Climbing 101

Today I wanted to make a quick post showing you guys one of my favorite routes currently at my gym. For those of you who do don't climb (most of you) I will try to explain some of the basics of climbing as we go.

In a gym there are typically 3 types of climbing

• Bouldering

This is what we are talking about today. No ropes, no harness, just chalk and shoes. These are typically shorter more challenging routes. You are usually only going about 10 ft up so if you fall it is not harmful or fatal. The great part about bouldering is you don't need a partner.... or friends... forever alone

• Top roping

This is typically what you see people doing when climbing, these routes are usually 2x-3x longer than a bouldering route but typically simpler, requiring more finesse than strength. Here you are tied to an anchor at the top of the route, and have a partner pulling your slack, and acting as a counterbalance when you fall, or need to come down.

• Lead climbing

This is like a mix the previous two, it requires the strength of bouldering, and the stamina of top roping. You have a partner, but your anchors are periodically set in the wall along your route. Not only do you need to climb well to do this, but you have to safely achor in at every single achor point, or else you could have a catastrophic fall. This is probably the most "dangerous" form of climbing.

I typically boulder, rarely do I top rope, and never have I done lead climbing.

The grading for bouldering is simple. There is a V for "Vermin", the nickname of the person it was named after, and a number. The higher the number the more difficult the problem. Currently the hardest problem(s) in the world are V16/17. The lowest you will see is V0

Beginner: V0-V2
Intermediate: V3-V5
Advanced: V6-V8
Expert: V9-V12
Elite: ≥V13'

Currently I boulder in the lower portion of the "Advanced range" (V6), and before my injury last year I was bouldering closer to the higher end (V7-V8)

The red route pictured above, and in the GIF below is probably one of my favorite routes currently. It starts as a "Bat hang" where you have to hang only by your feet, and touch the square red marker on the wall. From there you turn yourself rightside up and make several big moves to the finish. This is graded as a V4.

The guy in this picture is NOT me, he is my good friend, climbing buddy, barber, and pretend son. He agreed to be my model for this post.