Rock Climbing Wall

Rock Climbing: Powerful Tips for Becoming a Good Rock Climber

You’ve decided to become a rock climber.  Yet all you know is what you’ve seen on television or in movies.  That doesn’t matter.  You’ve decided and that’s that.  Let’s pretend that you come from a land where there are no large rock formations whatever.  Here are some basic tips and suggestions to help in your understanding of what it takes to engage in this extreme sport. 

Tips for Good Technique. 

-  Rock climbing is mentally challenging.  The ability to clear your mind and focus is essential to your success as a climber.  If you’re able to meditate as you climb, you’re worlds ahead of those that can’t.  Use whatever works for you.  There is no one way for all.   

-  Control the center of gravity (COG).  This is usually at the center of your body, somewhere in your abdomen.  (Hopefully not lower than that!)  All of your movements begin here.  You’ll want your legs directly beneath you or to equal distances on each side of you. 

-  Observe other climbers.  This is especially educational when you are belaying a good climber.  Ask questions as they come to you.  Understanding will go a long way when you try the moves yourself.

-  Practice the techniques you’ve observed.  Learn them.  With repetition, these techniques will become more and more comfortable.  Eventually, you may discover that these new moves are exactly what you need to complete a particular section of a climb.    

-  Climb when you’re tired.  It seemed a bit nuts when I first learned this.  But it really can help a new climber.  Climbing tired forces you to plan each move with deliberation and not speed.  It also forces you to consider your energy reserves and learn just how far you can go in this condition.

-  Work on your weak points.  Spare some climbs just to work on your weak points.  You’ll vastly improve your climbing ability and bring you closer to becoming a good climber.  Remember that it isn’t a good idea to work on your good points during the same climb.  Work on one or the other, not both. 

Tips when Climbing.

-  Rock climbing can be done at any speed you’re comfortable with.  You may climb slowly and methodically.  Or you may climb with speed and finesse, if that suits you better.  Whatever the choice, it should depend upon the strengths you already have.

-  Whenever possible, rely on your legs to move you.  It is very unwise to sap unnecessary energy from your upper body when your legs can easily get it done.

-  Raise one foot at a time.  This will further prevent you from using your upper body to lift all your weight.  Avoid doing so whenever you can.

-  When you feel your muscles tightening, when you feel that a cramp is coming on, just stop.  Go no further.  Don’t wait for the cramp to happen to stop.  Look for a nearby ledge or just hangdog (rest on your gear or on the rope) until all muscle tightening has disappeared.

Tips when Resting. 

-  Check and secure your footholds.  Make sure that the next handholds are above your head.

-  Keep your arms in a relaxed position by straightening them out.  It really does make a difference.

-  Lean back into the wall and not away from it.  Energy is uselessly lost when you lean out and have to pull yourself back in to continue the climb.  Your COG will have been in your arms and you don’t want that.

-  Plan your next move.  Locate your next holds.  Position your hands and feet, even practice the movements.  This improves each chance for a smooth execution, especially on difficult sections.  

These are very basic tips and recommendations to quicken your understanding of what it takes to engage in the sport of rock climbing.  When you understand, you can better implement safely and then improve quickly.  And once you’ve received certified instruction on how to climb, you’re outta’ here.  Just remember to always respect the air and space around you for there is no safety net.  Be safe up there. 

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Len Q. is a master blade sharpener and an adventurer who strives to protect the natural world.  If you would like to learn about

            -  Knife Sharpening:  How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them

            -  Tests for Sharpness, Steeling and more

            -  Sharpening Other Edges    (e.g. Lawn Mower Blades, Chain Saws,

Gardening Tools, Axes)

Find it here at www.MakeKnivesSharp.com. 

Mountain Climbing: so You Want to be a Mountaineer

Mountain Climbing: so You Want to be a Mountain Climber

So you want to be a mountain climber.  You want to be a mountaineer, do you?  Alright then.  Here are the very basics.  Mountaineering is the act of hiking, climbing and camping up mountains.  To most of us it is a sport, a hobby.  But to those for which mountaineering is like breathing, it is a true profession.  You must be athletically fit and have the technical ability for it.  One more thing many people don’t realize:  you’ve got to have the mental capacity for it.  It’s challenging for the mind and the spirit.  You need every part of yourself. 

There are three typical terrains encompassed by mountaineering.  They are snow, glaciers and ice—each requiring its own specific equipment.  Snow shoes are very useful for deep snow, such as what you may find in long fields of snow or on inferior slopes of a mountain where snow will pile up.  Glaciers pose no problem by themselves.  The greatest danger is in the common occurrence of a crevasse while crossing one.  These deep chasms are often well hidden from sight by a snowbridge that is often just a few inches thick.  A wrong step and it could be all over for you.  In glacial travel, a system of ropes is used, binding climbers to each other.  If necessary, a crevasse rescue to the rescue!  Basic glacial gear includes rope, crampons and an ice axe.  This will also be your basic gear for travelling over ice.  If you’re travelling over steep ice, however, you’ll also need ice screws (aka pickets) and an extra axe.  Now, if the ice is a vertical wall, you’ll need ice climbing skills to get up there.  Be ready for it.   

Climbing a worthy mountain requires days of camping out.  Time is needed to acclimatize to the high altitude conditions.  It often requires more than a day to descend to the base of the mountain once you’ve reached the top.  You’ve got a few choices for shelter on those forbidding slopes.  Base camps may be found on many popular, usually very dangerous summits.  These camps give you time to prepare for an attempt to reach the summit.  Additional camps may be found further up the mountain where the summit cannot be reached from base camp in a single day.  Mountain huts, with varying names based on location, have basic eating and sleeping facilities.  Some are abandoned during certain times of the year but, at favorable times, are fully manned and stocked.  Some huts offer booking in advance and, in these cases, cancellations are advised.  If cancellations aren’t given and the party doesn’t show, it could indicate that someone is stuck on a mountain and needs help. 

Much simpler, temporary shelters are often used up on a mountain.  The most common shelter on a mountain is a tent.  They’re easy to pick up, easy to take down.  If weather threatens, outcroppings of snow or rock are readily used to fortify them.  A bivouac (bivy) is an open encampment that can give you a rough-and-ready resting and sleeping arrangement.  Handmade shelters, such as a snow cave, may be dug out of the ground in at least four feet of snow—a very compact fit.  A quinzee, on the other hand, is carved out of a pile of snow above ground.  While these handmade shelters may not seem like much, they are so much warmer than being outside in the open freezing air.  Igloos are surely a possibility, but it takes quite some time to build one.  Time, while climbing a mountain, is always something you wish you had more of.      

Aside from knowing what types of terrain to expect and how to manage them, what types of shelter are available, you must know what dangers to look for.  The three main types of danger in mountaineering are things falling on you, yourself falling and bad weather.  Things falling on you include rocks, snow (avalanches), ice and even another climber, or his gear.  As a climber, you could loose your hold and drop into very thin air.  You may go careening down a mountainside.  If you survive the brutal tumble, hopefully you won’t land in a deep hole or a crevasse.  Good grief!  And a climber should never forget the ever-present threatening danger of the weather.  While many dangers may be avoided based on the route you choose going up and down the mountain, no climber can ever escape the weather.  You mustn’t ever ignore it.  It could mean your life and don’t ever allow yourself to doubt it.     I    

If you’re going to be a mountaineer, you’ve got to be serious.  A few months preparation is not being serious—unless, of course, you’re already athletically fit and adept at another climbing activity.  This is one of the most dangerous, most extreme nature sports there is. 

You must be fit.  You have to be smart.  Always be ready.  And, please, don’t ever climb alone.  You know you’re just asking for it.  Be careful up there!

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Len Q. is a master blade sharpener and an adventurer who strives to protect the natural world.  If you would like to learn about

            -  Knife Sharpening:  How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them

            -  The Fastest Way to Sharpen, Tests for Sharpness and more

            -  Sharpening Other Edges (Maintain and Store Them)

               (e.g. Chain Saws, Gardening Tools, Axes)

            -  Or maybe you could use a Free Guide on  Sharpening Lawn Mower Blades

Find it here at www.MakeKnivesSharp.com.  your mountain.