Hey! Reasonably good chance I will be moving up from London to Leeds around April next year My family are all up that way so have climbed a lot at Harrogate and also checked out City Bloc in Leeds (prefer bouldering generally).
I will defend use of knees all day long. Two of my hardest outdoor ascents have involved using my knee on a foothold (one of them a sharp crimp that left a dent in my skin for hours afterwards!). This one is at Almscliff so near you. Probably the easiest section of the climb but I was so nervous about dropping the top having finally done the hard bit that I was going to take every advantage available!
Turns out my local bouldering place has a student deal whereby you can climb for £2.50 on Sunday nights
I’m crap at it but it’s very relaxing, innit?
What’s a good goal for someone just setting out climbing? It all seems rather vague at the moment, I just go there and muck about.
Ah that bit when you finally break the crux of a problem but there’s still loads to go. I get an inner monologue saying “Don’t fall now, you twat. Don’t fall now, you twat”
Leeds is great, moved here about 4 years ago and it’s been getting better each year.
I used to go to Leeds Uni climbing wall, which is small but convenient after work, and I’ve tried Leeds Climbing Wall once. The Climbing Lab is quite new and friends who like bouldering think it’s great so might be one to check out if/when you move here.
I hated bouldering when I tried it. I’m completely fine with heights but I have a fear of falling so I can be shitting myself half a metre above ground but had no problems hanging off a 60m pitch in a cave as long as I’m clipped in. Think I injured myself a few two many times scrambling in caves and missing footholds back in the day and I can’t take it anymore.
Just go there and muck about Try all the different styles (delicate balance problems, big burly overhangs, everything in between), and ask other climbers for advice whenever something feels just beyond your abilities. They’ll almost certainly be able to give you a little tip to tweak your approach which suddenly makes it possible.
I’m someone who trains obsessively, so I don’t necessarily practice what I preach, but I train because the feeling of climbing is just so incredibly satisfying to me and being stronger opens up new possibilities to do that. My advice if you do want to get stronger would be to just focus on climbing and stay off finger-focussed training until you’re at V4/5 level. Your tendons develop way slower than muscle does so you have to be careful.
I’m the complete opposite with heights! I will climb boulders outdoors which are objectively much more dangerous than roped climbs, but as soon as I’m a metre above my last clip when I’m leading I get super scared. My wife is similar to you I think - she’s perfectly happy on a rope but hates bouldering. Will defo check out the Climbing Lab if/when I move!
The top of the climb below is probably the scariest move I’ve done outdoors. Top is like 6 metres and you’re throwing for it off a one-finger gaston and a two finger sloping pocket I had two or three practice falls before committing to make sure my pads were in the right place!
I’m the same. I get well scared on ropes, even on top rope. GF is the opposite, she bottles it on bouldering problems that she’d fly up without thinking if she was on a top rope.
Thanks for the tips! I’ve been sort of all cardio all the time for a while now and have been feeling generally pretty weak for ages! Maybe a climbing session a week will help sort that out…
Saw your video at the bottom of the thread - I’m no expert but looks like you’ve got this stuff DOWN
Climbed with the twinkster, twinkytoes, el twinkerooney himself (@Twinkletoes) last night and can confirm he’s a beast of a climber. But also a very nice chap.
I really need to find time to train more. And do better training. Or something.
you’re not bad yourself! You’re about where I was at when I’d been climbing 18 months. Reckon you’ve got the base tendon strength for using a fingerboard and busting out some dead-hangs, based on the purple you did on the comp wall. I did lots of ‘frenchies’* and offset pull-ups to build up back strength around that time as well.
*Pull-up to full lock-off (Hold 5 seconds)
Down then straight up into lock-off with arms at 90 degrees
Down then straight up into lock-off with elbows bent 45 degrees
Ah yeah, I’d forgotten about Frenchies. I should give those a go again. Have you tried the beastmaker app? It takes you through routines based on the 7/3 second principle.
I do some offset pull-ups already, just by hanging a towel off the pull up bar. I can’t do many, but will try and push for more.
Getting warmed up for a big footless competition. Quite a few international level folks here so I’m going to get schooled. Also trying to not be starstruck by Shauna Coxsey wandering around.
Did 17/20 climbs Pretty pleased with that. Then there was a climb just straight up a rope (no feet) where i managed around 15 metres and a ‘fridge hug’ challenge (how long can you dangle off an old fridge by ‘hugging’ it (25 seconds) - those really scuppered my efforts to make the grand final. Dudes in the final were practically running up the rope - just outrageously strong
Really good fun. Mix of normal climbs and ninja warrior style things.
My family are all up that way so have climbed a lot at Harrogate and also checked out City Bloc in Leeds (prefer bouldering generally).
Try all the different styles (delicate balance problems, big burly overhangs, everything in between), and ask other climbers for advice whenever something feels just beyond your abilities. They’ll almost certainly be able to give you a little tip to tweak your approach which suddenly makes it possible.
I had two or three practice falls before committing to make sure my pads were in the right place!
as I am already pretty high up and people would just be suspicious if I needed to get any higher up.
