing a harder move to avoid the crimp?
3) Repeatability and control
- If the easiest method is low percentage, or relies more heavily on conditions and friction, is it worth it?
4) The demands of the rest of the route
- What is the climbing like up to the crux, and what comes immediately after? With this in mind, do the limiting factors change?
Sometimes a crux has perfect beta: one method that is easiest for everybody.
More often there are options, and it is our job to discover which is best for us.
The Daily Nugget 