When you set off to buy your first pair of climbing shoes, one of the first things you’ll notice is the sizing is different. Most climbing shoes are made in Europe and therefor use European sizing. This can be a little confusing, which is why we created this Climbing Shoe Size Calculator for you. Check…
Free climbing and free soloing Top roping and leading. Bouldering and speed. Climbing has come a long way since its start, including its debut as an olympic sport. But even with all its new forms, the style of sport climbing has remained widely popular among new and veteran climbers alike. With all the terminology and…
Learning to climb requires using a new language. From equipment to slang to basic definitions, there is a lot to take in. Starting off, one of the most important things to understand is sport vs. trad climbing. Sport vs. trad climbing: Difference explained Sport climbing emphasizes physical challenge and uses pre-placed bolts for protection, while…
Everyone has a favorite pair of climbing shoes that just seem to fit like magic. But when the rubber starts to wear and the liner starts to show, we’re struck with dread at the thought of dropping another $200 and having to break in a fresh pair of kicks. But fear not, there is an…
Hanging belays—belays where there is no ledge for you to stand on so you have to simply hang in your harness—are no fun. Hang there long enough and your legs will go numb. One solution is a belay seat, which is exactly what it sounds like: a seat you sit in at the belay. Fish (at…
I wanted an easy way to track how often I climb, so I printed out a single-page calendar that shows the entire year on it and stuck it to the wall next to my computer. (This is the 2016 calendar I printed, and here’s a 2017 version. I like these versions too: 2016 and 2017.) I…
Check out this video of a guy who wanted to be able to ride his bike to the boulders without lugging the thing on his back: (Click here if you can’t see the video.) He made a tutorial on Instructables showing how he did it. Some more searching eventually brought up these two images in…
If you’ve been climbing outdoors for a bit you’ve probably heard the term prusik. A prussik is a knot that climbers used for a few purposes. It can be used for ascending a fixed rope, taking the load off of a rope, and backing up a rappel, among other things. Most beginner climbers most commonly…
We all know about spotting in bouldering, but what about sun spotting? That’s what I’m calling the technique that you can see in this video from 0:39 to 0:46. The spotter is holding up a small pad to block the sun and keep it out of the climber’s eyes. Neat little trick, one that I’ve…
“Sport climbing is neither.” It’s something that used to be on t-shirts and bumper stickers (and probably still is). But what exactly does it mean? It means that sport climbing is neither a sport nor climbing. It originated in the early days of sport climbing (that is, using bolts drilled and hammered into the rock…
One of the biggest mistakes that non-climbers and new climbers make is confusing the terms free climb vs. free solo. What’s the difference? Is there a difference? Is it important? Free climb vs. Free solo The terms free climb and free solo both refer to forms of rock climbing, but they differ in the use…
Chances are you’ve heard someone talk about sandbagging climbing routes. Something like: It’s a sandbagged 5.9. It’s rated 5.11a, but it’s totally sandbagged. I remember that route. It’s a sandbag, for sure. You’ve seen it in a guidebook, read it on Mountain Project, or heard someone say it at the crag. So what exactly does…
Slab climbing is polarizing among climbers. The majority of folks I climb with hate it. After all, slabs often equal rough falls, bad holds, and lots of run out between clips. Other climbers love it for the technical, balancy style of climbing that slabs require. Regardless of how you feel, slab climbing isn’t something you…
So you’ve got some quickdraws, the quintessential piece of sport climbing gear. Which way should the carabiners on those suckers face? Should they both be facing the same way, or should they face opposite directions? In other words, what should the carabiner gate orientation be? Good questions! My two cents In short, I believe that it’s…
Is there a quickdraw on a high first bolt that you want to clip, but you don’t have a stick clip? Then you’d better learn about this handy-dandy rope trick. You grab a long bight of rope and than twirl it, lasso style, close to the gate of the bottom biner on the quickdraw. Aim…
Does it matter what kind of belay device you use when belaying a climber on a trad climb? Is it OK to use a Grigri for belaying trad climbs? Well, the general consensus in belaying theory is that it’s best to not use an auto-locking belay device like a Grigri when trad climbing. Why? Since…
Protection in the rock climbing world refers to cams, nuts, hexes, and the like, and the world of protection can be further categorized into active and passive protection. The video below gives an overview of active and passive pro: Pieces of active protection have moving parts. Examples include cams, BallNutz, and Big Bros. Passive protection…
Cams are the sexy darlings of the climbing protection world, but don’t forget about nuts (also known as chocks, stoppers, and rocks, the last two of which are the trademarked names of the nuts made by Black Diamond and Wild Country, respectively). They’re cheap, easy to place, easy to visually inspect, and, when placed properly,…
Lead climbing is a thrill. Being above a bolt, pushing for the next hold, knowing if pop off a short free fall awaits. It’s a huge part of the draw to sport climbing. But that thrill becomes fear when a high first bolt or challenging first move means failure equals a ground fall. That’s where…
Trad climbing is my personal favorite type of rock climbing, and placing cams is THE essential skill to know before heading out on a trad lead. The video below is a great introduction on how to place cams: Want another take on it? Check out this video: I know that when I was first learning…
Ever seen a sharp corner of rock and thought “I need to climb that.” If so, you’ve fallen under the spell of arete climbing. But while these edges look juicy, getting to the top can be a challenge and requires some special skills. Arete climbing overview Arete climbing is a technical style of rock climbing…
If you pick up any guidebook to pretty much any climbing area, the chances are good that you’ll see the word “dihedral” used to describe a climb or part of one. So what is a dihedral, exactly? What is dihedral climbing? A dihedral is a cliff feature where two planes of rock come together at…
Have you ever thought about how a climbing rope is made? Have you ever seen the core of a climbing rope or played with the sheath and wondered what function those different parts serve? The video below—from the TV series How It’s Made—was filmed at the New England Ropes factory. Note: The climbing rope portion goes up through 2:43….
Looking for things to do with an old climbing rope? Easy. Turn it into a great door mat or small rug! The video below shows what you need to do. You can download and print out the pattern (as mentioned in the video) here at the Edelrid website. You’ll also find there a list of the…
