Climber Spotlight: Prune Martinoty

IG; @prune_martinoty

 

For Prune Martinoty, climbing has been a story of coming back.

Coming back after fear.
Coming back after pressure.
Coming back after doubt.

And recently, coming back to a project that had tested her for three years, until she finally clipped the chains on her first 8c.

Prune started climbing as a child and quickly found her way into competitions. But as she grew older, fear began to creep in, and the pressure slowly took the joy out of climbing. So she stopped.

About ten years later, climbing found her again.

This time, it started with indoor bouldering. Then friends encouraged her to return to the crag. From there, curiosity took over.

“Very quickly, I became curious about what a 7a felt like. Once I sent it, I wondered if I could climb a 7b… and so on, until three years ago when I started projecting an 8c, which I finally sent last week.”

What keeps her coming back

Ask Prune what she loves most about climbing, and her answer is simple.

“Going beyond your limits and fighting through hard routes.”

That fighting spirit runs through her climbing story. Not in a reckless way, but in the patient, committed way that hard climbing demands. The kind of fight that is built through many sessions, many doubts, and many attempts where success is not guaranteed.

For Prune, climbing is not just about chasing grades. It is about learning how much is possible when you stay with something long enough.

Training around real life

Prune’s climbing week does not follow a neat template.

“I don’t really have a typical training week because I work night shifts and my schedule is never the same.”

Instead, she builds her climbing around the windows she has. When she is not working weekends, she gets outside. When she is working, she tries to squeeze in a short indoor session before her night shift.

Her rest days are active, usually cycling or trail running, with stretching added in. Her training sessions sit around two to three times per week, with the focus changing each month depending on what her coach wants her to work on.

It is not a glamorous or perfectly packaged routine, but it is consistent. And for climbers balancing work, fatigue, changing schedules, and real life, that might be the most relatable part.

The warm-up that goes everywhere

One unexpected part of Prune’s climbing routine is just how loyal she is to her portable hangboard.

“I always follow the same warm-up routine using my own portable hangboard, which I take everywhere with me, whether I’m climbing outside or in a gym.”

Even when the gym has a proper training area with fixed hangboards, she often ends up hanging her own portable hangboard from a hold instead.

It is a small ritual, but climbers know how much those rituals matter. The familiar warm-up. The trusted setup. The thing that helps your body and mind know it is time to climb.

And her other essential support crew?

Calie, her dog.

Prune describes Calie as her best support, the dog who follows her everywhere. Which makes perfect sense. Every climber needs a good belay crew, a good snack, and, apparently, a very loyal crag dog.

And her sustenance? “My favorite snack is applesauce or candy, right before an attempt on a project.”

A lesson from the sharp end

Recently, climbing gave Prune two lessons at once.

The first was about patience and commitment, the kind that can take you somewhere you once thought was impossible. The second was more technical, but just as important: learning to grip only as hard as needed.

That insight is one many climbers spend years discovering. More force is not always better. Sometimes progress comes from relaxing, trusting your feet, and letting your body do more of the work instead of over-gripping every hold.

It is a lesson Prune now shares clearly with newer climbers too.

“First, be patient — finger strength and performance take time, and consistency matters much more than occasional hard efforts.”

Her advice is not about rushing into harder training. It is about building slowly, staying relaxed, and protecting your body along the way.

 

“Most climbers think they need to grip harder, but improvement often comes from using just enough tension and trusting your feet and body positioning, rather than over-gripping everything.”

And then comes the reminder every keen climber needs to hear.

“And most importantly, avoid getting injured: pulleys are fragile and take a long time to strengthen. It’s better to progress slowly and sustainably than to rush and get hurt.”

The 8c she will never forget

The send Prune is most proud of came after three years of trying.

“For the past three years, I’ve been trying to send an 8c, and I’ve had a lot of doubts because after all this time, I thought I might never be capable of it.”

On the day it finally happened, she did not arrive feeling fresh, powerful, or certain.

“Last week, I arrived at the crag feeling really tired, and my first attempt was worse than I had hoped. I had to push myself a bit to go for a second try because I didn’t want to have driven two hours for so little.”

That second try became the one.

She got back on the route and tried to stay as relaxed as possible, treating each section as training rather than letting the pressure take over. At the penultimate rest, she slowed herself down.

“When I reached the penultimate rest, I really took the time to breathe and calm down.”

Then came the final hard move.

“Then, when I managed to do the last hard move, I was so happy that I could already feel tears coming, even though I still had several meters of climbing left.”

Some sends are about power. Some are about precision. This one sounds like it was about holding it all together, physically and emotionally, until the very end.

“When I clipped the chains, it was an explosion of joy. I had worked so hard to get there, and it felt incredible to finally succeed.”

And the feeling?

“I want to remember that feeling all my Life”

What comes next

After sending 8c, Prune is not done.

Her next goal is direct and ambitious.

“Send other 8c and maybe try 8c+ or 9a”

It is a big goal, but after watching a three-year project finally become a send, it feels less like a leap and more like the next chapter.

Prune’s story is a reminder that climbing progress is rarely straight. It can involve fear, long breaks, night shifts, tired sessions, doubt, skin problems, dog support, portable hangboards, and plenty of applesauce or candy before a serious attempt.

But with patience, commitment, and the courage to keep showing up, the impossible can start to move.

Ready to build stronger fingers for your next project? Explore Crux Gear for portable, practical training tools made for climbers who want to keep progressing.

If you related to the mental challenge Prune talks about, you may like our article about The mental game of climbing.