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dizzy
Jan 30, 2002, 6:15 PM
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Hello all.
I have been climbing at an indoor gym seriously for about 6 months and im wanting to progress to real rock. Is there a good way to make the progression? Is it easy enough to just go and do?
cheers.
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camhead
Jan 30, 2002, 6:45 PM
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This has been addressed before, but oh well.
With the popularity of climbing these days, EVERYONE is an expert. However, I urge you, especially in this impressionalble stage of your climbing development, to find someone who really knows what he/she is doing, whether you are going to go toperope a 5.6 or do some ballsy trad route.
If you are just progressing out of the gym, go do some easy TR's first. The nature of real rock is quite different from that of plastic, so you don't want to get in too deep.
That said, I prefer learning on rock, and simply using the gym as a last ditch effort to keep in shape. But I digress.
cheers, and good luck!
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rigel
Jan 30, 2002, 7:11 PM
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in my experience, the best place to meet climbing partners is the gym. you get a chance to see someone climb, maybe do some bouldering together and see how they climb (how good and how safe). then progress to doing some indoor routes at the gym (most gyms will require a belay class) so you know they know how to belay...then you guys can hit the rock and have confidence in your partner...
climb safe. life is a one shot deal.
[ This Message was edited by: rigel on 2002-01-30 11:11 ]
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dizzy
Jan 30, 2002, 7:13 PM
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thanks for the tips. i have jsut found out that there is some real rock nearby where i live which is good for bouldering. Im going to check that out soon and see what i find.
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amethyst
Jan 30, 2002, 8:47 PM
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Registered: Jun 18, 2001
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Hey, you'll love climbing outside, it is sooo much better than gym climbing. I had not seen the inside of a gym until I came to the States, but I suppose that it is more convieniant.
Anyway, have fun with the wildlife.
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crux_clipper
Jan 30, 2002, 10:19 PM
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I found that doing an indoor lead course really helped. This gives you the basics on leading safely in the gym. Then get some hard routes under your belt before venturing on lead outdoors. I love outdoors, but it's a lot harder than indoors, especially stopping to place pro.
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uhighfreak
Feb 1, 2002, 4:49 PM
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Take a lead course at the gym and talk to the instructors and employees at the gym. Many times the people that work at the climbing gyms know what they are talking about and would be happy to talk to you about progressing to the outdoor rock. Meeting people is also easy at the gym so you might find a partner at the gym to go climb outdoors. But I put caution on the idea of just going outdoors with someone you just meet. You have to know whether or not they know how to climb before you trust your life to them.
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jt512
Feb 1, 2002, 5:59 PM
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Registered: Apr 12, 2001
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There is a book specifically written for making the transition from the gym to real rock: Climbing: From Gym to Crag by S. Peter Lewis, Dan Cauthorn.
You can buy it from Amazon.com.
-Jay
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kaptk
Feb 1, 2002, 6:24 PM
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The first climbing that I did was on real rock. If someone tells you that you need to climb at a certain level inside before you get on real rock, don't listen to them.(What would they have done before climbing gyms came into being.) Right now I am taking a course through my school. One of the things that I will learn is how to set up anchors, so that I can set up top ropes. Climbing outside is so much better and there are plenty of easy routes to get started on. I agree that you need to make sure that someone you go with has experience at setting up your system. Have fun getting out to the crag.
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