Thoughts for Beginners
1. Don't be too competitive (at least not at first)
Good climbing requires finesse and skills that can only be acquired through
practice. Athletic guys in particular will feel discouraged if they compare
themselves to experienced climbers who have already acquired those skills.
Instead of competing with other climbers, compete with yourself, always
striving to improve by climbing progressively more difficult trails. If
trying to match or outdo other climbers helps you improve, be realistic
about the differences in your abilities.
Jeff Zygmont
2. Team up with experienced climbers
Whether you're climbing indoors or on actual rock, try to buddy-up with
climbers who are more experienced than you. You'll learn new moves and
techniques just by watching them when you belay. When it's your turn to
climb, they'll give you tips and advice that you won't get from climbers
at your own skill level (or below).
Jeff Zygmont
3. Develop your own technique
(Don't expect to climb exactly like someone else)
Improve your climbing skills by copying movements and taking advice from
seasoned climbers. But don't expect to be able to climb exactly the same
way another person climbs. We all have unique body geometries that require
us to find our own ways up the rocks. Differences in height and reach
are obvious. But we also have more subtle differences, like variations
in flexibility and in the ranges our joints can move, that require each
person to move individually and somewhat differently than others. Try
to learn from the movements of seasoned climbers, but realize that you
have to adapt them for your own body.
Jeff Zygmont
4. Use your legs
If you feel uneasy or intimidated on the wall, you may try to hold
on for dear life, over-using your hands and arms while you climb. Whenever
possible, climb by stepping up and then pushing yourself upward with your
legs, rather than pulling up with your arms.
Jeff Zygmont
5. Change your grip
Your first grasp of a hold may not necessarily be your best grasp.
Set up your next move by first probing a hold with your hand, looking
for the most secure surface to grip, and also positioning your hand and
arm in an alignment that enables your body to move effectively to your
next hold. Use your feet, legs, and other hand to lock your body in a
stable position while you search the hold.
Jeff Zygmont
6. Change your foot position
Reposition your foot on a hold, looking for the most secure grip,
but also aligning your foot and leg in a position that enables your body
to move effectively to your next hold. For example, you may have to point
your foot in the opposite direction to set up your next move. Use your
other foot and your hands to lock your body in a stable position while
you search for the most effective foot alignment.
Jeff Zygmont
7. Climb like a girl
Use technique and finesse instead of trying to muscle up a route.
Jim Donini
(as quoted in “Confessions of a Crack Addict”,
The Wall Street Journal.; Dec. 14, 2006)
8. Be In the Know
Here are some common words and phrases that you will hear at the rock
gym:
- Beta – instructions and advice on how to climb a route or do
a particular sequence of moves.
- Crimp – a small but positive hand hold.
- Crux – the hardest move on a route.
- Dyno – (short for “dynamic”) to jump or leap for
a hold that is out of reach.
- Flagging – to position a free leg to one side or the other,
without placing it on a hold, in a way that improves balance.
- Heal-hook – using the heal of your foot to grasp a hold and
either pull yourself up, or pull yourself into the wall.
- On sight – to ascend a route cleanly on the first try ever.
- Red point – to ascend a route cleanly on your first try of the
day.
- Stemming – using foot holds on two perpendicular or opposing
walls in order to balance your weight and climb upward.
- Technique – certain climbing moves such as flagging, stemming
and heal hooks that are used to make climbing easier. Technique is often
learned over time with trial and error.
- Top-roping – climbing with the rope running through a fixed
anchor overhead, with the climber tied into one end and the belayer
attached to the other, as in a gym.
Angela Young
9. Think Outside the Box
As you start challenging yourself with more difficult routes, you
will be forced to "think outside the box." Often times there
is more than one way to climb a route. What works for someone else may
not work for you. Take another climber's beta (see item 8, above) and
give it an honest try. But if that doesn't work, try to find your own
way to do the moves.
Angela Young
10. Keep One Hand on the Brake
Your job as a belayer is to keep your climber safe. The hand you are
using as your brake hand (usually your right) needs to hold on to the
rope at all times. Your other hand can let go of the rope or help take
up the slack. But your brake hand must always be ready to brake (hold
the climber) at any moment the climber might fall.
Angela Young
11. Communicate for safety
Rock climbing is "inherently dangerous". You will see this
warning on just about any piece of climbing equipment you buy, and for
good reason. You can minimize the risk involved by paying close attention
and communicating with your climbing partner and with fellow climbers
around you. Communicate with your partner to ensure that both of you are
alert and ready before you start climbing.
Angela Young
12. Safety first
Before you start each route, make sure that the waist belt of your
harness is doubled back in the buckle, your knot is properly tied and
the rope runs through the correct loops. Make sure the belayer's carabiner
is locked and the waist belt of the belayer's harness is doubled back.
Angela Young
13. Balance
Finding your center of balance will allow you to hold on with the
least amount of effort, thereby conserving your energy for the rest of
the route. It will also keep you from "barn-dooring" (Swinging
uncontrollably to one side) and falling off the wall. Balancing might
involve leaning off a hold, flagging (see item 8, above), or changing
your footing (see item 6, above).
Angela Young
14. Just Breathe
This might seem simple enough, but when you are hanging on for dear
life it is easy to forget. Try to remember to take deep breaths and relax
a little.
Angela Young
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