A lot of new people to climbing have the end goal of climbing outdoors, whether its inspired by the movie The Dawn Wall, one of the many other climbing movies that are quickly growing into the mainstream or by the allure of being out in bush connecting with nature.
I was asked to write this blog as a few people in the community here in Perth start to branch out from one of the many new bouldering gyms that have opened to the outdoors.
The Checklist:
Pads, often the thicker, firmer and bigger the better. More than 1 is always nice.
Brushes, both handheld and you will probably want a brush stick as well.
Water and Food
Tape, either brown physiology tape from the chemist or proper finger tape.
all your usual climbing gear, shoes etc.
Spare skin, lots of it, especially around Perths granite scene.
Your First Sessions Will Probably Be Rough! I found with the transition from indoor to outdoor climbing it took me about 5 sessions to begin to climb well and get comfortable with this new style of climbing, it took about 5 sessions for me to start to really enjoy climbing and start sending what was closer to my maximum capacity indoors. This can be made easier with the help of more experienced climbers who can show you how to place pads properly and teach you the skill of spotting.
Spotting, the art of helping someone who has fallen off a climb to get injured as little as possible on their descent and inevitable collision with the earth. This may be catching them, if you are capable of doing so but more often than that spotting becomes bumping or guiding them towards the matt better or catching their head, spotting also includes moving the matts under the climbing while they are climbing so as to provide a safe landing zone, this is most noticeable in traverses but can also be needed in overhung climbing or stacking pads when climbing at height.
What you need to be prepared for….
Your skin will wear out fast! Especially on the sharp granite crimps of WA.
No 2 holds are the same, at some level we learn what every hold in the gym feels like, this gives us confidence to pull on it harder, outdoors this won’t be the same, at least not for the first sessions.
Landings become a huge factor, can you build a flat landing or at least make the landing as safe as possible for the whole climb.
The weather, cold and dry is best.
Chalk the holds that need chalk, tick holds you can’t see but clean them all off afterwards, take a walk around the crag at the end of a session and make sure its as clean as when you got there.
There is no coffee machine! Take your own.
A few tips for the first few sessions:
Aim for volume rather than the highest grades, climb a lot and repeat everything!
Rest Well
Take high energy food and lots of water
Go somewhere with a variety of easy climbs, give yourself options.
Be prepared to get shut down!
Try to land on your feet when falling, you don’t want to be rolling off the pads.
Take time to place the pads safely.
Be prepared to walk and carry lots of gear.
I prefer early morning or evening climbing
We wary of temperatures and weather forecast.
I think that it is worth the trip especially for your first few sessions to head to somewhere like copper rocks where the rock isn’t super rough, the landings are flat, its easy access and there is a variety of climbing in all the easy grades.
Keep trying, climbing outdoors is amazing, one of my favourite pass times is to head out with a friend or 2 and just climb for the fun of it.
