ATC stands for air traffic controller! If you just started climbing, chances are that you’ve seen, heard about, or used a Black Diamond tube-style belay device, but it’s been referred to as an ATC. How often have you heard someone say, “belay me with your air traffic controller”? I never have, but I have often wondered … Read more
Route reading is a critical skill for rock climbing. If you’ve watched elite level climbers at competitions or the Olympics, then you’ve seen them performing what looks like air karate before they step up to send the route. What they’re doing is called “route reading”. They are miming out the hand and foot sequence for … Read more
Yes, you can climb too much as a beginner. An overuse injury will be incredibly detrimental to your climbing progression. I remember when I first started climbing it was all I wanted to do. I wanted to go every single day. And on the days I forced myself to take a rest day I was … Read more
Top roping is a form of rock climbing where the climber is secured to a rope that is anchored above them at the top of the climb. This is different from lead climbing where the climber is protected by a rope that they trail behind them and is clipped into protection points as they ascend. … Read more
One of my favorite outdoor climbing destinations near Washington, DC is Elizabeth Furnace. Elizabeth Furnace rock climbing, which isn’t too far from Front Royal, is an excellent day trip destination for climbers in the DC metro area and it also poses a wide variety of sport and trad climbs. There are endless opportunities for adventure … Read more
Have some of your climbing friends been talking about their ape index? The jargon in climbing seems to be endless, and now suddenly we’re talking about apes? What is Ape Index? Ape Index is a term that describes your arm span (wingspan) in relation to your height. The ape index can be expressed as either … Read more
Are you trying to get a psyche loan from the best climbing documentaries on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu? We got you covered. The rack you’ll need for this send is simple. A computer, internet, and an extra-large bucket of popcorn. We here at Outdoor Rack Builder took a look through all the climbing movies … Read more
If you’re looking for climbing or bouldering gyms in Rehoboth Beach Delaware (or at Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach), you don’t have many options. I guess that’s not too surprising since there are so many other awesome activities at the beach. But I understand the urge to climb! I’ve been reading a book at the … Read more
Slopers are one of the most controversial climbing holds among many climbers. Maybe it’s because they can put a lot of strain on your wrist, maybe it’s because the hold doesn’t always feel 100% secure, or maybe it’s because they seem scary so climbers avoid them! New climbers always get confused by slopers, when I … Read more
Thinking of bouldering and rock climbing as two separate sports isn’t quite right. It’s not so much “bouldering vs rock climbing”, but that bouldering is a subset of rock climbing. Rock climbing is a general and vast sport. There are SO many niches within climbing: traditional climbing, aid climbing, ice climbing, alpine climbing, gym climbing… … Read more