How to Get Started: Rock Climbing, Part 1

Hello World,

This is Chris, here at AkshunKat, and I wanted to talk a little bit about my mission, which is to inspire more and more people to put down the iPhone, turn off Netflix, step away from the game console, and go outside.  Now, we all know that right now, in the midst of this Corona-Pocalypse, most of us are cooped up at home waiting for this nightmare to end.  But rest assured that it will end at some point; and when it does, many of us will be itching to get outside and into some kind of outdoor adventure.  If you're an old pro, then it's just a matter of grabbing your well-used gear from the closet, hopping in the car and taking off.

But what if you're not an old pro?  What if you've been thinking (dreaming?) about starting some new outdoor activity, but you just don't really know where to start?

That's what this blog post - my first - is all about.  

I'll start with my main, true love: rock climbing.  With a few decades of experience, I think I'm pretty well-qualified to give you some advice on how to get started.  It probably looks pretty intimidating for the newbie - the gear, the techniques, the money!  But if you're patient, and willing to start small, it's really not that tough to at least get started.

These days, most people live relatively close to an indoor climbing gym.  These are probably the best places to dip your first toe.  They all will offer some level of instruction, from rank beginner to more advanced.  Some also have on-site shops where you can buy the first pieces of gear that you'll need (or even some AkshunKat gear!), and get recommendations from experienced climbers.

Now, if you want to show up at that gym with at least a basic understanding of what rock climbing is all about, let's start with just a basic overview:

Climbing can be broken up into a couple of different categories:

Bouldering, Top-Roping, Sport-Climbing, and Lead (Traditional or "trad") Climbing

Let's go over each one of these in order:

1 - Bouldering:  This is basically when you climb very close to the ground.  You never get too high, so there is no need to use a rope for protection.  Most climbing gyms have bouldering areas that are very well-padded, so if you fall off you just land on the pads.  In fact, usually, if you reach the top, you just jump off onto the pads below.  The routes in the bouldering area are called "problems," and they are rated according to a "V" rating system.  A "V1" problem would be pretty easy - probably even for a novice, while a "V6"  or a "V7" is much harder, and on up it goes well above "V10" into realms that only Spiderman can achieve.

For bouldering, all you really need is a pair of climbing shoes, and maybe a little bag filled with gymnastic chalk to keep your hands from getting slippery with sweat.  Shoes come in a wide variety of designs - some stiff and comfy enough to wear all day, some super-tight and painful for extremely precise climbing, and everything in between.  Most climbers, like myself, have at least 2 pairs of shoes: 1 for climbing outside all day, and one for bouldering or climbing in the gym.  If you're just getting started, you'll probably want a pair that is somewhere in the middle - a kind of jack of all trades shoe that will do everything that you need it to do, but it won't necessarily be a super-specialized tool.

If you want to go bouldering outside, away from the gym, then you'll need to bring your own pad.  While many outside bouldering areas have nice, level, soft dirt landing areas, many are uneven or have rocks all over the place.  If you land wrong, you can twist an ankle, break a leg, or even crack your head open.  

Various manufacturers make purpose-built bouldering "crash pads," or you can improvise and make one yourself from an old couch cushion.  If you and two or three friends go bouldering, and each one of you has a pad, you can spread them all out around the bottom and create a perfect "ankle-friendly" landing area.

This is also where the term "spotting" comes in.  A "spotter" is someone on the ground who stands below you while you're bouldering and uses their hands to break your fall or redirect you towards the pads as you fall.  They can also move the pads as you climb so that they're always in the best place.

Spotters are also great for shouting encouragement, or taunting you mercilessly - whichever is your preferred method for getting motivated!

As you can probably guess, bouldering is where many new climbers start.  You don't need much gear - just shoes, a chalk-bag and maybe a pad - and you can work on your fitness and technique before you move on to the next, more complicated level: Top-Roping.

I'll move on to the basics of Top-Roping in Part 2 of this blog series.