USCarter - Elena is right - you will get a lot of new growth - but more importantly, and assuming it is a climbing rose and not a shrub rose, if you just let it grow upwards it will only leaf and flower at the top. Those long shoots should be encouraged (aka tied up
) as horizontally as possible. This will encourage those branches to produce lateral shoots which will grow upwards and be where it will leaf out and flower, and make the whole plant much bushier. As you have a small column you might consider winding it around the column with each turn as horizontal as possible, however if the stems are already very stiff it may be too late to do that.