What do new Rock Climbers want to learn in their first year climbing? If u climb please answer?
Written by climber on March 29th, 2009
Ryan c asked:
I am doing a study to see what new rock climbers want to learn about rock climbing in their first year. This can be everything from terminology to technique to training. It doesn’t matter just tell me what you would like to learn in your first year climbing.
I am doing a study to see what new rock climbers want to learn about rock climbing in their first year. This can be everything from terminology to technique to training. It doesn’t matter just tell me what you would like to learn in your first year climbing.
Tags: Rock Climbers, Rock Climbing
6 Comments at "What do new Rock Climbers want to learn in their first year climbing? If u climb please answer?"
You say “rock” climbing, so I assume you mean outdoor rock climbing.
1. Safety techniques
2. Balance and footwork
3. Downclimbing
4. Setting anchors
5. Route finding
Good Luck
To what TahoeT said, I would add belaying and rappelling, unless they are included in what he calls “safety techniques.”
How to build anchors and belay safely, and learning to trust the gear and get past the natural fear of heights that we all have.
First you have to become familiar with some of the terms, so you sound cool and experienced talking to other climbers.
Bomber gear= gear that you could take a hopper off
Hopper= big fall
Beta = info
Savage Cabbage = really sweet
Crimpy = only containing crimp grips/ small grips only for your finger tips
Pumpy = tiresome, sustained route that causes the muscles to become pumped
Pumped = when your muscles become hard and filled with lactic acid
Bouldering = low technical climbing
Dyno = controled lunge
Rope = long thing that is tied to you to stop you falling
Shit hot = really good at climbing
Onsight = do a route without beta on first go
Red point = to do a route with beta, and or with rests
Now allow me to try to put these into a sentence:
‘ Hey have you seen Dave? He’s **** hot, just onsighted a 8a+, it was savage cabbage. Really crimpy, pumpy little route. I’ve been trying it all day and can’t even red point it, took a massive hopper, but the gear was bomber, fell on the last dyno. Take down the rope, I’m gonna go see if I can get some Beta off Dave, I think he’s bouldering with John.’
I was gonna take a few friends to the wall at their college to bring them for a bit of climbing, and I was trying to get them to learn some phrases to just go up to people and say them pointing at people climbing, never got round to it. Woulda been funny.
Oh come on, why would you ‘not want to learn them’? I mean how could you follow what people were talking about. Anyway it was just a bit of fun, no need for the bad karma Jessica. Savage cabbage isn’t really a big climber’s term, but it’s funny and just sounds right, bomber, I’m sure that’s more or less a universal term in climbing. Bomber gear, bomber anchor??? No?
i am going on my 6th year of climbing now, and some of the things i remember when i first started climbing was: i really wanted to learn how to lead climb, i remember seeing climbers lead climb the roof in my gym and i wanted to learn how to do that; i wanted to know how to tie a figure 8 knot and how to belay w/o a grigri. of course i learned this very fast, but a lot of the ropes in my gym didnt have clips and grigris, so i wanted to learn as fast as possible; i really wanted to know to know how to climb the overhangy things. pretty much i just wanted to gain technique and climb better.
hope this helps!
oh and the the garion guy above me i definetely never wanted to learn these terms in the first year of climbing, and i dont think anyone really wanted to learn them. learning them just came naturally after you climbed after a lot. oh and some of the words like hopper and that cabbage thing i have never even heard of, so i’m sure that those words vary from place to place.
Ryan, I teach a Rock Climbing class a couple times a year and the syllabus in driven in part by what people want to learn their first year. I also oversee a climbing program and find the information most climbers demand in the first year is very similar. The content is basically:
1. Introduction to climbing, basic safety, harness use, how to tie in, how to belay, (basic equipment scattered though out), communication & terminology, a few basics on technique.
2 Bouldering, climbing shoes and other basic equipment, review basic techniques & terminology, training.
3. More knots and rope work, an introduction to webbing and slings. more technique, information about rating climbs and climbing difficulties, route finding, taking care of gear.
4. Top rope set up, more knots, rope dynamics, outdoor climbing safety, dynamic vs. static properties, pulley and other forces. Lead climbing rope work and equipment discussed, but not practiced.
5. Rappelling - use of common belay devices, single rope, double rope, munter (italian hitch), dealing with overhangs, free rappels. Common accidents, their causes and prevention.
6. Vertical rope technique and introduction to more advanced climbing gear.
7. Review, special topics of interest.
Safety and the importance of critical thinking is a common theme throughout.
Hope this helps you out.
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