Climbing newbie!

[weirdquark]

rydra_wong reminded me that this community existed when I posted that I was about to use the rock climbing wall for the first time, so here I am.



Lesson One: Terminology.

From my reading thus far: rock climbing and bouldering are not the same; rock climbing requires equipment like ropes and harnesses and bouldering is equipment free unless you count special shoes. So I should use the proper term for each and not use rock climbing when I mean bouldering. I do want to do both, but am actually more interested in the bouldering.

Lesson Two: Communication. Make sure you are talking about what you think you are talking about.

So when I talked to the guy by the rock climbing wall the other day and he told me the rock climbing wall orientation took an hour, apparently what he meant was an hour and forty-five minutes. Since an hour was already a bit longer than the amount of gym my roommates wanted, I asked if the orientation was needed for the bouldering wall. On the upside, when the guy told me that a climbing pass cost $40 for the semester, that's just for the rock climbing wall. If I want to spend all my time bouldering, all I needed was to sign a release form and watch a safety video. So I did that, and then spent 30-45 minutes on the bouldering wall.

Lesson Three: No equipment climbing needs equipment.

Nike Free Runs are great for running and pretty good for lifting. The way the base spreads out is not so great for climbing but I managed reasonably well. By the end of my climbing session I sure needed chalk. There is some in the weight room which is right by the wall, so bringing my own won't be necessary, but would be useful.

Lesson Four: Grip and forearm strength.

Mine actually isn't too bad. Neat.

Lesson Five: Dots that should be helpful are not.

So there's this great chart next to the bouldering wall with dots and what the dots mean in terms of how hard the climb is. One dot is the easiest level -- VB-V1; five dots are the hardest level -- V7-V8. The bouldering wall is marked with colored pieces of tape, some of which have dots, some of which have triangles, some of which have stars, and so on. I have no idea which are supposed to be easier than others unless I try them and see how much the grip is like a cup and how much it is like a ledge. Or a tiny lump.

I never fell, though I came close once, and chose to jump rather than trying to climb down all the way a few times. I made it to the top of the bouldering wall a couple of times, on two different bits of wall. All in all, I'm pretty happy. Good first session.

Comments

Hi and welcome!

[rydra_wong]

This may be a US vs. UK terminology difference, but I'd tend to think of "bouldering" as a subcategory of "rock climbing". If I wanted to talk about the non-bouldering kind specifically, I tend to say "roped climbing" or "route climbing" (or "sport" or "trad" if that's appropriate).

Normally, climbing walls will rent you basic climbing shoes, but that may not apply if it's a climbing wall which is a small part of a bigger gym. Anyway, worth asking because rental shoes give you the chance to try it out before you invest in your first pair of shoes.

The bouldering wall is marked with colored pieces of tape, some of which have dots, some of which have triangles, some of which have stars, and so on.

Helpful! Yeah, all climbing walls have their own idiosyncratic ways of indicating what holds you should use, what the grade of a problem is, etc. etc..

For example, at the wall where I climb, it's "use the holds that are of the same colour, start with at least one hand on the hold that has the little number on it, the number indicates the order in a circuit, all problems in a given circuit are the same colour and in a particular grade band, check the posters by the front desk to find out what colour circuit is what grade, volumes and aretes are in unless a label says otherwise."

Other walls? Completely different rules. So the only way of finding out is to ask.

Re: Hi and welcome!

[emperor]

The other thing that changes between walls is what's considered "in". Options I've seen have included:
i) only touch the coloured holds
ii) only touch the coloured holds with your hands, feet can use the coloured holds and any bits of wall ("features")
iii) hands and feet can use features and holds
...plus edge-cases regarding adjacent panels

My current wall's bouldering setup is such that there is no hint of grading, and routes are identified by holds of the same colour.

[is there a post of glee on the way?]

[emperor]

Welcome to disobey_gravity :-)

Chalk (make sure you get a ball, not loose chalk) and a bag are pretty inexpensive, and the placebo value cannot be over-stated ;-)

Grading is a favourite subject for climbers to while away the hours bickering about. One of the better-known walls has "howaythats6a@[wall]" as an email address for people to comment on the routes...

[wpadmirer]

YAY! Climbing is fantastic. Though I've never heard the distinction between "rock climbing" and "bouldering." It's all rock climbing, but there's bouldering, top roping (or sport climbing), and lead climbing.

My gym marks the routes with color tape and marks the difficulty on the tape. (I'm in the USA so it's V0-Vwhatever for bouldering, and 5.5 on up to 5.whatever for top roping and leading.)

But climbing shoes are a must. They will really help. Also, I suggest buying your own chalk bag and chalk. You can hang it from your belt loops, or by a draw around your waist and then chalk up as you climb. It can really help on long climbs.

[juliet]

FWIW I virtually never bother with chalk (though I do own a bag) -- I don't like the way it feels on my hands, so I don't use it unless I really feel I have to, and so far that hasn't happened very often. I've seen it suggested that it's something you get used to climbing with or without & adjust your style accordingly, so you can always experiment a bit. Having said that, I think different people sweat on their hands differently, so YMMV etc etc. And doubtless at some point as I get a bit further up the grades & using smaller & smaller holds I'll start finding it useful :)