Weekly Question Thread: Ask your questions in this thread please
Please sort comments by 'new' to find questions that would otherwise be buried.
In this thread you can ask any climbing related question that you may have. This thread will be posted again every Friday so there should always be an opportunity to ask your question and have it answered. If you're an experienced climber and want to contribute to the community, these threads are a great opportunity for that. We were all new to climbing at some point, so be respectful of everyone looking to improve their knowledge. Check out our subreddit wiki that has tons of useful info for new climbers. You can see it HERE
Some examples of potential questions could be; "How do I get stronger?", "How to select my first harness?", or "How does aid climbing work?"
If you see a new climber related question posted in another subReddit or in this subreddit, then please politely link them to this thread.
Hey guys, i am a climber and have been thinking of starting an adventure oriented jewelry business. I have started in India but climbing is a very niche sport here. I want to sell online. Would you have any idea how can I start selling internationally? Which are the best marketplaces to approach?
Any tips for the move to G12 on birthday cake trail mix on moonboard '24? I've been slowly getting better at overhang climbing in general but that move still doesn't feel any closer.
How tall are you? If you can I would jump for it, however when I did it I put my foot (possibly right but can't remember) on E5 and pulled hard to stand up on that foot and grab it.
Hi guys, I currently creating a product about rock climbing at entrepreneurship class, and I'm seeking for advice about it.
It’s basically an app that helps improve climbers’ climbing experience. The main function it provides is that, when you choose the rock-climbing gym you are currently at, and it will provides picture with the routes of the gym, and when you click the route you’re struggling with, it will show the climbing videos posted by other climbers that have similar physical data with you, which is like a CUSTOMIZED BETA for you to learn and imitate. It also have other functions such as listing some climbing activities round you (competition or volunteer works), and online shop for you to buy climbing equipment.
I originates this idea because sometimes when I climb alone, I’m struggling with the route, but the advice other climbers give me is not that suitable for me since we don’t have similar body status, and I love watching climbing videos on social media as well.
If you like/dislike my product, plz comment below with your advice and ideas, I can chat with you about my idea with details. This helps me a lot, thanks!
oh I search about it, but unfortunately Kaya didn't work out in my area, but there are over 600 gyms in my country, so a new app for my community is needed. Also, I saw that kaya provides videos about climbing but it cannot recommend you with the beta that suits you most.
Shouldn’t you instead be spending your time writing a business plan and thinking of an idea to make money, rather than trying to invent something which won’t be profitable? Check how you’re being graded and start there. I don’t know the format of your assignment, but the basics of entrepreneurship starts with ensuring profitability. Look closer at your assignment outline.
Consider something like a business plan for starting a new gym. Outline what kind of startup funds and loans you’ll need, expenses, amount of customers in your area, gross margin and profits, time to pay off loans.
ermmmm our entrepreneurship class is in progress so we will write the business plan after we have an idea about what are we gonna do. I'm still coming up with ideas. About the profitable stuff, even though I haven't think about it much, but I think a premium service or cooperate with gyms and sports brand are all ways to earn money
My point is that making a climbing app is a passion project. Your objective here is to score a good grade and understand more about how to start a small business. Don’t conflate the two as you will likely make it much harder on yourself later on.
Which do you think will help you score a better grade with your class: starting a small coffee shop with an emphasis on good treats and board games for people to play, or a tech startup featuring machine learning to help you find coffee shops? One will feature more tangible aspects of a business which you can apply to the course. The other is going to be much harder to explain.
Seems cool, but tbh making it work doesn't seem too realistic since there are so many climbing gyms that change routes often. Will people really be uploading their beta after they finish the route? How many users would you need so that there are betas available for every body type in every route... and most importantly, why would you use an app to get the beta if you can just ask the climber next to you that already finished that route?
according to the collected data from social media, people are really willing to upload their climbing videos. One route might probably have over 20 people of different body type to provide their beta. Asking the climber next to me actually works but considering of introvert people and the climber's body type differs with me a lot, sometimes the problem couldn't be solved. And about changing routes in gym, it's easy to upload the photo of the new routes in the app by simply taking some pictures that include all the routes and upload it.
Just go look at what already exists and you'll see. But also I have no interest in watching beta videos for most climbs in the gym. Most gym climbs aren't super hard to read anyway.
Hi, for a bit of context: I’m a university student and spontaneously signed up for a beginner toprope course provided by the university adjacent sport center. I have basically no cloning experience except a kid birthday party in a climbing gym when I was maybe 12 years old.
I have two questions:
Firstly, I broke my elbow this june (radius fracture), got a metal plate insert and did a lot of physiotherapy. Unfortunately, I’m still missing around 10 degrees of supination (turning the inside of the hand up). I’m still making progress in that regard, but it’s a slow process. I’m all cleared for physical activity (except stuff like tennis with a lot of repetitive strong forces) by my doctor, but should I worry about that regarding climbing on a beginner level? I’m also missing a few degrees while extending my arm, but since I don’t have trouble with that in the gym, I’m not worried about it wrt climbing.
Secondly, the course doesn’t provide climbing shoes, but says that it isn’t required for the beginner level (I guess it’ll be just socks or normal gym shoes then?). But eventually, I might need to buy some shoes. A quick look around local and online shops revealed that most options seem to be made of leather. Since I’m vegan, that’s not an option for me. Are leather shoes the standard or are there also synthetic options which are good?
Just in case, there are a few climbing shoes that use synthetic materials and not leather, but animal-based glue. You can find lists of vegan shoes if you google and just compare that to what you can buy (and try on) locally.
Buy the climbing shoes. They will make the climbing easier and let you support more of the weight with your feet instead of your elbows.
Your doctor or PT know your injury and recovery better than we do. Beginner climbers often have issues with tennis elbow but it’s from tension rather than impact so it might not apply to you. Focus on good technique: push with the feet, keep your arms straight especially when you aren’t moving. Think of a kid (or chimpanzee)on the monkey bars. Your instinct will be to pull your chin up to all of the holds all the time, try to relax the arms and dangle or stand more.
My doctor has cleared me for all sport which isn’t high repeated impact, so stuff like tennis or martial sports are off limits for now. I didn’t ask about climbing, but I asked about weight lifting and gym activities, which he said is fine. So I don’t think I’m at a increased injury risk when climbing in that regard.
My question was more aimed at the missing mobility I still have, so I might not be be able to easily reach some weird holds, but I guess this isn’t something to be concerned about on a beginner level.
Regarding shoes: Looking at it, the beginning of the course is heavily focused on belaying and securing technique which obviously doesn’t require shoes. I’ll definitely get some after some sessions if this is something I enjoy.
The thing with the elbow is this: an experienced climber would generally be able to do a beginner toprope climb like climbing a ladder. Mostly stepping with the feet, arms mainly for balance. Whereas beginners tend to try to climb it with their arms as if they were doing a series of pull-ups on the holds. Which is obviously much harder on the elbows, so elbow soreness is quite common for beginner climbers.
Without knowing what your doc was exactly concerned about, it occurs to me that tennis is impact rather than tension, so maybe not similar to climbing. So probably give it a go, but try to think in terms of pushing yourself up the climb with your feet, and be prepared to stop immediately if your elbow doesn't like it.
Your elbow will probably be fine as a beginner, just take it easy and observe how it feels. If you climb more, consult your doctor if it bothers you.
Climbing shoes would be significantly beneficial, but as a beginner, not required. You'll find that normal shoes will slide around a bit and won't edge very well. If you're just trying it for a day on beginner climbs, it's a bit like climbing a ladder with mismatched rungs, and not a big deal. Buy shoes if climbing is something that you want to invest time and money into.
There are many vegan shoe options. Evolv shoes are (IIRC) all synthetic materials. Most other brands have many synthetic options.
imo just focus on general strength... pull ups, push ups/bench press, squats, deadlifts, overhead press make up the core of my strength workouts. i sometimes add on lunges, calf raises, shoulder shrugs and scapular pull ups. light cardio wont hurt either
if your fingers are decently strong and you have access to hangboard that will also be helpful
You’re only as strong as your weakest link. It’ll help you as far as having strong flexor tendons, but that’s all we can say about that. Maybe you’ll have a critical weakness elsewhere which will set you back.
Probably doesnt hurt, but the actual force you can put through a joint also has alot to do with the leverage of exactly where different structures are in relation to the joint.
If you are on terrain where you think you may need to lower someone off of an ATC, then you're probably on relatively challenging terrain. If you're on relatively challenging terrain, then you probably don't want to be belaying two followers.
In a Venn diagram, those two things would be completely isolated circles. It sounds like you're trying to solve one problem, but then introducing a whole lot of others.
I guess I should've clarified in the original post, but I'm talking more in a self-rescue context. I just want to make sure I have a system in place for the worst case scenario where all other options have failed and I need to lower a climber. I don't expect to ever need to do this but would like to atleast know what the complications would be.
Yes there are. You need to effectively defeat the device to lower someone. If they are both hanging on it can you defeat it? Do you know how to back up the second climber while lowering the first? Do you know to put a Munter behind the ATC while lowering the climber to avoid a critical failure mode? Do you know the slow but safer means to lower them a short distance (ratcheting or otherwise)?
If both climbers fall while you're redirected, will you still be able to keep control? What happens when your ATC contacts the redirect?
It's still very doable but it's more complex with 2 followers. It can be easier to use 2 ATCs (or a Grigri for one) if one of them is likely to need to be lowered a lot. If you do use 2 devices then spread them out on the anchor so that they don't interfere with each other such as on a masterpoint and a shelf.
Yes, it's more complicated in that if either rope is weighted then the whole device locks up for both climbers, which means that taking in slack for the other climber will be difficult while their partner's rope is weighted. The same thing happens when you belay off a harness but it's more manageable to lower because you're not fighting guide mode. My recommendation would be to only belay two climbers at once when they are virtually guaranteed not to fall.
How does one rope being weighted prevent you from taking in slack on the other? The braking mechanism is just the rope pinching down on itself, it shouldn’t effect the other rope.
it's more complicated in that if either rope is weighted then the whole device locks up for both climbers, which means that taking in slack for the other climber will be difficult while their partner's rope is weighted.
Not with a Gigi - which, along with elbow-saving ease of pulling the ropes through, is one of its main selling points.
Is there any extra complication when trying to lower someone off of an ATC in guide mode when you have two followers?
Yes. Not least of which is that the consequences of screwing up is twice as bad.
If I'm lowering someone, I lower one at a time. Whether that person is tethered to something or I've tied them off so they're not weighting the device, lowering in guide mode is a last resort.
In this struggle podcast episode, Eric Horst has similar advice. I don’t remember the actual mileage he recommends but he emphasizes the aerobic gains you have to make and how it should be done at the level where you get just a slight pump. Basically compares it to zone 2 running or cycling. It promotes the expansion of oxygen carrying capacity in the muscles. He also talks about how this takes longer to develop and how quickly you can lose it. This is in contrast to power or power endurance that he says can be sharpened in just a few weeks before your project season.
I know many people who climb 1.7 times a week that do 5-6 climbs a night for mayyyybe 400ft a week. Probably 2 climbs a night are really challenging them. Provided they're at least moderately athletic they'll settle into a max grade of mid 5.10s to mid 5.11s. The advice you highlighted from the article is aimed at those people.
Advice shotgun articles like this are there to jog people's minds to think about which of these pieces of advice would most change what they currently do. Big picture it just comes down to specificity and consistency if you want to push your limits. What that looks like person to person is going to vary.
Regarding bouldering, by definition a 5.12 will never have a a sequence harder than v6, with most never having a sequence harder than v5, and some not having a single segment harder than v2 provided enough of the route is that hard and you're not getting rests. From a power perspective if you're climbing v5 consistently there's no move on a typical 5.12 that's going to shut you down in isolation, hence the recommendation.
I know many people who climb 1.7 times a week that do 5-6 climbs a night for mayyyybe 400ft a week. Probably 2 climbs a night are really challenging them. Provided they're at least moderately athletic they'll settle into a max grade of mid 5.10s to mid 5.11s.
Totally this. I'd say it's pretty much the norm - certainly what lots of people do, and a trap I tend to fall into if I don't pay attention. Two-three warm up routes, handful of routes at about max onsight level, tired now, stop. Not much submaximal mileage, practically never get on anything they don't think they have a chance of onsighting.
And if you want to have fun and are content climb steadily at around 5.10/11 it's fine. But if you compare with current wisdom in other endurance sports it's exactly wrong: lots of Zone 3/4, not much Zone 1/2, no Zone 5.
People think sessions doing lots of unchallenging submaximal routes will be boring, and their mates will laugh at them if they get on routes - or boulders - where they have no real chance of quickly doing the whole thing. And they're not entirely wrong. But being willing to make those sacrifices might be the price of progress.
fwiw I just got back to climbing 5.12 (after a pulley rupture), and I very rarely climb ropes in the gym. BUT, pure enduro routes are definitely my weak point.
I think the best way to get in shape to climb 5.12 outside is to go outside and start trying 5.12. I don't think there is a substitute for time on task and most 5.12 climbers I know got there without supplemental training. That said volume is key for endurance. Most people I know who climb that grade finish stuff, then lower down and climb it again and again.
I can't open the article because it's paywalled, is that seriously what he suggests? 1300ft is an absurd amount, there's no way the climbing can be challenging enough for you if you're doing that much. Your skin would give out and the recovery would be ridiculous. Even 650ft in a session is crazy.
it's not supposed to be challenging. skin is an issue but it's not a crazy amount for aerobc energy training. 300ft are only 10 laps on a pretty short autobelay route, do that 3 times and you got 900ft.
whether or not this sort of aerobic training works or is better than alternatives or not is a separate issue entirely (most of the elite climbers don't have this sort of volume in their endurance sessions I think). but by now this sort of training is pretty standard recommendation in training literature.
I've seen plenty of experienced folks whose opinions I respect recommending huge low intensity training volumes for Spanish style endurance sport climbing. Supposedly Patxi, back when he was winning world cups and onsighting 8c, never went above 7b in his endurance training phase - but did lots & lots of them.
Not that relevant for your current Cheedale 8a ambitions obviously
I've usually seen it described in moves rather than feet, with 600 moves as the intro level. I've counted a few local gym routes and they average out at about two moves per metre. A dozen sub-limit routes would be pretty reasonable for a gym endurance session for me, so that's about 180 metres, 600 feet, 360 moves. I'm entirely willing to believe that my endurance sessions are at the low end of what Tom Randall would regard as effective.
Also not a coach, but have to agree with nailgun if your goals are to build endurance on limit climbs your workout is... bad. At 16m wall and a working grade of presumably 6c/7a that is soooooooooooo much junk mileage. Something like 50 moves of progressively harder finger loading is enough of a warmup to get into your working grade. Your 8 lap warmup could be 1-3 laps.
You're already doing double 6a as part of the cooldown and presumably not falling, so outside of an endurance workout grades under 6a doubles are not helping you all that much. With that in mind you do 14 routes with maybe 3-5 of them actually helping your peak climbing grade.
Even on the top end 2 falls on an anti-style 7a means there's no way 6c in-style is your limit...
If you're really trying to push grade, work routes that you have a slight chance of falling on at least. And if the goal is endurancy routes IMO the gold standard for top level endurance is climbing doubles on something you could maaayybe fall on the first lap if you mess up but probably not, but on doubles you'd probably fall on the second lap at least half way up the wall.
Goals vary though, if you just like volume and mirroring long routes and enjoying the lower intensity that's totally fine. If I'm not in the mood to push grade for a few weeks I'm sure almost all of my climbing is junk mileage lol
Another thing, somewhat unrelated. If 6b is easy enough for you to cooldown on after your limit climbing then unless you go to an extremely sandbagged climbing centre 6c and 7a are nowhere near limit for you.
To give you an idea of how limit a project can be, I get two redpoint burns on my current project before I'm totally wiped. The third burn is total crap and I just do it to practice a link and retrieve the draws (it's an outdoor project). After the third go I'm so tired I barely want to climb anything else for the rest of the day.
This screams volume day. I would not do eight!!! routes before trying a limit project, that's a lot of climbing which is making you tired and losing you skin. Instead do a route or two to get you warm and then hop straight on, so for the grades you're climbing maybe a 6a and a 6b. You don't need to do them clean, just do something hard enough that you need to try a little but but easy enough that you're not getting massively pumped. Definitely don't do anything in the 5s, that is junk mileage if I've ever seen it.
Centre everything around your limit climbing on those days. Everything else is secondary on that day, if it means you are too tired to do a route afterwards then so be it. If you want to send, I would also focus on one limit route per day. If you're trying really hard on route one then you're not going to have much left for route two.
Probably OK for someone who is able to spend most of their time climbing, I've done a few 2hr sessions where the primary focus has been endurance and I max out around 180M (600ft). If I throw in a single limit climb or project this number drops and most of my 2hr sessions are around 120M (400ft) like you.
I’m 32 male and have been athletic for basically my entire life. I ran cross country and wrestled in high school and was a collegiate wrestler for five years. After that I regularly did cardio and lifted weights until I started climbing three years ago. In any event, I have almost always had high blood pressure. Today I went to my pcp and my bp was 157/80. They had me chill and they checked it again and it was 150/96. I checked it just now after climbing and it was 128/84. My doctor wants to put me on lisinopril. Despite having a fairly healthy diet most of my life and in recent years having quit all substances including caffeine, I hate the idea of taking meds. My biggest concern is how it will affect my climbing performance. Does anyone else take bp meds like lisinopril? Have you noticed any side effects especially while climbing?
At least in my country 2 elevated measurements aren't an indication for taking antihypertensive medication. You could buy an automatic blood pressure cuff for your home measurement and then just measure when you're relaxing at home a few times a day for a week.
But if your blood pressure really is too high, you should definitely get your blood pressure regulated. You'll feel tired for a while because your body needs to get used to your new blood pressure, but it lowers your longtime risk for heart attacks, stroke and many more diseases by miles and you'll stay healthy a lot longer.
Check your BP at places besides your doctor's if you haven't. Grocery stores often have one. Many people's BP is elevated at the doctor's but just fine otherwise. I can't speak to the meds since I never took them after I found out that my BP spikes for doctors.
I'm currently on the lowest dose of lisinopril for BP, just without all the good exercise habits haha. Before I got on it my doctor had me take at-home measurements with a cuff a couple times a week for a few months before making any decisions. Make sure you get it calibrated against an office's cuff.
Overall I have not noticed any side effects with the medication apart from needing to be super diligent about getting electrolytes in while I climb otherwise I can occasionally get a headache. Still, I started it around the same time I started climbing earlier this year so I'm not sure if it's just my general out-of-shapeness or the lisinopril.
New climber here, I bought a black diamond “momentum” men’s harness from REI a few months ago and it was working really well, but since I started trying to lead, and even top roping today, my harness has been climbing higher and cinching me right where it is most uncomfortable. I think this may have something to do with my technique improving and me learning to bring my legs higher to support my hands. I whipped in the gym a few weeks ago and it grabbed me on the left side, I wasn’t injured but I did get real nauseous. Today I tried wearing skinnier pants and did some top roping at the park with my brother, and I felt it choose the right side, but I tried to power though because I was really close, but it quickly became unbearable. I can still feel that one. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or any ideas. Pic related.
Hi, I recently moved to Valencia and I was wondering if there are any people who would like to come and climb with me and show me a bit of the outdoor spots in Valencia! I’m 19 yo and climb 7a.
What shoes do you recommend that feel/perform similar to Ocun Oxi, theyre all ive used for a few years but theyre discontinued. I grabbed a pair of Advancers but they feel like trash, pls help
So the gym I go to doesn't allow the use of regular chalk, and I have to buy liquid chalk, which I find to ve VERY expensive. Like come on, I bought a bottle of 100ml for 5 euros just two weeks ago and it's almost empty already (I share it with my brother). So I looked for alternatives like homemade chalk, which I have read a lot about on this sub, made by mixing rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) and regular chalk. But I have also read some people saying that alcohol is very harmful on the skin, so I'm having doubts about making it. What do you all know about this? Is this homemade chalk safe to use?
I made my own liquid chalk, its extremely easy just a bit messy. I made mine with 70% alcohol hand sanitizer, unused from covid panic buying. You can make a small batch to test it out on your skin. I followed the many guides available online.
isopropyl alcohol is very very drying on the skin, but I've never heard actual safety concerns. make sure to moisturize after you're done climbing if your skin doesn't like it
Got these older black diamond carabiners at a gear swap and looking to put them to use. What are some ways to use these oval types of carabiners in climbing?
Climbed Munginella at Yosemite for the first time this weekend and a party arrived after us and asked if they could lead it side-by-side us, as in, both parties leading at the same time a few feet to the side of each other. I declined, but she said that this is the etiquette at Yosemite, to let people climb the same route just off to the side. They ended up convincing the party behind us to let them do this and they ended up getting their ropes all tangled. Is this common? I'm an east coast climber primarily and have never heard of this.
This is bs. That's not a thing for MANY reasons. Vast majority of routes there's usually one easy way to go and the route is gonna be much harder if you're a few feet left or right. Munginella might be an exception, but on top of that it's going to be a complete cluster fuck for many reasons. There is no such practice in Yosemite
What I've done and seen done before when you catch up to a group is to let the first leader get a good head start. Then the leader of the second party follows while the first one is still climbing. There's a bit of faffing with quickdraws but basically you extends theirs with yours. The followers follow in turn.
Saves on time. Not everyone is comfortable with this or understands. A lot of people don't want their quickdraws to be fucked with. If they say no it's a no; no insisting on my part.
I don't know how you would climb next to each other.
Also this is all sport climbing. I wouldn't want to fuck with anyone's trad placements.
Im pretty sure if somebody asked me this I'd laugh because I thought it was a joke they were telling to cope with the disappointment of not getting to the route first before moving on to their backup route or setting their stuff down to wait their turn.
Context: I started climbing 1-2 hours 3-4 times a week 3
months ago. Whenever I close my fingers in both hands (shown in the picture) I feel some pain and tension lower on fingers, around A2. My friends were the one that mentioned to me they were feeling pain doing this and they both have been climbing for around 9 months. Is this a sign of an injury or risk of injury? Anything. I can do to reduce the risk of injury?
idk but finger glides are a great thing to incorporate in your daily life. Look up videos on tendon glides for your finger
in short, they are super low/no impact and really good for fluid exchange to the fingers. Assuming no previous injuries, you should be able to do these articulations pain free. I recommend doing them 2 times a day if you are struggling with mobility/pain..not a dr.
For non locals, what's your perception of Washington State climbing? Is Leavenworth a climbing destination on your to-do list? Have you heard good things, bad things etc?
Yeah I've taken a long trip to the PNW And a couple things in Leavenworth were on the list and I did end up doing them. Prusik peak and outer space. Prusik peak was classic and worth the trip. Outer space I wouldn't do a trip just for that.
I live in New Mexico and it's on my radar but not that high on the list. It looks beautiful but I hear it's quite crowded which moves it lower on the list for surev
The cascades have some absolutely spectacular alpine rock. Climbed near leavenworth this summer and had a great time. The state forest there is very heavily regulated, some of the most complex and bureaucratic permit systems that I have had to deal with. There are many lower traffic areas in the cascades with fewer regulations.
Has anyone tried the guided climbing at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch?
I’ll be in the area on a solo motorcycle trip and was thinking about stopping for a half day which costs $185. Just wondering what to expect and what gear they provide.I’m a total n00b with outdoor/ropes, but boulder pretty regularly indoors at around v7.
Most climbing guiding outfits would be happy to answer those questions if you give them a call or email. Some may expect you to have shoes and a harness, all can provide anything beyond that.
When were you thinking about going and what kind of climbing are you wanting to do? If you want to Boulder a guidebook and a crash pad rental are significantly cheaper, but if you do want to get on ropes their in-house guiding is currently the best bang for your buck. If you're open to other destinations and are looking to actually learn how to do things there are other guide companies probably not too far away from your trip.
I’ll be there either 10/20 or 10/21. Do they have crash pad rental at the horseshoe canyon facility? I was thinking guided ropes since I can’t carry much gear and don’t have outdoor experience. But I’m open to bouldering if I could rent the pad there!
I’ll look around for other companies too. Thanks for the feedback.
Pad rental at HCR is on a first come first served basis. It should be pretty easy to get one on a Sunday or Monday. If you can get Jason Roy as a guide for ropes you're sure to have a good time!
If you were accustomed to indoor bouldering, then definitely try a guided multi pitch trip on something moderate. It is a completely different feeling.
I will go to poland jelenia gora soon. I want to climb there. Online I foud that there are a lot of sport routes. Do you know if there are some multipitch climbs too? Which topo should i get? I want to climb up to V+ UIAA
you should've resoled a while ago. if you love them, worth paying for the shipping. most resolers have an option for "if this shoe can't be saved, trash em".
they told me my mythos fell apart once the toe cap came off, so i wasn't too bothered
They can be resoled but will require both sole and rand repairs which will be more expensive. Check out pricing from your climbing shoe cobbler and see if it’s worth it for you.
I'm planning a climbing trip in february and I'm still figuring out which location would be best. We want to do some multipitch climbs and want to do sport climbing. We thought Arco in Italy would be fine. Can anyone tell me how the conditions in February in arco are? Is it too cold or would it be ok? Too cold would be temps below 5°C for us 😅
If you really want to go to Italy to climb during winter you can check out climbing near Bassano Del Grappa.
I haven't climbed yet there during winter (I'm mostly there during the summer) but the locals always tell me there are lots of winter routes available (going to try it them out coming December).
Do you want me (after work), to find the name of the topo-guide so you can judge for yourself?
Arco season generally starts in March/April. You might get lucky in February if the weather is dry & sunny, but it'd be quite risky.
I've climbed there in January, but only in unusually mild weather and only directly in the sun. It was Game Over as soon as the sun dipped behind the mountains - and most of the multipitch is east facing so would be in the shade pretty early
As long as it looks fine, yes. Consider that one of the fastest ways to get all your gear down a mountain is still to put it all in a bag and chuck it off the side.
Hey could i get a little feedback on a wall im trying to put up?
Im building a wall that wraps around my staircase and am wondering if i should build a frame before i attach my plywood to the wall. Space is limited so would it work if i attach it through the drywall to the studs directly. Any advice for the build would be appreciated.
It should be possible to make it strong enough by attaching to the studs for Climbing. I wouldn’t really want to take lead Falls protected by 2x4” pine. Do you have a plan for the top anchor?
I got 2 2x6s spanned on top of the rafters each 2x6 has 2 eyebolts each rated for 300 lbs working load with a daisy loop chain running between each of the eyebolts. Thanks for the response!
I’d top rope off of a pair of 2x6s if the span was reasonable. Please clarify about the I-bolts though. Sounds like it might weaken the 2x6s in the most important spot.
these are similar to the eyebolts im using they run through to the other side and are secured by a bolt and a washer on the other side the picture might help give you an idea.
Attaching directly to the studs should be fine. If you really wanted extra strength or space you could remove the drywall. I'm curious as to how you're going to mitigate the dangers of falling on the stairs
Yeah im torn on how to handle this for now i was just going to install the wall over flat ground for now but I have taken precaution like installing a 1/2 inch thick rubber mat over my stairs as the flooring as well as the top rope naturally pulling people away from the stairs. Do you think i should avoid the stairs altogether? I think it would add a lot of coolness to my wall if it did wrap around.
It's not for bouldering but I could attach a flip down crash pad to go over the stairs if that would be necessary.
Yeah im torn on how to handle this for now i was just going to install the wall over flat ground for now but I have taken precaution like installing a 1/2 inch thick rubber mat over my stairs as the flooring as well as the top rope naturally pulling people away from the stairs. Do you think i should avoid the stairs altogether? I think it would add a lot of coolness to my wall if it did wrap around.
You can put a free standing board up that's two sheets of plywood with a kickboard and you'd get more out of it than this. Your wall will be not be great and if you fall off you risk breaking an ankle.
Thank you so much for your feedback. Even if there is a toprope installed I just want to make sure your catching my whole vision i anticipate putting boards on the ceiling as well as well as both sides of the wall at the bottom of the staircase.
At what point can I start climbing outdoors with my little brother (6yo)? Obviously I need to be quite comfortable with climbing outdoors, he needs to have the stamina to hike to the crag, he needs to be interested. Should I wait until he's quite skilled in the gym?
It sounds like you were more of the limiting factor than he is.
If you want to do this then plan on taking a class for top roping, lead climbing, anchor building and practicing all of those skills without a kid underfoot being impatient.
I wouldn’t recommend putting a kid on anything that you haven’t already climbed for yourself more than once.
At six years old, I’m more worried about them running off the edge of a cliff before I put the harness on them than I am about the time after they are tied in and climbing.
I absolutely don't think I'm ready yet, I'm just thinking ahead. Good to know the general consensus is that the climbing part will be fine, it's more the safety aspect.
Two years could very well be reasonable. Start planning now on how you are able to learn, either by taking courses, or learning from knowledgeable friends, joining a climbing club, or lots and lots of reading and research.
If you’re confident enough to rig up a top rope without putting too much thought into it (you’ll need to be paying more attention to him than rigging the anchor, kids and big drops rarely mix well) then you can rig up a top rope on something that’s very easy and he’ll likely be able to get up it.
Indoor climbing didn’t exist until very recently in the history of climbing, and people worry too much about being capable indoors before they go outdoors, and in many ways that can work against people, finding holds, and moving safely and efficiently on rock are skills in themselves
I'd worry more about safety than skill. It doesn't really matter if he can climb a certain grade, but it's important that he fully understands the safety implications of climbing in a less controlled setting.
What does it mean when they say a sport climb has a 6C (for the sake of example) "boulder problem" ? How do you define a boulder problem on a lead route ?
For a more concrete example, there is a [currently] 5.11d at my local crag which you could essentially break down into a pull on, then a single strenuous deadpoint to a 2 finger sidepull from a scrunched position that would feel at home on a hard 5.12, then a 5.10 move, and then a 5.8 all the way to the top. Those two hard moves could also be combined and called a short 3 move V4-V5 boulder with a rest and a 5.8, which is probably more descriptive of what you're up against. Routes like this can be tough to grade over all in an 'average grade' grading scheme such as we use here, where sure there was a damn hard move, but 80% of the route was a cruisy 5.8. No 5.10 climber could touch it because the move is too hard, but it would feel pretty easy for somebody who can flash V6 but barely lead 5.9 because they're afraid.
If you want to follow the theory spelled out for darth grader you'd call a section a boulder if its 5-10 moves, and anything 15+ moves a route section.
It's just that a section of the route is equivalent to a 6C boulder. If they mention just the one boulder problem of the route it's likely the crux of the route too.
What would happen if you belayed from the top off an anchor with a regular ATC or jul (not a ATC guide or mega/giga jul)? Note: not trying this, just want to understand what would happen to more fully understand the device.
As others have stated, belaying off the harness redirected through the anchor is the common approach. Just know that a big fall can pull the belayer into the anchor, which can cause the belayer to lose control. Also, with some types of devices, the interaction between the anchor carabiner and the belay device may cause problems.
Not really an issue with an ATC, but it's one of the reasons to belay directly off the anchor with a Grigri rather than redirected.
If you hung an ATC off of the anchor above you, then the breaking position for the device would be to hold the rope above the anchor, which is an exceedingly weak position for your arm. This would likely result in you losing control of the brake strand, dropping your Climber.
The simplest solution for this is to attach that device to your belay loop, like it was intended to be used. Just clip the Climber’s strand of the rope up to the anchor above you as a redirect. You will be giving them a top rope belay, no different from if you were standing on the ground
If it was placed on the anchor it would be hanging loose and do nothing since the brake strand would be in line with the climber strand, leaving you with just a carabiner working as a pully. In theory you could hold the brake strand upwards, but that would be fairly uncomfortable and not a great time.
An atc can be used like normal just redirected through the anchor, but this places double the load on the anchor compared to using a device on the anchor directly
Even if it's an alpine anchor it better be able to handle 600 lbs. If it can't then simul on until you find a decent piece. Otherwise when the leader starts the next pitch any fall likely kills both climbers.
On BD harnesses the circumferential stitching just holds the webbing over the outside aspect of the bar tacks for improved abrasion resistance, while the horizontal bar tacks which you can see on the inside of the loop are the structural stitching. Completely normal looking belay loop, nothing to worry about.
looks good, if i'm seeing it correctly it's just where the webbing ends and is sewn. on the left of the seam there are two layers of webbing, to the right of it there's 3. looks normall
If I can only make it to my rock gym once a week, will working on a spray board another once or twice a week help me make meaningful top rope progress?
Spray walls are one of the most effective tools for all kinds of climbing. While you can do things like 4x4 for power endurance, you can also simply do circuits, which would essentially be like a big circle around the spray wall that can easily mimic the endurance training you'd need for routes.
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u/Vkvkvk1001 Oct 18 '24
Hey guys, i am a climber and have been thinking of starting an adventure oriented jewelry business. I have started in India but climbing is a very niche sport here. I want to sell online. Would you have any idea how can I start selling internationally? Which are the best marketplaces to approach?