Have the Olympics fired you up to train for competition climbing? Trying out competitive climbing is an awesome challenge and can spice up your climbing life. Trying out new things in climbing is a great way to change things up when you find yourself in a rut or plateau. At first, I thought that competitive …
Bouldering is one of the most recently created disciplines of climbing (competition speed climbing is the most recent.). Bouldering is an incredibly social sport. And it has the lowest barrier to entry of the climbing disciplines. With indoor climbing gyms popping up all over the country, you can expect any city to have facilities dedicated …
“What is free climbing?” That was a question on my friend’s mind when she was at the rock climbing gym for her first time. Climbing is permeating the culture at the moment. Academy award-winning films, medals in the Olympics, and indoor gyms popping up in every town in the country. All this exposure has a …
Bouldering high above the best crash pads always makes me feel better. The higher I climb up a boulder, the smaller everything looks down below! I have a healthy respect (fear) for gravity and the ground. I remember taking a bad fall onto my ribs while bouldering on the Iron Man Boulder in Bishop, CA. …
Bouldering grades are a common language that represents the difficulty of a boulder problem. The higher the climbing grade, the more difficult the route will be. In this guide, we will explain what factors determine a boulder grade and what you can expect as you climb through the grading scale. We’ll take a look at …
Looking for the best climbing gyms in Washington D.C? Fortunately, our nation’s capital hosts an impressive list of climbing gyms for you to get your send on! Residents of DC know how brutal the traffic can be, but luckily the climbing gyms in Maryland and the climbing gyms in Virginia all host an array of …
How to get good at rock climbing is a question with an easy answer. The answer is to climb more, climb a lot, and climb different styles! Boulderers, start sport climbing! Sport climbers, start trad climbing! Trad climbers… start bouldering! Now that we got the cheeky answer out of the way, let’s dive into how …
The gaston is something took me forever to figure out. But as I’ve progressed from gym climbing, to outdoor climbing, and professional guiding, this particular hold has become my secret weapon. The first time I tried to use one I was stumped. I had done plenty of layback climbs, where using the hold was intuitive. …
To the untrained eye, rock climbing seems like a sport where you need incredible upper body strength and fingers of steel. I’ve had friends who have never climbed before ask me how many pull ups I’m doing in my training regimine. They’re always surprised to hear my answer: not many. In my opinion, rock climbing …
One of the most common questions I’ve received during my time as an AMGA instructor is “how tight should climbing shoes be?” When you buy your first pair of rock shoes, you’ll be faced with a problem that nearly all climbers face. What size climbing shoes should I get? Different shoes fit each persons shoe …
