Rock climbing is not only exciting and interesting, but also develops flexibility and all muscle groups of the body!
There are different types of rock climbing and, contrary to popular myths, you don't have to be born a rock climber to learn this exciting sport! You can start doing it at any age, as long as your health allows!
1. Bouldering in the gym. To understand how you feel in the vertical world and how to control your body, go to a bouldering gym, where the wall height usually does not exceed 4 meters and there are soft mattresses on the floor to fall on. Necessary equipment: rock shoes, chalk.
2. Climbing gym with a rope.
If you want to climb with a rope and learn how to handle safety equipment, go to training with a climbing instructor.
Top rope climbing. The rope is fixed at the top and you can only focus on climbing. Adhering to safety requirements and following common sense, the possibility of injury in the event of a fall is very low.
Equipment: rock shoes, chalk, harness, carabiner, belay device, climbing partner (if climbing gym is not equipped with autobelay).
When you feel confident climbing with the top rope, you can move to the next level - lead climbing.
3. Lead climbing in a climbing gym. This should be learned under the guidance of experienced instructors, because there are many nuances that must be learned in order to climb safely.
Equipment: rock shoes, harness, helmet, chalk, dynamic rope* (9.5 - 11 mm), couple of HMS carabiners, belay device.
And finally - the real rocks!
4. Climbing on equipped rock routes (sports climbing). This is one of the most affordable and interesting ways to get acquainted with real rocks. There are metal hooks embedded in the rocks to fasten the rope. In Europe (especially in Italy, Spain and France), rock climbing is quite common, information about climbing sectors is widely available and the routes are mostly safe. Both rock climbing apps and books with route descriptions are available. Usually the routes vary from 15 to 35 meters and in other places even up to 50 meters high.
Equipment: rock shoes, harness, helmet, chalk, rope (50 to 100 meters depending on the destinatiopn), quickdraws (at least 12-14 pcs.), belay device, couple of slings, 3-4 carabiners.
5. Multipitch sports climbing, which reach a height of several hundred meters.
In-depth belaying skills and knowledge are required, which should be learned under the guidance of an experienced instructor.
6. Traditional rock climbing (trad climbing), or climbing on unequipped rock routes.
If you want complete freedom and climb a rock that is not equipped with protection points, then here you will need in-depth knowledge of both the evaluation of rock routes, equipment and its safe use, as well as a wider range of equipment and strong skills in its use.
See you on the wall!