Best mountaineering books according to redditors
We found 719 Reddit comments discussing the best mountaineering books. We ranked the 227 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
18. Logical Progression: Using Nonlinear Periodization for Year-Round Climbing Performance
6 mentions
"I just need to get stronger" literally every new climber ever.
EDIT: Since this is a popular comment, I feel like I should elaborate. 1) Yes, strength to weight ratio matters. But the point of this video - and the fundamental point that beginning climbers should emphasize technique - is that you can make instant gains with the right technique. Getting stronger/lighter takes time. Technique is something you can focus on right then and there. 2) The techniques in this video will improve your functional strength and efficiency at every level of climbing, forever. You can get out of shape, but you will never lose these techniques. Training technique is never lost time! 3) Properly applying these techniques will make the difference at EVERY level of climbing. They will let you do harder moves and climb longer, whether you're trying to break into V2 or 5.12. 4) Beginners blame this on strength because they feel weak. We all feel weak climbing at our limit! But they have not yet discovered how technical skills allow you to do more with less strength.
These are not my ideas. They are stolen mostly from 2 great books, How to Climb 5.12 and The Self-Coached Climber.
Thanks OP for an awesome video!
Ok.
Step 1. Buy a copy of Tremper's Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain and read it cover to cover.
Step 2. Buy a beacon (3 antennae), probe (at least 240cm) and shovel (metal blades are not optional), familiarize yourself with them and practice to using them so it is second nature when you really have to.
Step 3. Take a level 1 avalanche course. If it doesn't consist of 1 day in a classroom and 2 days in the field, then it is not a level 1 avy course.
Skis anything will work, find a ski you like and go with it. Versatility is key, you need to be comfortable skiing them in a variety of terrain and variety of conditions. Obviously the lighter the better.
Boots You at least want a good hybrid/crossover AT touring boot, like the Salomon Quest Max or Technica Cochise ranges, then there are the more touring focused hyrbrids like the Scarpa Freedom SL which have interchangable sole blocks so they can work with both DIN(Frame) and Tech bindings. Then you've got the out and out touring boots. Best boot is the one that fits your foot though!
Bindings
There are a few choices when it come to bindings. There are the frame style that have become really popular in the last few years. They're essentially a regular alpine binding mounted on a frame that allows the heel piece to release so you can skin in them. Feels like a normal binding (the height is a little more though), durable and familiar but the heaviest and least natural pivot point for the uphill. Marker Baron/Duke, Salomon/Atomic Guardian/Tracker, Tyrolia AAadrenalin etc.
Then you have tech bindings that use completely different retention and release mechanisms using pin system. Lightweight and natural pivot point so much better for the uphill, and no dramatic sacrifice on the downhill unless you're out hucking huge cliffs etc. Dynafit Radical ST or FT, G3 Ions, Fritschi Vipec etc.
Finally in the last couple of years there have been some attempts to make a burlier binding than a traditional tech binding, but lighter than a frame. They're an attempt to marry the best of both worlds. Dynafit Beast 14/16 or Marker Kingpin.
This table might help wit boots/bindings
Type of Binding | Intended Uses | Compatible boots
---------------|-------------|----------------
Alpine/Downhill (normal) | Skiing at the resort etc. | Alpine/Downhill (Normal), Hybrids and Some Touring (tech) Boots, depending on the model of boot/binding
Touring (frame) | In-bounds & Ski touring | Alpine/Downhill (Normal), Hybrids and Most Touring (tech) Boots, depending on the model of binding.
Touring (Tech) | Ski touring (but can be used in the resort too) | Touring (tech) Boots and Some Hybrids depending on the model of boot
Telemark | All of the above. | Telemark
Once you make those decisions you're also going to need things like skins and ski crampons, potentially ice axes and other mountaineering equipment, but once you get into it you will know what you personally require for the skiing you're doing.
https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045
Buy and read this book, http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
Look into taking an avy class too, don't just count on some guy showing you around.
No offense but this is frankly a shit post. You've asked the most generic question ever without doing any homework yourself like reading the side bar. It's the equivalent of asking us how do YOU go about going from climbing 5.10 to 5.11. No one can answer that because no one's seen you climb. No one has any idea what your weak points are and what you are lacking. Hell you're not even self aware enough to describe any of the above in your post.
At this point in time we might as well tell you, you should just buy Horst's book: https://www.amazon.ca/How-Climb-5-12-Eric-Horst/dp/0762770295
practice is everything
;)
If I could recommend one resource it would be "Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills." Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594851387/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_a1fVzbRK7WTZR. Although honestly nothing can replace going out and getting outdoors in the mountains, either with a guide or a friend who knows what they are doing. Baker is a good starter mountain, but if you want to stay clear of crevasses, Mt. Adams is a really good option to learn crampons, ice axe and rope skills without the big risks. I'm on my phone or else I could go into much more detail, but feel free to PM me and I'd be more than happy to recommend guide groups, climbs, gear, etc. Welcome to the world of mountaineering, its beautiful!
I got into it through rock climbing, as many others have. The skills and tools of the rock climber are foundations for mountaineering. (Ironic, since I see much of rock climbing as a weekend sport created out of mountaineerss training.) Climbing is a very broad discipline that combines rock climbing technique, rope work, risk management, hiking and general athleticism to reach physical goals. (Mountain tops!)
As such, it can be transitioned into from a number of angles. I know a group from a yoga school that quickly excelled at rock climbing and eventually added two more mountaineers to the community. I also know several people from college hiking and outing clubs that have expanded into winter hiking and then mountaineering.
At some point, if you choose to pursue mountaineering and the more technical climbs to be found, you WILL find yourself in a gym or out on a crag rock climbing. Mountaineering is essentially rock climbing + winter hiking + OINK.
The fundamentals are learned from a lot of reading and studying the technical literature, and patient progression through practice. Other mountaineers (especially experienced ones) are invaluable, and a very important resource for learning and safety. I highly recommend getting involved with a community like MountainProject and looking for outdoor groups and climbing groups in your area.
The question is - what can you climb near where you live? If you're in Kansas, you're going to have a hard time of it. Seattle, Boston, Denver, Geneva, you're all set.
I live near the White Mountains of New Hampshire and am up there every other weekend pushing some new limit. A few years ago i did my first winter backpacking trip. Then, shortly after, my first winter hike on exposed summits with crampons and an ax. Last winter I bought ice tools and moved into multi-pitch technical climbing of ice, snow gullies and mixed routes. If you have mountains nearby to explore and practice on, there are years of fun to be had in them. Find local guidebooks. You'd be amazed how many cliffs and trails and gullies have been graded and compiled.
Lastly - buy a a couple books on mountaineering and start at home. The books are essential knowledge, you'll get an idea of what's involved, and they should whet your appetite and inspire you to seek out places to go and get your climb on.
Good climbing partners can be friends or people you get to know from the local climbing gym or forums. Having someone to learn and progress with and share the adventure is awesome. Finding like-minded people is surprisingly easy when all you need is passion and dedication. (And balls)
FOTH hills is great and all. But honestly, I got more out of John Long's Anchors book for learning trad placements and anchor building. FOTH is so dense and there is a lot of info in there that is irrelevant for trad climbing (alpine/mountaineering/survival stuff).
If it were me, I'd look at Climbing Anchors first, FOTH second.
Recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X as a good book for this stuff.
Rather than claiming to know the answers to your personal problems, I'll point you to two resources that have helped me greatly:
Hope these help.
Read Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain
And take an Avalanche 1 (recreational) course next winter.
Since someone else is already doing the standard /r/climbing YERGONNADIE and assuming you are a moron, I'll give this a shot.
Your first purchase should be a book by John Long called Climbing Anchors. It's cheap and relatively short - you can get through it in an afternoon then keep it around as a reference.
After that, you'll have a very good idea of what products you'll need in order to rig a toprope, so I'll give you some guidance re: product differentiation.
You'll need locking carabiners, and they'll have some small variation in strength ratings. For top roping, these differences are irrelevant. The shape of the biners is important though - those huge screw-gates that are the size of your whole hand can be nice for belaying, but they are a total waste when it comes to rigging a toprope. Outdoorgearlab did a nice writeup on choosing lockers, I'll leave the rest up to you.
Even for top rope, I wouldn't buy a static line to climb on. Some people prefer it because they can also use it to rope-solo/jumar, and it's perfectly safe so long as you are diligent about keeping very little slack in the line, but it's much less versatile. You can't use it for sport climbing or trad, where a fall on a static line can pretty easily snap your spine. Get yourself a nice 60m dynamic line - anything 9.8mm in diameter and up will do nicely, anything above 10.2 will last for a long time.
For the anchor itself, it really depends on what's available at your local crag. Of course you'll need some 7mm accessory cord and some nylon slings to rig everything up, but nobody can tell you what you'll need in order to rig up a safe belay above any given pitch.
You'll need to read John Long, practice building and yanking out anchors on the ground, and really overbuild your anchors as you are starting out. Especially if you are placing gear, you'll make some mistakes and you don't want anyone to get hurt as a result. Placing five pieces of pro in the morning and coming back at the end of the day to find that two of them pulled out is a good lesson. Placing two and finding that you screwed both up is a very bad day.
john long's anchor book. it has tons of pictures and describes placement in minute detail.
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-3rd-How-Climb/dp/0762782072/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375126110&sr=1-1&keywords=john+long+anchor
You should pick up a copy of Freedom of the Hills.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680510045/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SeUWBbTQDT8PX
Building anchors isn't rocket science, but it does hold a couple of important considerations (and why watching a video isn't going to be sufficient):
Should you take a class? Maybe if you want some hands-on experience. I would suggest that you do your share of the reading first, you might not need the class, or if do take one you'll have a better understanding of what is being taught and be able to ask thoughtful questions.
Some reading:
First off don't fall on 5.0. The run outs are there because the climbing is easy and anyone on the route should be competent enough not to fall.
That said, depending on the severity of the fall, the distance from the ground/top and the condition of the climber/belayer there are a few options.
Those are just some go to options but everything depends on the situation at hand. Also, don't take advice from anyone online, read this instead:
https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X
You shouldnt climb every day. Your body needs time to recover.
Climbing everyday is how people develop repetitive strain injuries.
Source: One Move Too Many
I do most of my hiking in the winter and solo quite often. Winter climbing has it's own learning curve. You have different gear, different conditions, and your body is going to act differently. So you have to adjust. As you know with climbing, the best way to learn while not getting yourself in a bind is to take it slow and read as much as you can. You might already have this book. The first half still applies even though we're not talking K2. I have a Shepard mix too, there will simply be days that your dog can't handle because they don't tolerate equipment as well as people do. Just get into it slowly. The problem with winter is not that it's terribly difficult - it can just be very unforgiving. Every mistake in rough weather you make compounds to make your problems worse and the longer you take to fix them the harder everything gets. Having a well oiled "machine" for taking care of everything will help you and that takes experience.
So I would start off pretty low key and use this time to figure out your system and take close attention of your dog's limits (picking up feet is the sign my dog is getting too cold and we need to adjust). Play it safe, always have an "oh shit" bag of things so you can survive if you get caught over night. And get a SPOT or PLB just in case. Sometime as simple as a broken leg can easily kill you in the winter.
Edit: I would start on a few sub 3k peaks when it's full on winter, then do something like cascade first because it has a good mix of everything you'll encounter (from snow, to ice, to wind). Start off sub 8 mile peaks and you should be fine.
Depending on the situation traversing a ridge while roped up can increase or decrease your risk. If you are hiking on terrain that is exposed enough to warrant the use of technical equipment (harness, rope, belay device, etc...) you should probably get some training on how to use them properly. Merely connecting yourself to your partner is inviting disaster. Grab yourself a copy of Freedom of the Hills and head on over to /r/climbing or /r/alpinism for more info.
My recommendation: 9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes
While not a book on technique, it will act as a great roadmap to improvement. It's short but full of tons of great info.
Is there a comprehensive guide? Yes there is and it's quite good!
https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062
I've also found this article to be a good starting point:
http://www.rescuedynamics.ca/articles/pdfs/EarnestAnchors3.pdf
Pictures would help understand your situations but it sounds like you guys weren't actually building anchors but just running the rope through the rings at the top. Which is:
Based on your description it seems like you should have been able to build a simple 2 bolt equalized anchor with cord and four lockers (2x bolts, 2x for the rope).
EDIT: frowned upon in MOST crags
EDIT2: Absiel/Rappelling is apparently only a US Thing so stick to the lower off. The more you know
Clarification of terminology: "off piste" means off the groomed run, but it is often used to describe terrain inside resort boundaries. In the US, off piste runs within the resort have been checked and cleared of avalanche danger by ski patrol. "Backcountry" means terrain outside of resort boundaries which has not been cleared by ski patrol. It can slide and you can die.
Assuming that you mean "backcountry" and not simply "off piste," start by buying and reading this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
A few pointers:
Feel free to PM me with specific questions...I have over a decade of climbing/mountaineering and outdoor experience on everything outside of the Himalaya. Snowfields, Rock, Ice, Bouldering, Backpacking, summer, winter, poor weather, perfect weather...I've been there.
As for costs:
REI credit card may actually be worth looking into, and an REI membership is a one-time $20 fee that will pay literal dividends for life. Other than that, the standard online comparison shopping methods are your best friend.
DO NOT purchase used life-critical equipment. Let me repeat that DO NOT purchase used life-critical equipment. You do not know how it has been stored, cared for, maintained and thus do not know if it will do it's job when you really really need it to.
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072
The Self-Coached Climber book shows lots of great drills for improving footwork precision and introducing twisting and flagging (counter balancing with your legs). The popular opinion is that you should dedicate some time to these drills as part of a warm-up. I believe you can check out the text in some detail on Google Books. Buying it also gets you the DVD, which shows the drills in real time.
As for the steep/roof climbing, it's a matter of pressing as much of your weight through your feet as possible by using - primarily - your core and hamstring muscles. Try this: Get yourself hanging on a couple of sizeable roof jugs with your toes in some equally huge footholds. Keeping your arms straight, pull your (mostly lower) body as close to the roof as you can. With your arms straight, you're engaging your legs/lower trunk rather than back/biceps - It transfers some weight to your feet and improves friction with the footholds. The more stable your foot positioning, the easier it is to initiate movement from your legs - even on a roof.
For pure training programming and exercises
https://www.climbstrong.com/product/logical-progression/
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For thinking more about the skills of climbing and how to practice them.
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394
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Both of these are great reads
Both of these are good.
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Rescue-How-Climb-David-Fasulo/dp/0762755334
https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X
Check out this video
Then check out this and this articles
Then check out this book
I've dealt with it for about three years now. The good news is you can keep pushing yourself and it wont limit you if you are proactive towards it. The not so good news is it's close to impossible to 100% get rid of it. I hope it goes well for you!
this
DEFINITELY practice crossing. Also, try keeping your hands on holds while moving your feet. Ex: Standing with all limbs on holds/chips/what have you. Move your left foot, and then your right. (crossing if an option). Only then can you move your hands. (i hope this makes some sense)
Also, try keeping a hip to the wall. This forces you to cross and do unfamiliar things.
edit: buy the self coached climber it has many tips that can help with questions like this.
Get Steve Becthel's book Logical Progression: Using Nonlinear Periodization for Year-Round Climbing Performance https://www.amazon.com/dp/1544119534/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_GW7UAb0QSJ4JG
Its what made the most sense.
Lastly, the NUMBER ONE rule in designing a training program (especially in the beginning) is to keep it simple. A program will not mean anything if you don't stick to it because it was too hard to follow, too strict, etc. Keep it simple.
Rock Warrior's Way (https://warriorsway.com/the-rock-warriors-way-mental-training-for-climbers-2/)
If you're interested in trad climbing: Climbing Anchors by John Long (https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072)
Training for the New Alpinism (http://www.patagonia.com/product/training-for-the-new-alpinism/BK695.html)
Freedom of the Hills is rad, but I've found a little broad and hard to read continuously. For climbing technique, I've found YouTube videos a little more useful, I mostly use books for safety and mental techniques, though I've heard good things about the Crack Climber's Technique Manual (https://www.fixedpin.com/products/the-crack-climbers-technique-manual)
And if you're looking for something that's more of a fun read, I'd really recommend Valley Walls (https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Walls-Memoir-Climbing-Yosemite/dp/1930238630)
I like http://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394 which has tons of specific information and a nice general guideline for each level.
But, it really depends on what you call training. I don't train, at all. Never have, probably never will. However, I'll work on my weaknesses, spend time on a hangboard, doing 4x4s, laps, etc.
I don't call it training because there's no schedule, no logging, etc. I'm horrible at sticking to schedules, which is pretty much the definition of training.
I'd recommend the first thing you do is determine if you actually need to train or just learn how to focus your climbing more. If it's 'just' focusing your climbing, you won't really need to worry about those questions.
Given that you've been climbing for less than a year, my suggestion would be that the biggest thing that will boost your climbing is technique work, and endurance work, but especially technique work. If you haven't already, buy The Self Coached Climber, read it, and do all of the exercises contained therein to jump start your technique improvement.
As far as gaining muscle versus losing weight, since climbing is all about functional strength, I'd suggest that losing weight is going to have a much more rapid and prominent effect. In the long run though, both leaning out and gaining muscle (that helps with your climbing, not that doesn't help with your climbing) will probably help a little bit. Plus, losing weight helps with the endurance bit of things.
Of course, I'm sure you've noticed someone at the crag or gym who climbs much harder than you do, but isn't nearly as strong as you are, is about as heavy or heavier than you are, and might even be a bit shorter than you are. If not, really look around the next few times you're climbing. The difference is all in technique. This is pretty much why the best women climbers have climbed 5.14d (has anyone done a 5.15a yet?), and the best male climbers, despite obviously having more strength and height as well as a MUCH lower body fat percentage, have only ever climbed three letter grades harder than that.
I can not recommend this mans wisdom enough, every vid/vlog he puts out is excellent, and his books are even better. If you havent checked out "9/10 climbers make the same mistakes" ( https://www.amazon.com/Out-Climbers-Make-Same-Mistakes/dp/095642810X ) you are definitely missing out.
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Give him the support he deserves fellas!
If you haven't completed your Avy 1 course, that's your number one priority right now. Get the safety gear and learn how to use all the pieces before you attempt to venture out in the backcountry. Make friends, never go out alone.
Wasatch Backcountry Map <-- Buy the paper version and keep it in your pack.
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain <-- This is your bible. Read it often. The man who wrote it is our state avalanche forecaster.
Utah Avalanche Center <-- Read every single page on this site.
Daily Advisory <-- Read the local advisory every. single. day.
Weather Forecast <-- Check the weather forecast every day, or very often. Watch what the winds are doing.
Snotel Stations <-- Check the Snotel stations during and after storms.
And please don't bootpack in the skin track. Nobody likes that guy.
Just be safe, use common sense, and take it slow at first. Don't jump in and try to bag Superior's south face until you're ready. Lastly, praise Ullr and do your snow dances.
Learn about avalanches and how to minimize their risk. Read Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain. Buy a beacon and probe. Learn how to use them. Practice. The main slope I go to has a small patch where there's a buried beacon for practice. You could see if yours has one, too.
Learn to recognize dangerous terrain and signs of instability. Take an avalanche course. Make friends with experienced back-country skiers in your area. See if you can get a few buddies to take you on a mellow single day tour.
There are good answers already, mainly the use of climbing/rope skills and/or snow/ice skills is the difference.
The full range of mountaineering skills is covered in this book:
Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills
For your first overnight hike, I (and Mountaineering and even Thoreau^1 ) would recommend using whatever you have. Not only do you not need anything fancy, you'll learn what you want to look for in a backpack before you go out and buy one. I'd actually use your day-to-day pack (if you have one) for any non-intense backpacking trip until you learn these things. Or at least start cheap...
[1] In Walden, Thoreau said he never buys new clothes for something until his old ones prove to be insufficient.
Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills
This book is basically an outdoor bible.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594851387/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1394070036&amp;amp;sr=8-1
I'm currently working on a similar thing, trying to instil more oof a 'practice' mindset in my gym sessions where I work on executing moves and sequences well and deprioritising clean ascents when I'd have to climb 'dirty' to get them. Right now it's detrimental to my imaginary score for any given climbing session, but the payoff comes later. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that there's a very clear line of fatigue, past which my technique goes to shit even when I'm trying to focus on it, and it sounds like you have a similar issue.
First step is to ignore your max grade. This is exactly why we're told to work technique on easy stuff. Drill good technique on easier stuff until that is the only way you climb. No shortcuts, no chicken-winging, no brute-force cranking through a move unless that's literally the only way. Keep the thought in the back of your mind that there are people climbing harder than you who literally cannot do a pull-up.
Once you know exactly how hard you can climb well, push the grades up incrementally until you find the borderline difficulty level where your technique just starts to get a bit wobbly, and work at or just below that difficulty to dial in your movement style under stress. Be brutally honest with yourself about mistakes, and re-climb the same stuff until you've corrected each of them.
Keep filming yourself, it's an excellent way to objectively gauge your movement. Use it as a rehearsal. Watch yourself, pick a few key things to correct, then climb it again and compare the two attempts. Repeat until you look/feel like a pro. If there are better climbers with a similar build to you, ask if you can watch or film them demonstrating the same problem.
Apart from various technique drills, Self-Coached Climber has a bunch of climbing and traversing exercises specifically to train proprioception and body awareness, which may help you more accurately gauge how well you're climbing while you're still in the middle of it.
I would suggest reading up on mountaineering and perhaps taking some classes or guided trips.
http://smile.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers-Books/dp/1594851387
That's pretty much a text book, so I would probably just focus on the techniques and tools that are applicable to your next trip.
Freedom of the Hills is the bible
For anchors, John Long's Climbing Anchors
Freedom of the Hills is a good resource. Also r/Mountaineering. I'm not familiar with your area, I could point you to some good first peaks in Washington. But I'd recommend seeing if there is a mountaineering club around you that hosts classes and group climbs, and then use it to make some friends to hike with, and figure out where some good beginner snowfields and glaciers are. Get an ice axe and crampons and learn how to use them, and practice self arrests on a safe snowfield.
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680510045/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_77PlDbB369K90
Trad Climber's Bible (How To Climb Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0762783729/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_U8PlDbW6VBDK9
https://coloradomountainschool.com/product/multi-pitch-rock-climbing/
https://www.cmc.org/Classes/CMCClassesandSchools.aspx
https://denvermountainguiding.com/rock-climbing
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is a must-have.
Lots of people will say 'climb more'', which is good.
I'd recommend helping yourself out by learning the techniques which typically come along with 'climb more' - especially if you don't have a load of more experienced climbers to copy regularly.
You'll want learn how and when to backstep, flag, drop knee etc. in order to climb more efficiently and effectively.
Go to some intermediate classes of you can afford it, or buy a book like 'Self-Coached Climber: The Guide to Movement, Training, Performance'
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004BJ1MPS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1
This book is absolutely fantastic. Don't buy the ebook, you need the pictures. It's filled with exercises that help you train both technique and fitness.
Some good exercises:
And honestly, don't dyno at all. Way too easy to hurt yourself as a beginner.
https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1509808843&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=john+long+anchors
https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1509808862&amp;sr=1-1-spell&amp;keywords=craig+lubben+anchors
Make friends at your gym and go out with them. Or hire a guide.
Also, read a lot of books. John Long's anchor book is a great start.
Consider supplementing your classes with some books. Bob Gaines new AMGA Manual, the classic Luebben climbing book, and Luebben's anchor book are all excellent. John Long has a new Trad Climbers Bible, haven't read it though. I find him wordy and often not as clear as others.
Note that Luebben suggests to spend a day every year climbing with an expert guide to make sure you're solid.
If you want a specific recommendation: BEFORE YOUR CLASS: Pick up the three books above and read them. Take notes on what you don't understand. Look to online forums and videos for answers. Buy some gear and practice placing the gear outside. Have a piece of rope you keep on your couch. Practice knots while watching TV. FOR YOUR CLASS: Once you've done this, then take a class with an expert. Bring all the questions you've come up with. Take notes and get your guides contact info so you can stay in touch after. AFTER YOUR CLASS, continue reviewing the books (which will make more sense), start climbing easy single pitch stuff outside, email new questions to your guide. Take an anchors course if it's available, particularly before getting into multi-pitch.
Have fun & good luck!
EDIT: Check out r/tradclimbing and their excellent FAQ.
A lot of great advices. Few more. Tie knots at the end of the rope. Too many people are dying because of this. And use autoblock. Extra 15-30 seconds to tie it. But adds a lot of safety.
Read Climbing Self Rescue: Improvising Solutions for Serious Situation. Try to practice some of the scenarios in safe conditions.
9 out of 10 Climbers Make The Same Mistakes
I'm a rehab based Chiropractor and treating climbers is a large part of my practice. A few years ago I was looking for something similar as I know there are seminars/certifications for golf, running, lifting etc - but couldn't find anything solid for climbers. My best advice is pick up some climbing injury books and start there. I listed the books I own below in order of my preference. I second u/wristrule's recommendation of make it or break it and checking out Training Beta. They have PTs/Chiros/Trainers/Coaches talk about injuries and prevention. Follow those people and their professional work as they all have blogs, books, videos etc.
As far as research goes, there is actually a decent body of evidence but sample sizes of the studies tend to be small. The best collection of climbing research in one place is probably The Beta Angel Project https://beta-angel.com/research/research-inventory It is sorted into categories which is a nice touch. Also you can pubmed search 'rock climbing' and there are a bunch of studies there.
Here are the books I own and recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Make-Break-Climbing-Injuries-Dictate/dp/0956428134
https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Injuries-Solved-Lisa-Erikson/dp/0692296646/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535818900&sr=1-5&keywords=rock+climbing+injuries
https://www.amazon.com/Climb-Injury-Free-Dr-Jared-Vagy/dp/0692831894/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535818900&sr=1-2&keywords=rock+climbing+injuries
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Theres a few more books out but I haven't checked them out just yet.
Hope this helps you help other climbers!
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Self coached climber for actual climbing and training technique. Craig Leubben's [Rock Climbing Anchors] (http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062) and Freedom of the Hills for everything else.
If you're going on a week long vacation with family, unless you're hiring a guide or have a friend/family member who really wants to get into backcountry -- you'd be better off finding a mountain with tons of great terrain and snow. Snowbird, Alta, Telluride, Jackson (if you're flying from TX), or Taos would top the list.
If you have a partner or are willing to hire a guide ($$$) then the first step should be buying this book, reading it cover to cover, and deciding if backcountry skiing is right for you.
edit: formatting
See a doctor, yes!
I could give you more advice but it is not going to do any good now that you have a injury. Climbers should try to avoid injury as a number one rule, especially tendon injuries. Tendon injuries take a long time to heal and even longer before they return to full strength.
3-4 evenings a week? How long have you been climbing. How are those days broken up. Most training guides I have read say that three days in a row is the absolute most you should climb if you are an elite level climber. Less if you are not. Make sure you getting rest.
If you feel a twinge in your tendons your best bet is to stop. For some reason if you can not make yourself stop then tape is a good option. Seek resources that show you how to sport tape your tendons. The information is readily out there if you look.
Repeatedly I tell people to find this book Training for Climbing . He has done the hard work for you and breaks it down in a concise manner.
I would stress the fact to seek medical professional if possible. Especially if you have insurance. The type of shooting pain, while typing nonetheless, is not something you want to wait around on to get better. In the mean time I would buddy tape the hell out of those fingers (immobilizing them).
This is where the heated debate starts as many people will tell you many many many different things. I love ice. Lots of ice. In addition I love ibuprofen. Many people will tell you that neither of those items are effective after the initial injury and will even slow down healing. If you have swelling in your fingers I find those two items to be a matter of do not forget. ever. I would ask your doctor and do your own research to find out what works for you.
As far as future prevention. I would try not to hang off holds by two fingers! lol. Climbing on plastic is also very hard on the tendons. Put those two things together and you have trouble. Try to save your massive efforts for outdoor climbing if possible, if you are into that type of thing.
Otherwise I would say warming up is extremely important. EXTERMELY. Warm tendons are more lastic than cold ones. Also make sure you are exercising antagonistic muscles in your forearm (hammer curls, reverse wrist curls). You have no muscles in your hand (well, you do have some below your thumb) so when you are holding on it is the mainly the forearm muscle that is supplying the muscle. An unbalanced muscle structure will put stress unevenly on the rest of your body (tendons for example). Also remember your tape.
http://amazon.com/How-Rock-Climb/dp/0762755342/
How to Rock Climb! by John Long
http://www.amazon.com/How-Rock-Climb/dp/0762755342/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1420510588&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=how+to+rock+climb
He also has a good book on anchors.
While a book is cool to get you excited about climbing, theres no better way to learn than to go to your local gym and learn. If you live in an area where "climbing is atcually a thing" it shouldnt be too hard to find someone willing to teach you a thing or two.
Video. Mostly focuses on trad anchors, but the same concepts apply to sport anchors.
Book.
I've done this exact class. There is a lot of practical anchor building esp. with natural anchors (all feet on the ground).
I found it to be okay. Afterwords, I needed to go find other information that was not covered for the type of climbing I want to do.
The course covers: Top Rope Anchors and the basics of knots. Using natural anchors.
The cover does not cover: TRAD anchors (well at least). Gear placement.
Its good to hear this information from an experienced guide. But alot is their preference on building anchors. So much of it you need to reteach yourself for what you will actually use regularly. I found self teaching to be a more worthwhile investment for my time.
TL;DR I found this John Long book to be more helpful than the REI course. (but thats just one man's opinion)
If you are truly curious and you want to expand your knowledge such that you can more safely operate within a wider variety of top access scenarios, consider investing in some of these books:
Sure, you may certainly get by in life perfectly fine with substantially less knowledge, but if you are posting here with a question as thoroughly written out as the one you have here, you are likely interested in having a larger "toolkit" to feel more confident when approaching these types of situations. These books (among others) will, without a doubt, greatly enhance your anchor building and risk management "toolkit".
Consider, for instance, that if you are carrying a static "setup rope" for top rope anchors, there are numerous ways to leverage it to establish both a high master point (away from the edge) and an instructor tether to allow yourself to control your movement around, near, and over the edge without exposing yourself to the risk of falling while you establish a low master point over the edge for a top rope anchor. Sometimes this may be overkill and sometimes it may be precisely what you need to feel confident in this type of situation. Having this knowledge on tap allows you to make more informed decisions.
Two examples of these types of systems are
If you want to learn more about those systems, the SPI manual has a reasonable primer on each of them. Personally, I like the Donahue/Luebben Mastering Basic Skills book a little bit more if I had to pick one of the two, but you cannot go wrong with either one.
Best of luck.
Personal instruction can do wonders, just tell them that you want to learn technique (basics are easily learnt in one session, I guess) and maybe ask for some advice on training. Also, people recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1408473046&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=self-coached+climber. I haven't read it myself.
I haven't gotten all the way through it, but the Self Coached Climber is pretty good. Was free on Kindle a while back, but the physical book might be a bit better for the illustrations.
Pick up a copy of:
The Self Coached Climber
9 out of 10 climbers
The Rock Climbers Training Manual
And join us over at /r/climbharder.
Just bought this today:
How to Climb Harder.
Seems like it has a pretty nice package of information.
I also checked out Dave MacLeod's book and Self-Coached Climber at the store, but I found this one most interesting, because it seems to have clear instructions on a lot of lead climbing stuff too (should be starting course soon).
Might get the Self-Coached Climber later (it has a DVD too), but it looked a bit text heavy. Dave McLeod's book is about fixing mistakes, but I don't feel that I have gotten to a level yet where this might be of interest (still progressing decently, imo).
Also, see if there are technique lessons available at your gym or see if you can start climbing with someone you feel is (much) better than you. Advice from some one analyzing your climbing specifically might net you faster results. I did a course to get to 5.10 level and it was a lot of fun and very helpful. It also helps me a lot in explaining new climbers what they should be looking for or trying in a structured manner.
This is a decent book for learning about the basic aspects of things: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0898867436/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_WvWSAb8ADH6WE
More importantly, you should get to your nearest climbing gym, rent some gear, and start climbing.
The climbing self rescue book is quite good. I don't actually know of any other ones though that is specifically climbing self rescue.
edit: I don't own it but this one looks pretty good. The difference is going to be in the pictures vs. illustrations. The pictures in the first one are pretty good but can be a little confusing. The illustrations in this one look clearer and might be easier to follow.
I would first follow several trad climbs and inspect your leader's placements. Then practice placing a ton of gear on the ground and practice making anchors on the ground. Get somewhat comfortable with placing cams and nuts, have your trad friends inspect them, and pull really hard on them while you're on the ground. Then do several mock trad leads where you're on top rope, but pretend you are leading. Connect yourself to your gear and jump on them while on top rope to test your placements. Then go lead a very easy single pitch route. Always have your more experienced friends give you critiques on your placements. When you feel comfortable leading pitches, building anchors, and belaying from the top, go lead a multipitch. Congrats, you're a multipitch trad leader!
These are basically the steps I followed, with my more experienced wife helping me all the way through, and it worked well for me. Now I'm leading 5.7/5.8 multipitch trad routes. I followed about 5 trad routes, mock lead about 5 routes, and placed a couple hundred pieces of gear on the ground before my first lead. Later on, I read through this book, and practiced the self rescue techniques, which was really helpful and made me more confident that I would be able to deal when the shit hits the fan someday.
I don't know if you're going to find much on training mental aspects of climbing in a bouldering setting. For most people, fear of falling and trusting gear are the largest mental barriers. The gear side we can completely ignore, because there's essentially no gear you need to trust. The falling side is the same as falling with ropes--take falls to train falls. Start small, gradually get bigger. On the other hand, it seems like most people are far more comfortable taking falls bouldering than they are leading, so if mentality on the sharp end is your ultimate goal, you just need to tie in and take falls.
The Rock Warrior's Way and 9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes are both great books for climbing mentality, but again, the focus will be on ropes, not bouldering.
"9 Out of 10 Climbers Make The Same Mistakes" by Dave MacLeod
EDIT: Please don't free solo. Always climb with gear, and someone who knows what they are doing. Bouldering however, with a crash pad may interest you, but if you are climbing large walls please use a rope and climb with experienced individuals.
In a way, you answered your own question
> Now I'm skittish about getting advice from someone who may not truly be an expert.
When climbing and the world of orthopedics/sports medicine need to intersect, specialization is the key to finding the right physician/therapist. Was the individual you saw a hand specialist? This is critical. The hand is extremely complex, intricate, and unique. The same thing should be said about the shoulder, and hip, and knee etc. This is why great orthopedic surgeons focus on specific anatomical structures in their practice.
To further complicate things, many climbing injuries are not common place, and truthfully, not that severe or interesting. Your low grade pulley injury is about as boring as it gets when compared to the vast number of other traumas/diagnoses out there. Additionally, these types of injuries have virtually no impact on daily function (yes, climbing, but can you feed, dress, wipe yourself?....most likely) so research specifically addressing these type of "minor" injuries just isn't done. Therefore, it is certainly understandable that a non-hand specialist, non-climber physician would have little to no understanding of what your injury is/was, nor the exceptional forces finger pulleys endure during climbing and might have suggested a premature return to activity. Furthermore, you must ask yourself, "Did I go too hard too soon in returning to activity? Did I listen to my body/pain? or push through?" When in doubt, always listen to your body.
But all hope is not lost! If you are climbing injured enough that you feel the need to seek treatment: find a physician that specializes in that joint and make sure you get a referral to rehab (more to come on that). If you are unable to access a specialist and/or you are getting a "how about a cortisone shot/ just rest it for a while/ pick a different sport" type of answer that you are not satisfied with, get yourself a referral to a certified hand therapist CHT immediately. This is an OT or PT with advanced training, and passion for UE rehabilitation, especially the hand, elbow, shoulder girdle and neck (and if you're lucky enough to find one that is also a climber consider yourself part of the 1%). Any CHT should be able to suspect low grade pulley injuries through history and symptom reproduction (a CHT does not "diagnose," physicians do that) and give you realistic expectations/ activity limitations-modifications/ pain relieving strategies/ rehabilitation exercises.
All that said, if you have damaged a pulley to a degree that does not warrant surgical intervention, there is not a lot anyone can do you magically "fix" you finger fast. The readily available information in books and on informed climbing oriented web pages will suffice for the diagnosis and rehabilitation of many of internet forum finger injuries.
Take home message: listen to your body, if it "hurts real bad," is deformed, extra loose, extra swollen, missing etc. go see a specialist ASAP. But while you are waiting, become your own "expert" so you can properly advocate for the correct medical services you need.
Glad to hear your making the transition to the outdoors. It's an amazing and well worth while endeavor.
Honestly, i would take a class or go with someone well experienced. I know this is what a lot of people say and i might seem redundant, but it really is true.
The reason I stand behind my opinion is that it's not very hard to learn how to set up a top rope on bolted anchors and master that skill. The hard part is knowing how to keep your self out of danger during the process and if you get into danger, how to bail yourself out.
The gym is a very controlled and regulated environment. The outdoors isn't. When climbing outside, there are always unexpected issues and problems that you need to make a judgement call on. I would just recommend that you have a solid foundation of knowledge and at least some first hand experience from someone that you trust, before you potentially get into a situation over your head.
When i first started, this book helped me a lot to fill in any small gaps of knowledge. It is not a supplement for first hand experience though.
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062
Check out Climbing Anchors by Craig Luebben: http://www.amazon.ca/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Guide/dp/1594850062
Also, try and go with an experienced friend or a guide to check your anchor.
Are you referring to lead climbing? Just because you are not on a toprope does not mean you are not on belay. The belayer is at the bottom, and feeds rope out as the climber goes higher instead of pulling slack in like a toprope belayer would. The climber places removable protection (called trad climbing) and clips the rope into that to arrest the fall. Or just clips directly into bolts (sport).
Meru (and El cap also) uses a technique called aid climbing, where removable gear is used to make progress instead of hands and feet. There is a belayer here also.
A good resource for this stuff is freedom of the hills. https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Mountaineers/dp/1594851387. If you Intend to keep climbing, I would suggest picking g up a copy, it's like the textbook for climbing 101.
I attempted Vesper Peak a few weeks ago and couldn't get through the thick brush (90% Devil's Club) around the runoff during the approach. Park rangers recommended waiting a few weeks for the snowmelt to slow down.
Edit: Regardless of what peak you choose, you should be familiar with self arrest and recognizing dangerous terrain features. Spring is an especially tricky season to navigate as the snowpack is constantly changing. It'd be worthwhile to pick up a copy of Freedom of the Hills and read through the sections on snow travel. Even better would be to take a class on it through the Mountaineers or a similar org, but that's not always schedule-feasible.
I think you will have a difficult time finding a book that is extensive and detailed while also being small and lightweight.
That said, Freedom of the Hills is the gold standard. It is not small/lightweight but it is certainly detailed and extensive.
I would definitely suggest picking up a copy of freedom of the hills http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Edition/dp/1594851387
C denotes a style of aid climbing know as "clean aid". Basically it means that you can ascend the route without a hammer (i.e. you're not going to need pitons, bashies, etc.). In fact, a lot of routes, like the one your asking about, is technically C0. Seriously though, two books that are worth the time for any aspiring aid climber:
Freedom of the Hills
Big Walls
Check out One Move Too Many. It is aimed at climbers but there is a lot of really useful information for treating issues with the muscles responsible for grip.
Read Freedom of the Hills, it's your textbook for everything mountaineering. Just start hiking and camping a lot and start climbing easy peaks and progress to bigger, higher, and more difficult ones. You might want to move somewhere with bigger mountains, like the western US to have better local training ground for the big mountains. Learning to ski or snowboard is a good way to get used to winter in the mountains and from there it's easier (and more fun) to progress to climbing steep snow and doing some actual mountaineering and dealing with things like avalanche danger. Also learn to rock climb and how to use ropes, and ice climbing is good too if you really want to get into hardcore mountaineering. Really you just have to progress little by little starting with hiking easy peaks picking up all of the skills along the way. It doesn't take as long as you would think if you dedicate a lot of time to it and love getting out there and learning. I was just doing very easy hikes 3 years ago and I already have plans to climb a few of the biggest peaks in the lower 48 next year, granted I've been skiing and hiking and camping for a long time.
Freedom of The Hills should anwser most of your questions, FYI the tallest peak in Arizona takes no montainneering experiance, via weather ford Trail, so you'll only need regular hiking stuff. Do you have any far out goals? It might be easier to give better advice based on your goals.
If you have your own gear (harness, shoes, belay device, chalk) you can start climbing on rock immediately if you find people who are willing to take you, and some of the gear I mentioned isn't strictly necessary (just suggested). I am sure there is a group of local climbers who will be willing to help you get climbing outdoors.
As for books, I personally like Rock Climbing: Mastering the Basics. Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills is also really good and comprehensive (though it covers much more than just rock climbing).
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. I do have a high degree of trust in the book as it is often refereed to as the bible of Mountaineering; however, as you pointed out testing it would yield better insights/improvements.
Here is a link to the book on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594851387
I ordered a set of cams and met up with my friend who taught me what a good placement vs bad placement is. Then I lead 3 short routes and he asked which of my placements I thought was best and worst. We agreed on them and then climbed a 5 pitch spire the next day. I drove home (we live in different cities ~2 hours away) and taught my newb friend. my newb friend and I have had a sketchy situation or two but nothing serious.
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Best thing I can recommend is two books
1. Climbing anchors by John Long
2. Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills.
The biggest thing you'll learn from them is that Rock quality is the thing that will get you killed. As in don't place gear in a flake or anything that is going to move.
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Place gear around ground level and hang on it. Learn what works. Find a super easy climb and lead it, You're going to fumble with sizes for awhile. Don't get discouraged. Soon you'll fall in love. Trad climbing is sweet.
Pick up a copy of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills read through it.
Sign up for a mountaineering course. Start climbing and hiking and make friends. Use said friends to help you learn progressively more. Join a local Alpine/climbing/mountaineering club/organization.
Not specifically climbing but definitely a great resource for mountaineering is Freedom of the Hills
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594851387
Love my copy, teaches you about self rescue, navigation, all the different techniques etc.
Defs worth having on your shelf!
This might be a little too technical and not really what you are looking for but this book is a must-have for anyone interested in mountaineering or even wilderness survival in general.
http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-50th-Anniversary/dp/1594851387
It has absolutely everything you will need to know about anything in the outdoors. I call it my bible.
EDIT Freedom of the Hills is a MUST.
TRAAAAAAAIN!
Basically, if you want to climb mountains, you need to be fit. A weak person with the best gear and training money can buy is rolling the dice. A strong person with minimal gear and training is rolling loaded dice. A well trained person can move faster to avoid weather, is more resilient to heat and cold, can exert themselves for longer on minimal food, and can help their partner when their partner can't help themselves. Remember: fatigue makes cowards of us all.
Of course, you generally want to be strong and smart and well equipped. But the first thing to do is train. It's pretty simple right now - what you really need to do is build up your cardiovascular and slow-twitch muscle base - which means you need to go hiking a lot. Go backpacking or peakbagging on the weekends - or day hikes if you have constraints. During your day-to-day, walk and stand as much as possible. Go for a long run at least once a week, but keep a relatively low heart rate (if you have to open your mouth to breathe, you are going too fast). Do some core work, too - weightlifting or yoga are both quite good for this. For a far more complete description of how to train for hiking and mountaineering, I suggest picking up a copy of Training for the New Alpinism.
As for technical skills and knowledge - well, you can bag easy peaks with a minimal amount, but here's a list of skills that will get you started, in approximate order from least to most advanced:
Backpacking
You said you'd done day hikes before - have you been backpacking? If not, this is a crucial first step. There is a ton of information online, and it isn't terribly difficult or dangerous, so you should be able to learn on your own. Here is a pretty good gear list to get you started. Also, make sure you learn and abide by LNT.
Wilderness First Aid
This is obviously good to know if you plan on tackling difficult or remote peaks. While there are many resources online (and you could get a decent overview simply by going through the requirements for the Boy Scouts' First Aid Merit Badge, this is one of the few things where I recommend paying for professional instruction. Getting a wilderness first aid certification can be very informative if you don't already have the knowledge.
Light/Ultralight Backpacking
Lighter packs move faster. Moving faster is safer. Learn to pare down the weight of your backpack to the bare minimum. This can be accomplished mostly by improvising gear out of common lightweight items, or simply going without - though it is possible to spend quite a bit of money to shave those last few ounces. /r/ultralight is a good source, as is backpackinglight.
Sport Climbing
If you want to tackle mountains with technical climbing, you need to know how to climb. While you might find yourself under the wing of a crusty old mountaineer who will be having none of those sissy-ass bolts, the fact is that the easiest and most common path to learning technical climbing these days starts in the climbing gym and at the sport crag. Unfortunately, this is where things can start getting expensive. In order to start learning how to climb, you'll need a pair of rock shoes at the very least to boulder. In order to start roped climbing, you'll need a harness and a belay device. In order to be a fully fledged sport climber, you'll need a rope (70m is the new standard, get that) and around 12 quickdraws; I also recommend a helmet.
As far as actually learning, there are a number of routes you can take. The most common is to get a rock gym membership. This is probably the best way, since it will expose you to the greatest number of potential climbing partners and increase your movements skills as fast as possible. Just hanging around the gym is usually enough to make a few friends to get outside with, and then they can teach you how to set anchors and lead sport. Unfortunately, gym memberships are expensive and there aren't too many rock gyms in Wyoming. Another option is to find some sort of social club for climbing in your area - I'm sure there are quite a few in your area if you poke around a bit. You'll be able to make friends and learn skills, but you'll be limited since the only practice you'll get will be on sporadic weekends. A third option is to try to teach yourself - the others are easier, but this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I suggest picking up a copy of Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills if you choose to go this route. Just remember to double-check everything, because if you mess up, you could die. A final option, and the one I suggest least, is to hire someone to teach you. This is very expensive, and although most guides provide excellent instruction, I feel that most people are taught better by learning from peers and making their own judgements on what to and not to do, based on reason and evidence.
Skiing, Snowshoeing, and Avalanche Certification
Mountains have snow. You need to navigate that snow. Learning to ski and snowshoe is fairly straightforward, but learning how not to die in an avalanche is rather difficult. Again, pay for a course.
Trad Climbing
Sport climbing familiarizes you with the fundamentals of movement on rock, belaying, and climbing above your protection. Traditional, or "trad" climbing, teaches you to place your own protection. You'll need a set of nuts (DMM makes some good ones), about 10 alpine draws, and a set of cams (cha-ching!). Once again, you can try to find some friends to teach you, teach yourself (pick up either Long's or Luebben's book), or hire someone to teach you.
Finally, don't fall into the "couple trap". I assume you're going to want your boyfriend to join you when you go out - that's great! But don't let your boyfriend be your one and only partner. For one thing, you'll severely limit the amount of knowledge you'll be able to absorb. For another, you'll be limited in when you'll be able to get out to when you are both able to - while backpacking and bagging easy peaks on your own is fine, pushing yourself solo is not suggested. And finally, it just won't be as fun - joining a community of people who you literally trust with your life is truly fantastic, and the relationships you build climbing mountains are really as important as the climbs themselves.
Get a buddy and go indoor rock climbing first, second and third. I love PRG. There you will learn several important things like the basic tie in knot, how to trust the rope and how to belay with a grigri. You will learn to use your whole body without trying to do pull ups. Its really pretty easy to get people to go indoor climbing vs outdoor, and then you can find the people who like climbing and you trust with your life.
If you are the kind of person who likes to read about things before going out and trying them, try this and if you want to do trad (not pre anchored sport routes) this.
When I first started climbing, I almost took a class here. If you don't have a bunch of indoor climbing experience, some experienced friend, or just a mind for detail and a crap load of overconfidence - take the class. I learned as I went with a few good friends, but there were a few lessons that we almost learned the hard way. Have fun up there!
I forgot to add, there are some great books out there that are super inspiring and useful.
Climbing Anchors, 2nd Edition, by John Long
Self-Rescue, by David Fasulo, Mike Clelland
Big Walls, Paul Piana
Look into it. I do know some people that learned to lead trad from friends. If so, make sure you do the following:
Good luck, and climb on.
Guidebooks to the climber's local crags would be a great gift if they don't already have them.
If they already have those, then Climbing Anchors is definitely one every climber should read.
Regarding TR anchors: read Anchors in EARNEST and John Long's Climbing Anchors. On top of the reading, please seek instructions from an experienced person and have them look over your work for the first few times. (If I were in Jersey, I'd take you up on the offer for teaching, climbing, and boozing.)
//EDIT: Corrected link format.
I'm pretty sure most people will be reticent to give advice over t'internet about setting up anchors because when you teach someone you want to be sure that they've got the hang of it before they try it in the wild. Try and go out with an experienced friend and set up some dummy anchors and then go through your first proper anchor with experienced friend(much cheaper than paying instruction)
In the mean time this is a cheap good book full of diagrams. Good luck with your outside climbing, totally different experience from the(slightly sterile) indoor climbing world
Find someone with experience to show you how to do it. There are subtle mistakes that can be made setting up an anchor - cross-loading biners, chafing webbing, equalization issues, directional issues, etc.
A good book by a great writer and a Yosemite Stonemaster is Climbing Anchors by John Long
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-2nd-How-Climb/dp/0762723262/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1269897510&amp;sr=8-1
But seriously, you only get one life. Find someone with experience to "show you the ropes".
Climbing Anchors by John Long is a good concise reference for, well, climbing anchors.
Specifically it covers stuff like what to avoid when placing nuts and cams, what to look for in natural protection, warning signs for bad bolts, and the pros and cons of the various rigging systems. It's pretty cheap too so I think it definitely has a place on your shelf.
If you're new, work on technique as opposed to fitness (yeah, fitness helps, but technique is more important initially).
Check this book out.
If you want to get into some next-level stuff, pick up Training for the New Alpinism by Steve House. It's alpinism-focused, but has good workouts. Or perhaps Conditioning for Climbers
Climb more. I don't mean to be snippy but nothing improves your climbing like climbing.
A hang board is definitely worth it if you have somewhere to put it up.
It is very important that you build your "pull" muscles but you need to keep your muscles antagonist "push" counterparts well conditioned as well. These sorts of complications are how people get injured. Really, there are entire books on this stuff. This is a pretty good one.
Oh, one more thing that popped to the top of my head -- weight. Weight is everything in climbing. Months of strength training can amount to gains which are rivaled by only weeks of weight loss, if you have excess weight.
This book is a good start.
But figure out first if you want to turn your fun hobby into something you have to work for.
I try to break up the training and the just have fun aspect of climbing.
I use 2-3 months before season to train. After that I go to the gym to hang out and just have fun.
I break my training up into three phases
Up-down-ups, Laps
Bouldering
4x4's
I don't know of any training programs geared toward just women. If you're really into a detailed training program, the Rock Climber's Training Manual is about as detailed as it could be. I've also used training techniques from How to Climb 5.12 and Rock Warrior's Way, which is more mental training than physical.
Slopers also tend to be hard for me. The key is really to pull directionally, so use your core to get your body close to the wall, then pull on the sloper toward your center of gravity. Don't try to grab it or crimp it with your fingers--you want as much skin on the hold as you can get.
As far as the shoes go, if you have a good amount of rubber left on the toes, keep using them! New shoes can give you a real mental boost if you want to get a new pair--maybe don't go too aggressive--maybe something like 5.10 anasazis or la sportiva miura lace ups.
seconding /u/traddad's comment/recommendations. Another good resource is John Long's anchor book -- the last chapter has some good examples for rigging top belays (and it's a good anchor resource in general)
Here is what I use for bolted TR anchors:
http://www.seekingexposure.com/meet-the-quad-anchor/
This covers way more than just bolted TR anchors, but if you're really serious about getting information: http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1451675328&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=anchor+building
Also, 50' is twice as much as you need. 20-25' is enough.
The easiest way to find a friend who knows what's up and who is willing to take you out a bunch of times and teach you. Then you can start to purchase gear and do it on your own a bit.
You can ask around on Mountain Project forums or at the gym for people who would be interested in taking you out if you don't know anyone. If you go that route then a positive, open to new experiences attitude, an understanding of LNT and respecting the outdoors, and a six pack of beer generally go a long way.
Reading a book like John Long's Anchors is a good way to begin to learn, but probably not sufficient on its own.
If you can't find someone to teach you then many gyms offer classes on various topics. Start with a leading and lead belay class. Then move on to an anchors course. There's lots to learn and it's your life and safety at stake so take it slow.
Hey man. The Friday New Climber's thread stickied at the top of r/climbing is a great place to ask questions and get advice. I use it all the time and love it.
How many days a week are you climbing? If you can go 3x a week you should see solid improvement. 1x a week really won't give you the time on the wall to see much improvement.
When people start, most of the time their footwork is horrific. There are lots of drills to improve feet which will probably help your climbing the most.
The full version of this DVD can give you lots of advice (be clever... google it and ye shall find).
Books that are helpful include "Self-Coached Climber" and "9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistake." The Self-Coached Climber comes with a great DVD with drills to improve technique. I bet that's on youtube as well. Yup, it is.
Also, you should just try climbing harder routes. Pick a couple 5.10s that look fun and try to climb them when you come in to the gym. At first it might seem really difficult, but if you try them every time you come in, you will get better. After that, pick other 5.10s and climb those. Rinse and repeat. After that, try some 5.11s.
*Edit, links and stuff.
I think the reason people are surprised is that this movement is largely natural. Your body should seek the most balanced (easiest to maintain) position for any given set of holds. You'll find yourself climbing much more efficiently if you just focus on finding the most stable position.
Also, if you can't hold your hand over the next hold before touching it (lock off), you're probably not climbing statically. However, some moves either require or are more efficiently executed with dynamic movement (deadpoint or dyno).
Consider reading this book called the Self Coached Climber. It talks a lot about this stuff as well.
http://smile.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1465002952&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=self+coached+climber
the self coached climber was a book I read that really helped me with understanding the fundamentals. Technique is one thing, but basics like knowing how to grip different types of holds isnt always on youtube videos.
You might want to try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4rVY3sLQqA for a quick intro on lead climbing.
A double rope system uses two full length ropes, and you alternate clipping them into protection. This helps eliminate rope drag.
A twin rope system uses two full length ropes as well, but you clip both ropes into each piece of protection.
See here for info on rope systems: http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/howto/ropesystems.asp
You will almost always be using a double rope rappel on any of your local crags. Single rope rappels are more dangerous and are usually used to rap down from the top of a crag to clean a route, photograph, ascend, etc. With the single rope rappel method, you will not be able to retrieve your rope from the anchors unless you use a smaller cord as a pull cord, although that is not a reccomended technique.
As for climbing rescue, check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X
hope my answers helped.
9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes by Dave MacLeod gives a good overview of common bad habits/practices a lot of climbers make, and how to avoid them.
It's a good book for gaining a bit more overall awareness of how best to approach getting better at climbing, rather than just throwing yourself at harder and harder climbs until you can do them.
He also has a second book called Make or Break, which is centred around common climbing related injuries and how to avoid them (or recover from them).
I would make the days at your normal gym, the more "strength" oriented ones, after the most consecutive rest days.
You're basically describing a less structured conjugate training plan. It might be worth reading Steve Bechtel's latest book:
https://www.amazon.com/Logical-Progression-Periodization-Year-Round-Performance/dp/1544119534/ref=pd_zg_rss_ts_b_68140_5
This book is crucial: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062
I’ve heard the John Long one is great as well.
Also, definitely get a copy of Freedom of the Hills.
I bought mountaineering freedom of the hills as everyone recommends, it's very comprehensive, so much so I end up using it as a reference.
One of my favorites is [Luebben's Rock Climbing Anchors] (http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062). I've used this one the most and to initially teach myself. Also have more experienced people look over your anchors.
People recommend John Long's Anchor book but I've never read it.
Remember to build and weight anchors ground level and place tons of gear on easy climbs when you're starting out.
I was always very redundant with gear and of course we practiced on low traffic climbs.
Yes absolutely DO NOT go into the back country without some snow safety awareness.
I would start out reading this:
https://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
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Then take an avy course. And then buy the appropriate gear.
And as you are doing all of this, bookmark the Sierra Avalanche Center website, and read the avy bulletin EVERYDAY. Whether you are going out or not, so you are aware of past, present and future snowpack issues.
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Get a 6 cylinder. If you really wanted to drive a four banger and save gas, get a civic.
I definitely plan to get into the back country sometime in the future, but I have a lot of learning to do before I'm willing to venture out to do anything serious. Colorado Snowpack is infamous for being some of the most deadly avalanche terrain on the planet. Adding a snow mobile into the equation increases avalanche risk exponentially. My best advice to you is to first invest in Avalanche Recovery gear (Beacon, Shovel, Probe). Familiarize yourself with your equipment, and practice with it regularly. Secondly, I'd advise you take at least a level 1 Avalanche Awareness Class. It can seriously be the difference between life and death. I'd really recommend giving Staying Alive In Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper a read. It's incredibly informative and will be a great tool to begin familiarizing yourself with avalanche awareness and recovery before even setting foot a mountain.
Taking all of these steps to educate yourself may seem like a little bit much, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that Colorado Snow would love to kill you. Here is a story about a guy who died on New Years Day snowshoeing in the backcountry. He and his group did everything possible to avoid being caught, but despite taking steps to avoid the avalanche, and triggering his beacon, he was still killed after being buried in the slide. I can't say it enough, my man. Take the class. Read the books. You literally cannot learn enough when it comes to Avalanches and how to avoid them.
I've used different methods: (1) find a patient belayer willing to belay you on top rope while you climb and set gear. I have one good buddy who had done a lot of trad back in the day but wasn't interested in leading any more so this approach was great because he was experienced enough to check my gear and give advice. (2) set a bunch of gear and build anchors while on the ground. (3) bring along some trad pro while sport climbing and try to find somewhere to place it even if it's unnecessary. (4) while seconding and cleaning look closely at the gear you're taking out and understand why it was placed however it was. (5) a lot of reading - the books on anchor building by John Long and Craig Luebben are great. I prefer Luebben's because he tends to be more descriptive of why certain placements are better/worse.
Buy this book, it might save you from having some really rough "learning" (near death) experiences:
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-2nd-How-Climb/dp/0762723262
I recommend this:
(http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Edition-Climb-Series/dp/0762723262)
It goes a long way toward explaining what makes a good anchor, what makes a bad anchor, and how to tell the difference.
As for variations, you could extend both slings to their full length and connect them with two biners (gates opposite and opposed). You would get nearly the same overall length without the possibility of a sudden extension if one bolt pulls.
If you're just using it for top roping, just remember that you stand a far greater chance of dying in a wreck on the way to Stoney Point than you do of dying from any of those slings breaking.
The only workouts I do with my S.O. are rock climbing and hiking. That's primarily because he doesn't go to the gym if it's not to climb. I've been trying to get him to do yoga with me because he's inflexible and often in random pain, he tries to get me to go snowboarding/skiing with him, which I won't because strapping a slippery board to your feet and then sliding down an avalanche-prone mountain is crazy-sauce.
I asked for this book for Christmas, you might be interested as well! I'm not sure what the exercise routines are like, but will help develop an training routine to make you a better climber: http://www.amazon.com/Conditioning-Climbers-Complete-Exercise-Series/dp/0762742283
Sweet, so running laps will be a great tool as other people have pointed out.
I was going to spit some workout ideas to you... but ultimately, everything I would be saying is from this book: Training for Climbing. It is the shit. It gives clear workout plans, exercises, etc depending on your experience level and area of focus. It also goes into the science and history of climbing. It's 100% worth buying- it's an incredible reference tool for training.
it all just depends what you are working on, and its important to alternate exercises. these are all good, but there are so many different combos that you cant really go too wrong. the 'hang 10, rest 5' is based on a time ratio that is proven to show results in all sports. I read about it in an Eric Hoorst book. This not only has great exercises for gym and hangboarding, but explains why they are good and how they should be utilized. it even helps you design workout schedules to target your weaknesses. great stuff
Here's a couple of books that i found useful when learning. For the cost of your class, you could buy some gear. I bought my rack and went out and started leading the easiest things i could find. I asked my partners to look at my placements and didn't climb anything where i wasn't at ease fiddling with my placements. After a season of this, i spent a day with a small group climbing with a guide and a pro climber. It was really useful then to have someone evaluate my placements and look at my technique. In short, spend the money on a rack. Get out and play with it.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Rock-Climb-5th-Series/dp/0762755342/ref=pd_sim_b_2/191-6286848-7768056
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762782072/ref=pd_sim_b_1
These two will get you started. Once you're comfortable with your gear and are starting to think about multi-pitch climbing, it's a really good idea to read this one as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1395103810&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=self+rescue+for+climbers
There are many books out there on these topics. I've read the three above and can vouch for their quality. When looking for the Jon Long books, be sure to get the latest edition.
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072
Climbing Anchors - John Long
Here's a snippet from that:
https://www.rei.com/media/cc/a4955f32-346f-48a3-98b9-782b58f56d1c.pdf
Here's some online resources:
Mountain Project Articles
Cam Placement Beth Rodden
Wild Country Crack School
No problem! I had a some great friends who had a lot of patience with me, who were just as adventurous as me, and I spent a lot of time reading John Long's [Climbing Anchors] (http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-How-Climb-Series/dp/0762782072).
Just remember, good judgement is the result of having survived bad judgment.
OP if you haven't already, I highly suggest reading climbing anchors falcon guide https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072, if you're into gear and the knots, ect, its a fantastic read. i've read it cover to cover twice.
I think taking the winter to prepare yourself is a great idea if you don't know of anyone who can take you, or don't want to spend the money on instruction (right now that is). For $30 and some shipping you can have almost all the book knowledge you need.
Read Climbing Anchors by John Long. This is a great way to start understanding climbing anchor theory and some of the broader details of materials and protection.
Read the AMGA's Single Pitch Instructor Manual. It has more info than you need to know, but the knots and anchor systems are extremely valuable.
How to top rope by Bob Gains is good if you are starting out.
http://www.amazon.com/Toproping-How-To-Climb-Series/dp/0762770325
He also has a book on anchors and setting other pro if you are interested in working on leading.
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-How-Climb-Series/dp/0762782072/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y
John long is also a great author as u/jdevver suggested.
Climbing Anchors
Multipitch Climbing
start reading though these resources a dozen times:
1 multipitchclimbing.com
2 anchors intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SkCojauHto
3 WC crack school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W99gN54wLQ&amp;list=PLIC0Jb1OCf4cTyLvpiGN9KNZGfqCpHB4D
Then get some DMM alloy offset nuts 7-11 and go around the base of the crag practicing placements.
long's book is good too: https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072
https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Single-Pitch-Manual/dp/0762790040/
You want non-obvious tricks? If you are looking for some more advanced interesting things you can do with a GriGri, this wonderful book is on sale right now. For instance, you can easily rig up a 3:1 haul system if belaying from above, or ascend from below to assist a panicked climber who won’t lower off a ledge on TR.
This book is the AMGA single pitch instructors manual. I’m not a guide, but I’ve found it really useful in filling in some of the gaps in my climbing knowledge.
This book, the single pitch manual contains a lot of technical information as well as a great many soft topics. It stands pretty well on its own but combined with a somewhat proper mentor it will really help you learn climbing systems inside and out.
For a fine focus on technique: Self-Coached Climber
Self-Coached Climber is great
If you have a few dollars I recommend The Self-Coached Climber
The Self Coached Climber
I read most of "The Self Coached Climber" and found it very informative.
edit: Just saw it was already recommended. Anyway still a good choice.
Self coached climber is great. Has tons of movement exercises to work on your technique.
You are talking about two different types of endurance here. Aerobic and Anaerobic endurance. 4x4's are targeted more towards Anaerobic endurance, while laps are more like aerobic endurance. While 4x4's are good, if you are wanting overall endurance I think you want to do laps.
Not sure of your climbing experience but the self-coached climber has a lot of good information in it. When I read it, the technique info did not teach me very much but it the mechanics and training suggestions were perfect. I highly suggest it.
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394
there's lots of good info and technique in there. "quiet feet"
Check out The Self Coached Climber. In the first part, the book focuses on movement, including ideas behind moving efficiently, being aware of your body position and how you initiate moves, and a bunch of drills for foot placement and techniques such as flagging. The second part has some training exercises and ideas for structured programs. It's highly acclaimed and I got a lot out of it.
Freedom of the hill is very complete but mostly for mountaineering, less useful for general rock climbing. It can also be a bit dated in places. Still very useful to own, read and eventually assimilate if you ever head into the mountains.
For general rock climbing, I think your best option by far is The self coached climber. Very complete and it covers a lot more than the basics.
I strongly suggest to pretty much anyone interested in climbing outdoors to read up on climbing rescue and self-rescue. Once you have a solid grasp on the techniques, test them out in a gym setting. Knowing how to properly lock off a belay device, take the tension off of it using a friction hitch above it, then escaping the belay to ascend the rope can literally save a life. I've heard that if a climber is unconscious and upside down, in general he has about 15 minutes to live. This means that a good grasp of these techniques is critical to ensuring the survival of the climber is such situations.
Suggested reading:
Be safe out there!
http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_3?ie=UTF8&amp;refRID=1XBKDMNTBPXDRR0GMPJZ
This is a great book
You've been bouldering for 6 years so obviously you're experienced, but since everyone seems to be focused on strength, maybe it's technique? Or it could be something else entirely.
This might not be your cup of tea but, if you're desperate, 9 out of 10 outlines a number of hangups (non-strength related) that get in the way of progressing and breaking that plateau.
Yep, also this one. Nine out of Ten Climbers Make the Same Mistakes
http://www.amazon.com/out-climbers-make-same-mistakes/dp/095642810X
I'll check that out. Thanks!
I found this book to be useful. Specifically the chapter on rehabilitation after tendon injuries. It's not all that accessible to the community though, both financially and in terms of practical knowledge. I think there is definitely needing to be written if you can stomach another one.
This book is geared towards climbing injuries but it is well written and decently digestible. If there was something more complete in terms of a gymnastic perspective, I would buy it in a heart beat.
Edit: Didn't realize you were a climber too Steve. Sorry if you were already aware of those books. Just trying to pass along the little I've learned. Thanks again for all the great info in your book(s), website, and on here!
I am just browsing this thread a little late but you sound like the perfect candidate to read Dave Macleod's Make or Break book. I had sporadic injuries (climbers elbow, shoulder impingement, the usual A2 pulley strains) and picked up this book after a recommendation from someone on /r/climbing and it had everything you need to know about training to prevent all sorts of climbing injuries (as well as rehab training too). Can't recommend this book enough.
link
> Why isn't climbing the best training for climbing?
You get stronger at a particular workout by incrementally increasing the intensity/weight/volume of the workout. This is also known as "progressive overload." The reason why "just climbing" isn't the best training for climbing is because it tends to be too sporadic and varied to guarantee consistent progressive overload. That's why you see a lot of people on these subreddits doing things like hangboarding and weight lifting because the intensity/weight/volume is easily quantifiable, making progressive overload possible.
In Steve Bechtel's new book, Logical Progression, he suggests a few ways of quantifying your climbing sessions so that you can increase the intensity of them from session to session in such a way that you improve your strength, strength endurance, or endurance. Check it out for some good tips.
Read this book!
Good book here - http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371828968&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=anchors
The Mountaineers put out a great anchor books as well (I've never read the Long so I can't comment on how it compares):
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062
Lots and more literature, but it basically breaks down to:
Seconded on Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills as a great overview of all of this (and much more).
My favorite anchor management book is Rock Climbing Anchors: A Comprehensive Guide
EDIT: and of course the usual caution. Don't try this without proper instruction.
I know this isn't online, but Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain is regarded as one of the best books that really gets into the nitty gritty of avalanches, but remains understandable.
He is also the author of one of the best books on avalanche safety skills. A definite read for any backcountry enthusiast/snow science geek.
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain is considered a go-to print resource for avy education. http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
You can read as much as you'd like, but nothing replaces field experience. Get out with some guides, dig some pits, and ask questions. If you plan on spending a good amount of time in the backcountry, look into getting avy certified.
Roughly 25% of skier deaths are in tree wells.
Great book on avalanche terrain and safety.
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain Brand: Mountaineers Books
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594850844/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdo_t1_JJaBCbG4EKVXR
One thing that's worth mentioning is that aspect does not effect risk. Aspect has the potential to effect hazard as illustrated by all the other answers here. Hazard in terms of avalanche terrain is the probability of an avalanche release and expected avalanche size. Risk, is up to you - and how much exposure you have to that hazard depends on your travel plans. If a huge avalanche is very likely to happen, and you are no where near then there's no risk.
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For example, let's say we are at the tail end of a storm cycle with winds out of the south for the whole storm in your terrain. We may assume that the north slopes will be more heavily loaded with the new snow. In the morning, the avalanche advisory states that north facing slopes have high avalanche danger for the day, south facing slopes have moderate avalanche danger. You can mitigate your risk by choosing your travel plans wisely. If you choose to ski north slopes you'll be increasing your risk to the hazard, if you choose to ski south facing slopes you'll reduce your risk. You reduce your risk by limiting, controlling your exposure to the hazard.
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Hazard + exposure = risk.
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If you are taking courses, you should consider getting a jump on the subject with this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
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I'll second someone's recommendation for this resource:
https://avalanche.org/avalanche-encylopedia/#aspect
http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
Get a copy of this, too. :)
First things first, go out and buy a copy of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills.
That book will be a fantastic primer on all things mountaineering and alpinism, it's widely considered the bible of mountaineering and has been updated several times by top alpinists and guides. It should get you comfortable with climbing some less technical peaks near you. To find some peaks to climb and route information look at Summitpost.
And lastly for training for mountaineering buy a copy of Training for the new Alpinism. The book was written by Steve House, world renowned alpinist, and Scott Johnston, his training coach. The book only covers how to train your body to prepare for climbing and covers everything from diet, to mental training, to sports science.
Lastly, see if you can join your local mountaineering club and find a mentor.
Be safe. Have fun. Don't die.
The first thing you should buy is 'Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills'. It is an excellent resource that will guide you through every step of the way.
Definitely pick up a copy of Freedom of the Hills.
While this isn't a book I recommend you carry around on a backpacking trip, it is an amazing reference for anyone that backpacks, climbs, or mountaineers.
Cheers.
This man (or woman) speaks truth. Read it cover to cover. Pretty much all of us (who climb outside regularly) have.
Also, this is the newest edition.
There's other much more experienced than me here in this subreddit, but I'll post the two books that are always recommended for training tips and for learning more about mountaineering:
Training for the New Alpinism
Freedom of the Hills
Besides gaining experience from the bigger mountains, it's also a good idea to do some rock climbing, to gain experience with handling rope, knots, anchors, secure climbing etc.
Going to an indoor climbing center or heading out with some local rock climbing club if you have that nearby would be a great way to gain experience with those skills.
For gear, here's one interesting site I've found useful, Weigh my Rack: http://blog.weighmyrack.com/how-to-pick-the-best-carabiner-shape-for-rock-climbing/
https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Mountaineers/dp/1594851387
Freedom of the Hills is pretty much the textbook for outdoor climbing!
I should have mentioned the book Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. About a third of it is useful for winter camping and navigation and the rest is for climbing, alpine skills, glacier travel and some avalanche basics. It's the bible of mountaineers and will be extremely useful if you decide to go all out in the Sierras during winter.
Read this
And make sure the people you're going with know what they're doing.
Also, Leave no Trace
Oh, make sure someone not on the trip knows your plan/route/schedule. And have fun.
I have to agree with this. There are plenty of other websites that are dedicated to climbing instruction and FAQs. Frankly, I would just point everyone to read Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. Keeping a running 'best of' or FAQ is a ton of work and people should just use the search if they care to see if something already exists. Hell, most of these questions have already been answered 100 times over on other climbing forums.
Every hobby subreddit has this same issue and I've yet to see a good solution for it. The only thing that has come close is a "New to climbing" section that has links to instructional websites, books, videos, manufactures, and other climbing related stuff.
Como ya mencionaron otros, es recomendable asesorarte con alpinistas experimentados para ascender rutas más complejas. También te puedo recomendar la biblia del montañismo: Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills.
One guy that comes to mind, big on safety, started at 50. I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill.
Find a mountaineering club, and jump in to whatever classes they have. Also, there is a great book to get.
http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Edition/dp/1594851387
I'm not an expert by any means, but if you have any inclination to do mountaineering activities as well you should check out Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. It has a section on types of water purification/filtration. Link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-50th-Anniversary/dp/1594851387
For me, I do see it as simple. But I see it because it's something you dedicate yourself to, aspire as a life goal. Yes it does cost money, and it takes a TON of sacrifice. But look at it this way, even if you never get to climb Everest, just by taking the alpine courses and learning the skills, you are opening yourself up to a whole new range of possibilities in your climbing. Learn everything you need to know first. If you ever get to that point where you are ready to tackle it than go for it. But have fun along the way.
Also, this is your bible: http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-50th-Anniversary/dp/1594851387
I've never read this book, but my friend references it all the time. It's pretty thick and may seem overwhelming, but it's a good reference type book. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594851387/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
according to Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills 2nd edition, static rope can be used in top roping.
>Static ropes can be used for top-roping, but the belayer needs to avoid letting slack build up.....
Is that true? Can I use static rope in top rope climbing (at least 15m high wall with at least 2ft overhang)?
If I were to use static rope to climb, how much slack is considered dangerous?
For mountaineering a good start would be to pick up a used copy of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. Here's a link to the current 9th edition. I have the 7th edition from when I started climbing. Used copies of the 7th are going for under $2.
If you live in the Seattle area, and can get in this year, sign up for a scrambling class with The Mountaineers. You'll learn everything you need to know about beginning mountaineering. Including wilderness first aid, navigation, appropriate gear, rock scrambling and snow traversing techniques. If you're not close enough to one of their branches to take a class(or can't spare the money right now, can't get in this year, etc.), definitely get Freedom of the Hills. In it is everything you'll need to know to get into mountaineering. And, as others have said, you'll need gear such as mountaineering boots(doesn't have to be the heave duty ones used on Rainer, Denali, etc), ice axe(and know how to use it! walking in balance, arresting, etc), and a helmet. If you're in the Seattle/Western WA area I can recommend some beginner scrambles to get your toes wet too.
Some suggestions for things you can do in Toronto to prepare:
Once you are "mountain fit" and have the basic book learning done, there are a couple of ways to actually get on to a mountain. One way is to take a multi-day course offered by a guiding company that includes an ascent of a mountain. This will cost in the ball park of $1000 for the course itself, plus travel to get to the mountain. This teaches you many of the skills you need and gets you onto big routes quickly, but costs more.
The other way to is learn the basic skills of crampon usage, self belay, self arrest, camping in the snow, etc. by finding people willing to show you. A common source of those people are climbing clubs (the Mountaineers in Seattle, Mountain Ascent Association in California, I'm sure there are plenty in Canada). This also gives you a way to meet people to climb mountains with in the future. You could also take a 1-2 day skills course from a guide company, these will generally be cheaper (~$200-400) but probably won't involve a summit climb and you'll still have to figure out how to find people to climb mountains with in the future. Then once you have those basic skills you start small and easy and build up your skillset yourself over multiple trips to the mountains. This takes way longer to get to big impressive mountains, but many people get more satisfaction out of climbing a mountain if they aren't relying on a guide to get them there safely. You could probably do a lot of this early learning in the Whites as mentioned elsewhere in this thread before moving on to the ranges with bigger routes.
One thing I like to do is pick a goal mountain that you really want to do. I personally love climbing climbing the Cascade volcanos so my first goal mountain was Mt. Rainier. Lots of stuff in the Rockies, both in the US and Canada, the Sierra in California, Coastal range in Canada. Just find a mountain that inspires you. Hard to give recommendations since there are just so many options if you include all of the US and Canada and its largely personal preference of what you are looking for.
If going with the first option of taking a mountaineering course, often you can find one that includes your goal mountain and you are done, move on to a bigger goal mountain. :)
If going the second route, research the common/easiest route up that mountain and see what skills you need to climb it. Then find some routes that teach you the skills you need but don't have but are still within your comfort level and go climb them. Rinse and repeat. I think the hardest part here is finding people that are just a little more advanced than you are to do these routes with and learn from them. As you do more climbs your network of people to climb with will grow.
What grade do you climb or did you climb before your surgery and what grade or exercise causes your elbow to hurt? Do they really hurt or just feel sore? Will they hurt during the training or only afterwards?
Besides that: Do not try to "tape them to your bones", i.e. apply strong forces on the tendons by taping them as hard as you can. The effect of taping (pulleys might be another case) is caused by increasing the blood flow, the flow of the lymphs etc. in the taped region (the load on your ellbow tendon would be way to high to reduce it via an external tape without blocking the blood circulation completely). See this excellent book by Volker Schöffl, most likely the leading expert in the field of climbing injuries.
I would only go for weight reduction to start training one handed.
Use a harness slings and weights so you can add weight on the bigger holds till you are ready for the tinier!
Great side effect, you increase maximum power by adding weight instead of reducing! And it's safer according to the national climbing-doc of germany (Jan Hojer, Jule Wurm etc.)!
EDIT: sorry not the best reference here is the better one
Here is the mobile version of your link
Much (belated) thanks for this informative response. It sounds like my best bet is to go with a whole new setup for touring, with lighter skis, touring bindings and new boots. I'm only dimly aware of the specialized Dynafit/tech setups... is this something I should be looking into now, since I'm getting a dedicated setup for touring anyway (and keeping my existing ones for resort skiing)? Or is there a good reason to stay away from these until I'm more experienced out back?
Is there any particular model or type of ski you would recommend, or even just a suggested waist width? Do I want a really wide powder ski, something more rounded in the 98mm area, or something else entirely? (Unrelated to touring per se, I had been considering getting something like a Katana or even Shiro for a while. Should I consider something like that for touring specifically?)
If you know any shops in the US you'd particularly recommend for touring skis and boots, please let me know! I'm keenly aware of the importance of a bootfitter in general, but not so sure where to find one that specializes in touring.
Also appreciate the safety tip. While I have yet to take even the basic avalanche course (looking to take the level 1 first thing next season and go from there), I've been reading enough to get some idea of just how much I have to learn about this (e.g., this). Given that, I intend to go out only with pro guides for the time being.
Read the Mountaineering Bible
Nols offers a whole line of books on outdoors skills, most of which are pretty decent.
Also, it's probably a bit advanced for someone who is just getting into hiking, but at some point you're going to want to invest in Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, published by Mountaineers Books. It's more or less the mountaineer's bible...
And finally, since you live in the Northeast, I highly recommend Forest and Crag, which is a history of hiking and recreation management NY and New England. Very informative and interesting read.
Another one you could look at would be the Mountaineers. The Basic Alpine course for the Seattle branch should be listed fairly soon and begin around January. As for getting prepared I would read Freedom of the Hills, start hiking where you get some elevation gain and checking out a rock gym in the metro area.
I went through the Basic Alpine course earlier and while I recommend it you should expect to spend around 1-2k for the course and gear.
Hiya Michnation.
Assuming you have the usual shoes, harness, belay device, etc...
You will need a rope, quickdraws, some cord/slings/webbing, and a handful of carabiners.
More importantly you should probably check out Freedom and Anchors.
These two books have taught generations of climbers how to climb. A huge part of climbing outside is being comfortable and confident in your own skills. My personal opinion is that you will become a better climber through a lot of time spent learning techniques and practicing them, than if you spend money on a couple guided days. But thats IMO.
You should probably buy Freedom of the Hills which will answer most of your questions.
Start hiking in the mountains in NJ, NY, MD and further in NE or down in the Apps. Find a rock climbing gym and get in as much time as you can there. Colorado rules, I live in Denver and don't ever want to leave. Moving here just because you want to climb mountains without experience, not a good idea. Start reading and training. Once you feel ready then decide where to move. Best book you will ever find for helping you in your quest for mountaineering is here. http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Edition/dp/1594851387
http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Edition/dp/1594851387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1415152306&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=mountaineering
Yes, it's a mountaineering book, but it covers all of the basics you'll need to get started camping, and then some. A friend got it for me when I started and I'd recommend it to anyone just beginning in hiking/camping.
I echo the trekking poles suggestion (they're a lifesaver for me), and I'd say that practice will help you build confidence. I'm not sure where you are, but if scrambling is what you're interested, there might be courses that give you instruction and techniques to better move over rock and snow. I took my alpine scrambling course through the Mountaineers in Washington state, and it did wonders for my confidence on snow (I already felt pretty good on rock). A lot of the material covered is in the Freedom of the Hills book, which might be an interesting read, though it goes into alpine climbing and more advanced subjects as well.
there aren't any stores in freedom of the hills, i'm not sure what you are referring to. nor is it expensive, in the grand scheme of climbing gear.
http://www.amazon.ca/Mountaineering-Freedom-Of-Hills-Anniversary/dp/1594851387
Take a class from a certified mountain guide.
No, seriously. Take a class.
Failing that, find a partner who has 1) many many years of mountain experience. Offer to belay them anywhere and everywhere. Learn from them. 2) REALLY has many years of experience. There are quite a few folks who present themselves as experts but know fuck-all - it's terrifying.
Read read read and practice practice practice. Some good books are:
Moutaineering: Freedom of the Hills
How to Rock Climb! - John Long
Climbing Anchors - John Long
More Climbing Anchors - John Long
Training for Climbing - Eric Horst
Climbing Self Rescue - Tyson and Loomis
It is very important to realize that these skills should be second nature to you. When you are tired, cold, or frightened you should not be trying to remember how to rig a clove hitch on an equalette or set up a 3-to-1 to haul your partner over the crux of the 2nd pitch, in the dark. Buy gear, watch videos, read books and practice at home. Be confident without being over-confident.
Mountaineering (in all its forms) is a long slow progression of skill and judgement.
The outdoor walls at Sandpoint and Marymoor are good starting places to practice lead. The style of climbing in Northbend is good for beginners as well. This book covers everything pretty well, it's worth reading through the rock sections at least once when learning.
Ya, I grew up in Colorado so climbing has always been a part of me. If you're looking to get into mountaineering I recommend you pick up this book, it taught me everything I didn't already know plus its nice to have around.
The question of how warm is a bit of a variable depending on the individual and circumstances - weight, temperatures, fitness, duration and intensity of activity etc.
I'm guessing you mean the base layer items from Target or Costco? As long as you feel it suits you for the conditions, go for it. Although it should be noted that its always nice to have the option of taking off layers in the event its too warm rather then be stuck without additional layers if you're too cold.
Generally, as long as you keep moving, especially given that you're in snow and ascending, I find it much more challenging to avoid sweating then any issue with cold. Alternatively, if you're in a situation where you're belaying or taking an extended rest, the cold can pose a real danger.
If you're able to, check out this book - Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. Considered a fundamental of mountaineering, very comprehensively written with a section dealing specifically with optimal attire for different circumstances
TL;DR! Not reading before you jump into something may be one issue. Do you even read the disclaimers on your gear and the accompanying pamphlets? How about you try reading some books while you wait to reply and troll well-meaning people?
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>" Like you can't take a beginner climbing until they've mastered 1000 random rigging techniques?"
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Knowledge is what keeps people alive and vertical.
&#x200B;
Reading is fundamental.
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I think you should read all you can. Start reading here before you end up here.
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Good day to you.
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As far as improving your headgame goes, leading easy but long runouts is super helpful, as well as falling onto (well-placed) gear. Alpine multipitch is an admirable goal, but it is a far cry from what most people think of as trad climbing. You should be confident on long runouts, with potential no-fall zones. There are a lot of skills that are important for alpine climbing that often are not learned in a typical trad climbing mentor relationship, such as self-rescue, alpine route finding, and depending on your goals, snow climbing skills. There are several ways to learn these skills such as books or hiring a guide. Ultimately, your safety is much more dependent on yourself when alpine climbing. I say this not to scare you away from alpine climbing, as it has been responsible for some of the most amazing memories I have, but it has also been responsible for some of the scariest.
Some books that you might find beneficial:
Climbing Self-Rescue - Just what it says in the title.
Vertical Mind - I found this book useful for improving my head space.
Training for the New Alpinism - Probably the best book to help a climber transition into the backcountry.
[Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills] (https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=freedom+of+the+hills&amp;qid=1562736585&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1) - This book is excellent, but probably isn't extremely helpful until you are climbing more serious alpine routes.
As far as advice, just get as much mileage on lead outdoors as you can, with 1-2 indoor bouldering sessions per week. If it doesn't impact your bouldering, you could add a couple strength sessions as well. If you want to get into alpine climbing, or even just multipitch climbing, practice your systems at the top of single pitch routes. Belay your partner from the top, practice building an anchor at the top off of the bolts, set up simple pulley systems. Just spending 15 minutes per session will help you get muscle memory down for when it really matters.
Edit: As you get into more alpine climbing, you should increase the strength training and cardio. Climbing efficiently after four hours walking with a pack full of gear and food is harder than it sounds. Increasing your physical strength will reduce the mental load a lot, allowing you to think more clearly and be more confident.
You may want to check out the "Dummies" or "Idiot's" books. Not to say you are either, just that they really are good books... it's unfortunate that there's a stigma attached to them. You might want to go to B&N or your local library and just read through them rather than ask someone to buy them.
Camping for Dummies
https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dummies-Michael-Hodgson/dp/076455221X
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Backpacking and Hiking
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Backpacking-Lifestyle-Paperback/dp/1592579604
The Backpacker's Handbook has been recommended, but I haven't read it myself.
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/007175489X
The Complete Walker; I read this 30 years ago(?) A great reference.
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Walker-IV-Colin-Fletcher/dp/0375703233
And of course Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills
https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045
M:FotH is a comprehensive tome, which may be a bit advanced for someone who is starting out with some car camping. As the name implies, it's aimed towards mountaineers, with sections on rock climbing, belaying, first aid, mountain safety... as a beginner you might pick up some invaluable information, but most of it may be far beyond what you need, it might be a bit overwhelming. Though you may be the type that just loves to soak up everything you, in which case it's a great reference.
If you want to check it out, the Kindle version of the 8th edition has a "Look Inside" which lists the sections and chapters, and has a bit of the first chapter. The latest 9th ed doesn't have the "Look Inside" yet.
https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers-ebook/dp/B0049P1ZTC
I would read it if it didn't costs 400 fucking euros
http://www.amazon.com/Understand-Injuries-Overuse-Syndroms-Climbing/dp/3928026208
:)
This is an excellent read that will get you started on improving your technique. And if, like me, you benefit more from seeing stuff in action as opposed to text and diagrams, this is something you will find very helpful. There are some excerpts from those DVD's on YouTube if you want to check it out before buying. Those are both excellent resources, but you really will need to climb more if you want to get better. Knowing the technique, and knowing when to apply it aren't quite the same. It gets said a lot, but the best way to get better at climbing is to climb.
"The self coached climber"
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance-ebook/dp/B004BJ1MPS?ie=UTF8&amp;btkr=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=dp-kindle-redirect
I picked up a copy of The Self Coached Climber and believe it is a great learning resource for the newer climber.
It is a little bit older, and I wouldn't say I learned anything ground breaking, but it gets you to think about technique in different ways and gives you some different drills to help you practice your fundamentals.
If you look at many of the best climbers in the world (Daniel Woods, Chris Sharma, Paul Robinson, etc) they are all pretty skinny with powerful hands, arms, shoulders and abs. Being a good climber is all about reducing your body weight while strengthening specific muscle groups that help your climbing.
Weightlifting for climbing should focus on the benefit you want to get. You should go buy a book like this one to learn what you need to do to condition yourself for climbing.
To improve in climbing you need sport specific training and weight loss.
The loss of ten pounds even when I am out of shape can drastically improve my climbing.
I highly recommend:
Training for Climbing
How to Climb 5.12
The Rock Warriors Way
I have heard that Dave Macleod's book
and Self Coached Climber
are also really good.
Eric Horst's books detail out a macro-cycle system thats weeks endurance building (takes the longest to build up but lasts the longest), 3 weeks of Power, 2 weeks Power Endurance, and then a week off, following by crushing everything. Can't say I've had the patience for it, but he and his kids are wicked strong so.....
http://www.amazon.com/Training-Climbing-Definitive-Improving-Performance/dp/0762746920
That one also has a bunch of additional stuff on diet, etc. That said, you ask 10 people, you'll get 10 answers.
Here ya go!
Seriously though, great book, tons of information on how to not only get better but avoid injury, etc. It also depends on what you want to get better at!
I've been reading this one recently. It's pretty helpful with a lot of techniques.
This one is great, too for just learning everything about the sport in general.
In terms of getting the gear to actually make the anchor, go to Sports Basement, REI or basically any outdoors shop and ask them for like 30 feet of 8-10mm cordilette and 30 feet of 1" tubular webbing. It's super cheap having that much material to work with will help keep you from making ridiculous anchors like the one you posted above.
It also seems like buying How to Rock Climb and reading the anchor section would be extremely helpful for you.
If you're training for climbing, check out How To Climb 5.12
It sounds like you’re a boulderer and I know jack squat about that other than wearing a beanie might help you send harder, but to up your leading, I would really recommend the book here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Climb-5-12/dp/0762770295/
If you’re consistently sending v7s then 5.12s are probably in your wheelhouse.
Like, there are remarkable differences from gym to gym on what constitutes a given rating. Just climb challenging rocks consistently (and maybe read a book and train a bit).
For specifics, definitely pick up a copy of Climbing Anchors. Nice explanations, illustrations, and examples. It's a must-have.
Eva Lopez's blog has a lot of good resources. But she does caution the use of her methods and products to those with "2 years of systematic training" and some proven level of finger strength.
Given your minimal experience, common wisdom suggests just climbing routes as the best means to develop both strength and technique. On that front, the Self Coached Climber spells out climbing movement.
When your ready, check out Mike and Mark Anderson's new site. These are the "rockprodigy" guys.
2008 isnt dated. The sport hasnt changed much but I personally just got this book and love what I have read so far. And I have seen it recommended multiple times on here
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394
The Self-Coached Climber is one of those books that's often mentioned for that purpose. Definitely a great book with lots of good info.
Hmm, not sure how to describe all the techniques that you could be using, I would actually recommend reading a book or watching some videos on climbing techniques. Going from V0 to V1 is where things like turning your hips in and engaging your core really start mattering. It's actually harder to learn proper technique on V0 because a lot of the times you can get through them without proper technique. Try to work harder problems with someone who has good form, and try to get at least 2 or 3 moves at a time. If you can't do a pull-up yet, I would work on getting in at least 1 pull-up with proper form as well. One trick I found useful to get the "feel" of a move is hovering over the next hold with my hand before grabbing on to it. If you can reach for the next hold and hover over it for 2~3 seconds, it means you have established a proper base with your feet. Not always possible, but generally you want to be in balance so you conserve energy. Hope that helped, I mostly just climbed with other better climbers and wasn't shy about asking for technique tips, most were very willing to share beta and give me feedback. Good Luck!
I've never done a course inside, but I've done a couple of winter climbing courses outside (notes: course 1, course 2), and they were totally worth it. I had a great time and have used lots of the stuff I learned. A friend of mine did an "advanced movement" course at her local gym and claims it helped her technique a lot, particularly on steep terrain.
You might find the books The Self-Coached Climber and 9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes helpful. The first covers the nuts and bolts of technique and training; the second is more about how best to make use of the limited climbing time you have, and how to avoid getting stuck in a rut.
Running laps with a pump, silent feet, no hands, slow hands, slow feet, turning in with each step, forced resting, ...
The Self Coached Climber gives you more insight in these exercises.
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394
this helped me a lot.
I have the other two in this series;
rock climbing anchors
and
rock climbing mastering basic skills
would that do?
This book got me pretty far along: http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Mastering-Mountaineers-Outdoor/dp/0898867436
While I'm sure someone will jump in with their favorite, I've read through this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X?sa-no-redirect=1
Your library might even have a copy. Also, look for a copy of Freedom of the Hills. 8th is the latest, but 6th & 7th are not all that old.
For navigation, eventually you'll want to be able to pinpoint & track yourself along a bare hillside, no trail.
Simple comfort & awareness, especially, I have found consists of a lot of trial and error. Learning when to switch layers to stay warm but not sweaty. How to pack a heavy pack. Where to find water. Knowing when you're getting dehydrated. Plenty of this can be learned on ordinary hilly trails, no massive peaks required.
I know some of these skills will be quite difficult to work on living in the city, but they're a super important place to start, and you don't need to hire a fancy guide to teach you. Plus, if you do take a class like you linked, you'll get a lot more out of it if you've already learned a lot of the fundamentals yourself. Be the guy who already knows how to tie every knot, knows exactly where he is on the map, and is comfortable in the environment. Don't be that guy who is too busy learning how to tie munters and clove hitches to pay attention to crevasse rescue practice.
Others have mentioned key points. Getting comfortable with such things like multi-pitch sport (to get into the mental headspace), single pitch trad (need that gear knowledge), multi-pitch trad with bolted anchors (last step before going for completely trad).
What I'll add, and this is good for all climbing disciplines, is knowing some self-rescue techniques. Its just good stuff to know.
This book and this one are both good options. It will in general up your confidence in the mountains.
Best bet would probably be some kind of Wilderness First Aid course along with learning some rope rescue skills.
If you're in an area with lots of backcountry activities close by, finding a Wilderness First Aid course shouldn't be an issue. There's also tons of information online and in books to read up about, though book smarts are no substitute for putting those skills to the test in mock scenarios (which is hopefully the extent you'd end up using those skills in).
For rope rescue, depending on where you are, local guide companies, outdoor centres, etc. likely have rope rescue courses you could take.
In regards to rope rescue books, I can't personally recommend a specific one, but a bunch of books on the topic exist such as this one. Though I'm sure someone else here can recommend a book they've personally read.
Also based on your Canada flair, joining the Alpine Club of Canada would be a great idea. Your local chapter would likely offer tons of opportunities not only for courses such as first aid and rope rescue, but also organized climbing days along with various other activities.
Maybe this is too practical - but I expect all my partners to at least know the basics of self rescue. This is a great supplement to taking a multi day rescue class. They can be expensive but worth EVERY dollar.
http://amzn.com/089886772X
Sounds like you did a very strenuous move at one point. Do you ever throw for a move with your arm completely extended and jerk at the shoulder/upper arm as you catch it? Do you climb with bent arms often? Either of those may be to culprit.
First and foremost - focus on your footwork. Think of relaxing your grip and climbing with relaxed, straight arms whenever possible. You should constantly be engaging, and pushing with your feet first (to take pressure off your arms); then rotating, and pulling with your lats diagonally across your chest to maximize reach while using a larger muscle group.
Work on as many easy problems as possible in your next training session while making sure every movement you do is static and based on technique, rather than power. No jerking; just relaxed, comfortable movements. Every movement you do should be as efficient as possible. To get a sense of what I'm talking about, watch strong female climbers - they typically have far better technique than most men.
Work on Antagonistic muscle exercises, specifically the extensor muscles in you arms; this will help prevent injury.
Do Reverse Wrist curls religiously before each workout and Wrist Pronators after - these work the forearm and elbow to help prevent tendinitis in the elbow.
Alternatively, you can do rice bucket exercises. These are excellent exercises to prevent injury and increase overall stability in the wrists, elbows, and forearms. Some gyms use large buckets of sand - same deal.
You're working a lot of pull muscles in climbing -always be sure to work the opposing muscles to round-out this increased volume. Try to do 2 sets of dips or push ups every other day to even this out.
Also, if you REALLY want to get better then watch some climbing videos. You'll start to subconsciously soak up the techniques top-level climbers use and then you'll say to yourself, "Hey, this move's kinda like that one I saw in the video!" Watch the great movers and shakers. Also, consider getting the book 9 out of 0 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes
To get inspired, watch this.
Hope some of this helped
EDIT: Also, this is Lynn Hill - the first PERSON to ever free climb The Nose on El Cap. She's truly incredible. Listen to what she has to say - it's something climbers will go for years before realizing.
EDIT2: You likely shouldn't be Hang-boarding if you're a beginner - you're going to get injured. Climbing on the holds themselves are the best training for finger strength right now. As you progress, hang boarding will have more of a return on your time spent.
Also, you shouldn't be doing multiple sessions in a row. Your body needs time to rest, and if you're constantly stressing it, it'll never improve.
Again - training does not make you stronger, it only initiates the growth process. REST is where that growth is made. You'll come back stronger after a periodic rest between sessions.
http://www.davemacleod.com/shop/9outof10climbers.html
https://www.amazon.com/Out-Climbers-Make-Same-Mistakes/dp/095642810X
If you order it from his store you'll get a signed copy.
I broke my collarbone 2 years ago. It gave me new appreciation for being able-bodied. One of the first things I did with this new appreciation was try rock climbing. Life has a strange way of turning that frown upside down. Oh and "9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes" is a nice easy read to motivate you upon recovery.
I keep seeing that book pop up all over the place. I am going to buy it soon, once the financial stress of Christmas passes. I also saw another book, ["9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes"] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/095642810X/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1_olp?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419453792&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=9+out+of+10+climbers+make+the+same+mistakes). At the gym, I notice that my contact strength is probably the least developed. I almost always fall off or get stumped on a project due to a lack of finger strength. I'm gonna start ARCing more and figuring out how to use a fingerboard properly
Thanks for the advice!
come join us over in /r/climbharder. We get deep into details just like this, and many other things you'll encounter as you start training.
I'd recommend getting a book or two on climbing training and injury rehab before starting any hangboarding. Look at it as educating yourself before beginning something that has potential to cause injury.
The Rock Climber's Training Manual is great, as is Dave MacLeoud's Make or Break
Best of luck to you!
https://www.amazon.com/Logical-Progression-Periodization-Year-Round-Performance/dp/1544119534
You might want to check this book out before you hangboard for a month straight and lose your skill set.
Can I get some of you more experienced boulderers to cast your eyes over my new training plan?
Context
I *finally* reached the end of a 12-week cut, having dropped 7.2kg. Now I plan to bump my calories back up to maintenance and take advantage of the extra energy and improved body composition.
I've been bouldering for ~2.5 years total, going 3x per week for the last 6 months. I mostly climb in the gym (V4/V6) but would like to get outdoors a bit more as the weather improves.
The Plan
I want to improve my skill and strength for bouldering. I'm going to continue climbing 3x a week but give each session a different focus as suggested in Steve Bechtel's book, Logical Progression. I also really enjoy lifting, so I'm going to follow Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Building the Monolith, which is essentially the big four lifts with a few accessories – nothing too crazy. Finally, I'm going to add a hangboard session each week. I've never really trained on the hangboard, so I've picked a very simple beginners protocol to do once a week and see how it goes.
So my week will look like this:
Monday – Gym
5/3/1 Building the Monolith (BtM) squat and OHP
Tuesday – Climbing: strength endurance intervals
Climb 1 route at onsight level, rest 2 minutes. Repeat this 6 times then rest for 5 minutes. Then repeat the whole thing two more times.
Wednesday – Gym
5/3/1 BtM deadlift and bench
Thursday – Climbing: endurance intervals + hangboard
Lower intensity but more volume than Tuesday. Climb 1 route ~1-2 grades below onsight, rest one minute. Repeat this 12 times then rest for 5 minutes. Then repeat the whole thing two more times.
Hangboard protocol is 5s on 25s off, 10s on 20s off, 15s on 15s off. Repeat four times.
Friday – Gym
5/3/1 BtM squat and OHP
Saturday – Cardio
Ride my bicycle and relax!
Sunday – Climbing: limit bouldering
Four routes at 1-2 grades *above* onsight level, spending roughly 20 minutes on each.
You should read Climbing Anchors by Luebben. It goes over sport and TR anchors very well.
As far as a PAS goes, sure you can use 2 PAS's but I will tell you that the PAS isn't what you need to be worried about when it comes to redundancy, it's the anchor. As long as you're not using your PAS beyond it being a rap tether and are continuing to monitor its wear, just as you would with a harness it has the exact same strength rating as your belay loop which you trust without backup when you rappel.
I'm still a little concerned about your rope as it looks short for most crags.
Lastly I'm not sure where you'll be climbing but if you're going to be setup TRs on bolted routes just make sure you have a safe way of accessing the anchors from above. A lot of times the bolts are over the edge of a route and the last thing you want to do is factor-two on your PAS.
The late great Craig Leubben also has a very good climbing anchors book published my the Mountaineers.
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Anchors-Comprehensive-Mountaineers/dp/1594850062
Grab this book Rock Climbing Anchors: A Comprehensive Guide, its a great resource for learning how to build anchors.
Rope drag is generally a bad thing, even smooth surfaces will cause your rope to pick up grit and accelerate wear on your gear. Everyone should know how to properly set up an anchor, its easy once you know some things to avoid and get an idea of what you're looking to accomplish. It gets really interesting in the alpine when you're having to improvise points of protection and your general station set up! Like /u/cardina16 said, make sure you are ERNEST.
Please don't get so defensive. I'm trying to help you be safer. If this is how you accept advice related to your safety, I honestly hope you don't do much more backcountry riding.
I also suggest you read this book, it's a great reference: http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844
Go get this book.
Awesome, I'll give it a whirl!
So far my knowledge comes solely from Climbing Anchors and How to Rock Climb, but I am definitely planning on taking a course!
The pain sounds a bit like an inflammation of a tendon sheath (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis) which I had once, though the popping noise is rather worrying. It hints to a rupture like others said already. The pain should also radiate to the injured finger and the to your forearm.
Go see a doc again and get an ultrasonic done, xray wont show anything if the soft parts of your hands are injured. A rupture should be clearly visible I think.
If you can't find a doc that can help you I can recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Understand-Injuries-Overuse-Syndroms-Climbing/dp/3928026208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1416647554&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=one+move+too+many
The author is working in the Frankenjura and is specialized on climbers injuries, it's a really good book to diagnose any of those. A new version of it was published in German earlier this year, I dont know how fast the translation process is but if you can find a more recent one than 2003 then get that one I guess.
Look mate, there's no arguing that lowering directly off fixed gear is just lazy and inconsiderate. Set up an anchor and play right.
I'm not sure if you have ever been out of the gym, but when you climb outside there is more at stake than just your own safety. You should try going outside, but please keep in mind etiquette as it is what will keep our routes sustained for years to come.
I would recommend reading this book. It will give you a good understanding as to how to properly set up anchors.
It even gets into placing your own pro, but you can skip over that if that's a little much for you.