Introducing a Friend To Climbing
Want to take a pal climbing, but not sure you have enough expertise? Want to share your passion for climbing, just not sure where to start? Have a look at these 9 tips for some ideas to get you started!...
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Bouldering Tag
Getting back into climbing
Whether it’s running out of time, life getting in the way, or recovering from injuries, sometimes you have to take a break from climbing. This seems to be something I do pretty often, every year. Getting back on the wall can then feel like a...
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Climbing Exercises for Beginners
Starting out with climbing can seem quite daunting at first: completely new kit, knots and belaying techniques that need to be learnt, and the lingo that goes along with a new sport. If you’re just starting out, try...
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Climbing and the Olympics: Part One
Are you excited?! Just in case you haven’t heard (are you living in a climbing-free cave?), in 2016 it was announced that Sport Climbing, along with Skateboarding, Surfing and Karate, would be trialed at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. But a climbing competition? How do you...
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Destination Guide: Thorn Crag
I’ll be honest. I discovered Thorn Crag as a result of a somewhat desperate Google search: “easy bouldering UK”. As that search indicates, I am by no means a boulderer. A nasty ankle injury bouldering indoors early in my climbing career, compounded by a trip to Font with...
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Training Exercises for Bouldering
Going to the bouldering gym to crush your project is a satisfying and fun way to climb, but what about those days when you want something a little less intense while still...
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Bouldering in Finland: Part Three
Then and Now, Courtesy of the Ice Age “Finnish bouldering is as good as anywhere, and there is a lot of it”, one keen climber summed up in the Finnish climbing documentary Cold Stone. It is easy to second that. You’ll notice granite blocks dotting the forest floor...
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Bouldering in Finland: Part Two
Spring Fin Bouldering, Åland Island Life Anssi Laatikainen photography Spring sunshine is brushing the surface of red granite blocks in Åland’s Djupviksgrottorna (more casually, Grottan). The granite here is slated in such a way that the ubiquitous roofs look like they’ve been constructed from stacked up Lego blocks. The hold-potential of those...
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Bouldering in Finland: Part One
Planning your next Adventure Holiday: Lappnor Projects Weak rays of autumn sunlight reach through the twigs of an evergreen forest. A dirt road slithers between the trees, becoming more and more uneven as it runs deeper into the forest. It is Sunday in mid-August, and the boulder...
Read More7 Reasons I Chose my Climbing Gym
There has been a recent explosion of bouldering gyms around Sydney, and having climbed at each of them, let me tell you why I travel one hour each way to get to the gym I chose. It’s in Lane Cove, and it’s called 9 Degrees...
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Bouldering. 101.
Noticed a new bouldering gym pop up in town and want to try it? Good. New to bouldering? Even better. Here’s a cheat sheet for you: The wall Natasha Hirst Photography The indoor bouldering gym usually hosts a 20 foot (or 6.1 metre) wall. It is an artificially constructed...
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Bouldering Vocabulary
Natasha Hirst Photography Enjoying the bouldering wall, but not sure what the lingo's all about? Here's a quick guide to get you started: Barn door: when the body swings open from the same hand and foot being positioned on the wall Beta: information about the moves, approach...
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Training // Climbing Wall Games
We all know the usual drill at the wall. You approach the wall; find your holds, which are all the same colour and scramble up hoping for success. However sometimes you might find yourselves at a smaller wall where the jumps between grades are massive,...
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Fearless Fridays: Ten tips for nervous climbers
It being winter here in the northern hemisphere, my social media feed is full of news and images of the white stuff – people climbing it, hiking across it, skiing down it (me, jealous much?!). I came across one such article (link at the end)...
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My WCS Climbing Journey
How did I get on at the Women's Climbing Symposium? I talk about my WCS experience and what I got out of it. Read on to find out about my journey. I’ve been climbing indoors and out, for around 5 years, but overhangs and climbs requiring any...
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Celebrating our friends’ successes
Our mini-series this week is celebrating the climbing achievements of our friends - the friends who support, motivate or challenge us; the friends who have faced their climbing fears; the friends who have overcome obstacles through climbing; the friends who are just awesome to climb...
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Women’s Climbing Symposium 2018: A Report
The Women’s Climbing Symposium is a UK based event with speakers from across the world talking about their climbing experiences and renowned coaches helping to develop individual climbing skills, aiming to ‘Connect, Develop and Inspire’ women in the climbing community. The event is organised by...
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Celebrating our success: Michaela Tracy
Our final story in this week's mini-series comes from Michaela Tracy, one of the UK's top multi-discipline climbers. Having been climbing for nearly 20 years, Michaela has some impressive achievements under her belt: redpointing sport 8bs, E5 trad onsights, boulder problems up to 8A, and...
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Shirts On or Shirts Off???
Should Climbing Gyms Adopt a Shirts-On Policy? Climbing culture is about inclusivity, which is why shirtless climbing can be a sensitive issue. In this article, Tess talks about her thoughts on why going shirtless should be accepted within the climbing community. Exercising shirtless is widely practiced among...
Read MoreBusting Climbing Myths #4: Trad, Lead, Sport, what do these terms all mean and do I need a partner?
As with any sport, there is always a whole bag of new lingo to pick up and climbing is definitely a guilty candidate. There are many different types of climbing and some may suit your lifestyle and time more than others. Whatever one you like...
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Busting Climbing Myths #3 – Everyone is looking at you…
“No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves, just like you.” Unfortunately, this doesn’t always apply in the climbing world. Our third myth is slightly different, in that it isn’t a myth. To be truthful, people are watching you, but it doesn't mean it's a bad...
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Building the first Bouldering Gym in the Falklands
Falkland Islander Lisa Watson is a keen boulderer and editor of the Falklands local newspaper. She and her partner Jonny Summers are on a mission to build the Islands first bouldering gym. So what’s it like climbing in the Falklands?
Film Competition // Women in Adventure Part 3
Women Climb needs your films! There are not enough women in adventure films – you can help be the change we all want to see. We are delighted to announce the third Women in Adventure Film Competition in association with The BMC and ShAFF. This year’s...
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Women’s Only Masterclass // White Spider Climbing
Fancy improving your climbing techniques?
Fancy learning from one of the UK’s top climbers Emma Twyford?
Do I love bouldering now?
If you read part 1 last month you will have a good understanding that, while I’m pretty outdoorsy and active, I was completely unaware of the point of bouldering and how it fits with my ambitions of climbing mountains. I set myself the challenge to give it a go – here’s how I got on. If you want to find out the challenge I set, and why, you can read my previous blog post Why Should I go Bouldering. I have no illusions about doing anything as advanced as this:
The amazing Esme Hart bouldering at the 2016 Paraclimbing Championships at Manchester Climbing Centre.
People do keep saying that bouldering will help me with my climbing, so I wanted to find out what all the fuss is about.
Indoor Rock Climbing in Sheffield
Sheffield is a mecca for climbers with fantastic crags within easy reach of the city centre. When the sun isn't shining there are also three really great indoor climbing venues around Sheffield to continue to train. If you've visited one of these gyms why not write us...
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Why should I go bouldering?
If you don’t understand bouldering, or are unsure about what it’s all about, then follow our contributor Emily Thompson on her journey of discovery, starting this week, with her thoughts on feeling like a fraud, having never been bouldering and having piles of insecurities about giving it a go. This is a live activity – Emily is reporting on her journey as she does it, so we have no idea how it will turn out or what she will discover. To learn more as her journey unfolds, sign up now to our newsletter and we will let you know when the next instalment is out.
A Rough Guide to Climbing Grades
Are you new to the glorious world of climbing ? Bamboozled by the numbers and letters that are thrown around by people who sound like they know what they’re talking about? Fear not! Here’s our Handy Guide to Climbing Grades:
Woodhouse Scar – Bouldering & Trad routes – near Halifax
What I liked most: Confidence Booster!
This is a great place to come for an easy confidence-boosting climb! Loved the fact that there were at least 8/9 easy problems with chunky positive holds I could actually top out on after a year off doing baby stuff. With a little encouragement I completed some 3’s and later flashed my wobbly post-baby ass up some 4’s (Font.)
Leah Crane // An Interview
By Jacquie Budd ‘It's important for me to have something else alongside climbing so that when I need a break, I have something else to go to…’ The name Leah Crane has always seemed synonymous with climbing. Through my 18 years of climbing there have been numerous articles...
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How to Improve your Route Reading
By Emily Pitts // Route reading is like solving a puzzle. It involves time, skills and attention. These are some exercises you can use and practical things you can do to help you get better at finding solutions to your climbing puzzles, focusing mainly on indoor top rope climbing, as a mechanism for improving and moving on to lead climbing indoors and climbing outdoors. There’s hopefully something in here for beginners, but also people who are more experienced climbers.
What is… Bouldering?
Bouldering is unroped climbing, which is usually lower in height than other climbing routes, both indoors and outdoors. Indoors the highest bouldering problems are around 5 metres high. There are often crash mats below to help protect you if you fall off. Indoors, these mats are provided, whereas outdoors, you carry a bouldering mat to the boulder with you.
People often mistake Bouldering as ‘practice’
Shauna gets Gold at Grindelwald
After the disappointment of missing out on gold with an apparent ‘dab of the foot’ on the mat in Baku only a few weeks ago and reaching silver in Chongqing prior to that, Shauna Coxsey, UK no 1 climber, today pulled in the first Team GB World Cup Gold in Switzerland. Anyone who’s seen her climb will understand how this amazing powerhouse of a climber could
Women Rock at Boulders // Cardiff
In Climbing News, Events
90minute Taster Session Boulders in Cardiff are offering a 90-minute Taster Session for International Women's Day for £5 with proceeds going to the Charity Women's Aid, which supports women and children experiencing domestic violence. There are 16 spaces available, so if you're a woman who wants...
Read MoreROCfest 5.0 2014 // Rock Over
ROCfest 5.0 is a bouldering competition, in Manchester on Saturday 1st February 2014, designed to give everyone a chance to compete in a friendly environment. We’re putting in some teams and we would love it if you’d join one of our teams. So far we’ve got about six people signed up to compete, with people bouldering at grades V1 – V6, so there’s a real mix. We’ve been promised that no-one will get 0 points!
Best Places to Boulder in the Peak
With winter setting in and the nights drawing close, I think it’s time to consider bouldering as an outdoor option that eats less time and helps you to avoid frostbite in the chilly weather. Here are our Peak District Top Tips:
Best Peak Bouldering venues
1. Curbar // Top Tier // Right Hand Side
Forty ish problems graded 3-5 – perfect for beginners. Around 15 minute walk-in. Parking available in bays nearby – does get busy in summer.
Back Wall Traverse (6a) *** at Hobson Moor Quarry
Hello! I've just realised that Winter is really on the way and trad routes are going to be out of the window quite soon, due to cold, wet and long nights. I want a challenge to take me through the winter, so I've set myself...
Read MoreHobson Moor Quarry – Great evening climbing crag
Hobson Moor is a quarried grit crag situated off Hobson Moor Road near to Mottram in Longdendale in the Peak District. It’s an urban crag to some degree, but you would never know how close it is to civilisation once you’re ensconced by the gritstone walls.
Perfect for … a quick evening escape from Manchester or traversing of the Back Wall in winter.
Liverpool Awesome Walls Review
What’s best about Liverpool Awesome Walls…
- The pinnacle
- Dry tooling room
If we could improve one thing it would be…
The café – proper food, real coffee, healthy food, home made cake
How to improve at bouldering – Ten ways to get better
Following on from the last blog post here are some practical things you can do right now to improve your skills for bouldering:
1) Watch
Watch someone who looks like they boulder well. If you watch, you can probably learn something. Look at their hands, how they hold the holds, where and how they place their feet, what are they doing with their weight, their knees, are their feet always on the holds?
Bouldering – What is it?
Whilst working at the climbing centre there was a lot of discussion about bouldering. Ranging from 'what is bouldering' to 'I don't understand bouldering' to 'what's the point of bouldering' to 'I'm useless at bouldering, how can I get better?' Ad infinitum. A friend of...
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