50 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started Climbing

By Delaney Carpenter

You've just started rock climbing! You've joined a climbing gym, made some climbing buddies, bought your first pair of climbing shoes, first harness, chalk and a chalk bag, and you are ready now to climb!

Here are a few things I wish I had known when I started climbing - a lot of which would have prevented me from developing bad and unsafe habits before I was finally corrected.

Remember, climbing itself is not dangerous. Learn to climb safely and responsibly so that you can get the most enjoyment out of this lifestyle sport.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781447838135

Book preview

Delaney Carpenter

Illustrations and Cover by Bianca Kaiser

Copyright © 2014 Delaney Carpenter

Published by

Lulu.com

3101 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27607, USA

ISBN 978-1-4478-3813-5

All rights reserved

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Brett Nicolson for checking the information of this book and Bianca Kaiser for her phenomenal artwork.

1.      Don’t Stay on Top Rope

Climber on top rope - 2

Most people tend to be afraid of heights.  It may have something to do with the fact that we can’t fly and spend most of our lives with both feet solidly on the ground. 

Although beneficial and sensible to start your climbing career on Top Rope, it will do your climbing no advantages whatsoever to stay on Top Rope for too long.  There are several reasons for this:

Firstly, the point of climbing tends to be to climb something off of Top Rope – especially if you’re getting into Trad or Traditional Climbing where there’s no way you’d have a Top Rope up when doing multi-pitch routes.  Sport climbing also tends to only consider a route climbed if it is done on Lead.

Secondly, you climb completely differently on Lead than you do on Top Rope.  Your moves are different, your technique better, simply because you are now fully engaging your entire body whereas on Top Rope you tend to rely more on the rope to assist you. The rope also tends to affect your balance and weight transference, simply because it limits you to an extent in your movements.  You are not even usually conscious of the increased reliance on the rope on Top Rope but you are most definitely more conscious of engaging specific muscles on Lead because you are more aware that a fall could be imminent.

Thirdly, Top Rope psychology is vastly different to Lead psychology.  On Top Rope, you know you’re not going anywhere if you come off the rock.  You’ll perhaps drop a little bit due to stretch in the rope but it will be a gradual and short descent rather than a large whipper.  Your fear is therefore greatly reduced and your flight or fight mode pretty much switched off.  On Lead, you are aware that a fall could occur and you would then need to immediately get into fall mode where you prepare your body for the impact against the wall of rock and how to miss that ledge below you.  Your problem-solving abilities, vocabulary of moves and sense of the route are in better use and better tuned in on Lead as well, as your ultimate aim on a route is to climb to the top without falling.  Your adrenaline is automatically higher as well, especially when you are fairly new to climbing, and you need to be able to keep yourself calm while executing difficult or tricky moves.

Fourthly, there are not many routes that are suitable for Top Rope.  You would definitely struggle quite significantly when trying to Top Rope a roof or overhanging route.  Top Rope therefore limits the routes you are