Placing Gear Efficiently

Effective placement of gear comes down three things, knowing your racking system, developing a good eye for placements as well as the appropriate size of relative protection, and using rests where possible to place gear whilst in balance. The first two are down to hands on experience with your rack and gear placements. You might … Read morePlacing Gear Efficiently

Corners and Chimneys

Bridgeable features often provide ways to rest the pulling muscles in our arms and make upward progress.   Another trick for ascending corners and grooves is ‘back and footing’, see Chimney Rest. Climb a corner with as many hands off rest as possible, by bridging and back and footing. Climb aagin but your hands can … Read moreCorners and Chimneys

Rock-Overs

One of the more basic climbing movements (which you will have worked out for yourself no doubt) – how to transfer your weight from one foot to the next. Be awarene of your centre of gravity (usually around your belly button). The key is to rock your weight from one foot to the other fairly … Read moreRock-Overs

Basic Climbing Techniques Overview

Mental Skills for climbers

Imagine two identical twin climbers with equal strength, one uses good basic climbing techniques whilst the other doesn’t. The twin who uses their feet and body more effectively will be a far better climber. Rather than stumbling upon basic climbing techniques there are some essential building blocks which you can drill into yourself. In the following section … Read moreBasic Climbing Techniques Overview

Hands Off Rests

Learning to climb with efficiency is all about saving energy. So finding a hands off rests or a little respite is a key component of good climbing technique. A hands of rest is a place where we can recover from a tricky section and shake out the lactic acid from our arms and even legs, … Read moreHands Off Rests