Yikes! DO NOT prune off your long laterals. They are the life blood of climbing roses.

The Heirloom Roses instructions you posted are basically sound, but at Item #4, "Prune off overgrowth on Climbing Roses...." could be worded better, IMHO.

Here's what I say:

Absolutely no major pruning now! Just a little tidying is warranted, meaning very, very LIGHT pruning and tying down of very long climber canes, if any, that may get damaged by whipping around because of rough winter weather. If in doubt as to what to do, do what you think you should do for peace of mind, but do it very sparingly. Climbers are very tough roses and need very little coddling.

Main pruning of all roses, climbers and all the rest, is done in spring when the forsythia bushes in your neighborhood are well underway in blooming, not at the first sign of them blooming.

Alternatively, in case you have no forsythia bushes in your neighborhood, when the big flowered daffodils are well under way, that's the time you should prune. The mini daffodils bloom a couple weeks earlier, so don't use them as your prune sign.

I advise you to study all the YouTube tutorials on pruning climbing roses over this coming winter and come time by spring, you will be well educated in pruning, and know just what to do.

Moses

Good advice from Moses as always about NOT pruning in late fall particularly in cold zones. Some people get the advice to prune down to 6" so that you can put the dreaded styrofoam rose cones on them, and that's really not a good idea both in pruning and protection.

The idea to put mulch on them is good but I find it pointless to strip off leaves or rake them from under the plant. Most blackspot is spread by airborne particles anyway, and having the dead leaves there doesn't really increase your risk for more blackspot blowing in from wherever it comes in next spring/summer. If you're in a blackspot prone area it will hit susceptible roses regardless of stripping leaves etc.

My winter protection is to actually add fall leaves (particularly oak leaves that don't mat down) on top of whatever leaves and mulch is there, then add some hardwood mulch on top to hold it down. I also add a wind break of filled leaf bags around the edges of the garden and stacked around particularly sensitive roses, but keep the bags away from the roses per se. In humid climates, you might not want to do mulching with anything that has the potential to hold moisture near your roses.

In zone 7 Idaho you really don't have to worry about winter protection much compared to colder zones. Most roses are rated to zone 7 to start with so they should be relatively happy as long as they're healthy going into the winter.

The other tip for winterizing roses better is to WATER them thoroughly from now till ground freezes. I've learned that from other expert rose growers in my district and given the drought conditions and heat all over the country this summer I think most of us need that. I think that would apply to Idaho this year as well for sure.

Cynthia