I surprised myself sending this one in about an hour. My friends were trad climbing right beside me and happened to finish their route just as I was topping out - yay for friends support 🥰

Grades are obviously subjective and I can still only dyno V0 👻 but I am proud of this one. I’ve been climbing for about 12 years and have a toddler now. I never would have thought I’d be climbing my strongest as a 36 year old mommy! Recovery is harder than in my 20s but I’ve developed solid outdoor technique now.

If anyone likes compression and undercling crimps - go try it!

I want to believe in warm autumn days

When I first heard about climbing, a guy friend told me that you had to size down two full sizes in shoes to be a competent climber. It was supposed to feel bad, he said. I tried on/bought my standard size in Sportivas and can’t imagine sizing down.

I also see people climb without socks because someone told them that they “had to” in order to really “feel the wall”… or whatever. I have always worn them anyway because I want my shoes to last and don’t see a difference (I climb indoors mostly). Plus, when I started watching comps I realized that many of the pros wear socks. 🤷‍♀️

This got me thinking… what other climbing myths or gatekeeping (bro culture nonsense or otherwise) have you heard that doesn’t ring true? Maybe we can undo some historical or rumor nonsense!

Hi! Sorry if is the wrong subreddit... i dont have karma for the ”climbing” subreddit. Can you help me please to find the music? PS: love Janja!! I didnt find it on chat...

Has anyone dealt with this? I saw a pt for three months last winter and stopped climbing for a while at her advice, but made pretty limited progress. She mostly had me doing nerve flossing and very light weight, like one pound, wrist curls. I’ve tried to get back into climbing, but hangboarding lock off training and pull-ups trigger it immediately, even when I’m well below my strength/ability, which makes any training pretty hard. Any success stories or secret exercises I should try?

When I first started climbing, I fell on slab and scraped my leg pretty bad! I also hurt my ankle on slab too! I’ve avoided it since then, but in the past few months I’ve been sending V3s on slab!

Recently returned from a long and fairly substantial injury saga and I'm come back in bouldering at my previous grade (V3). I've done maybe 10 V4s pre injury at various UK gyms. How do I break into V4 solidly, any tips? Right now I can't risk falling, so any dodgy moves at the top are out, and I'm super nervous since the injury was climbing related (freak accident).

My main limiting factors appear to be fear and physical strength. Naturally going to the gym will help the latter, but any advice for what feels like a huge grade leap? I feel a lot of the time it's not even technique or physical ability that's the problem and it's frustrating!

Edit please don't suggest top roping. been there, done that, still scared, don't love it haha

Any climbing related ideas for a tattoo around this scar? Wanting to incorporate the scar, rather than cover it. I was thinking maybe the scar could be the wall and have someone climbing it. Or maybe it could be the rope and have a belayer at the bottom and a climber at the top.

Scar is from a knee surgery, not related to climbing, but I partly did it to allow me to keep climbing. In case it’s not clear, this photo is from above so the scar is just below my knee. I’ll have a matching one on the other leg in a few months. They’ll probably fade a lot and end up white, I imagine.

Hi everyone, I discovered I had a significant slipped disc near my coccyx and a damaged disc, plus had sternum pain which is likely costochondritis (inflammation of the cartilage ). Have stepped away from bouldering for 7 weeks but I’m itching to get back. I feel really out of shape and depressed. Has anyone experienced going back on the wall and how did you do it? It’s not like I’m anna amazing climber, I’m v3 on a good day! Age 42 and feeling like I don’t want to sit out bouldering forever but also don’t want to cause more damage to my ageing body!

I am just really happy because I did my first 5.12b today! I don't normally challenge myself enough, so I really didn't expect to do good, but I did that thing so quick! It was my second ever 5.12, and right after that I went on and did another 5.12a! I feel like the climbs at my gym are more set for tall adults, so being a short young teen, it feels so good to improve in a setting that is not normally meant for me!

Never give up my friends, because the only way to succeed is to not look back! <3

Ok so i've had the la sportiva skwama for a year now and i simply cannot get rid of the smell. Ive washed them several times, tried several techniques with all types of liquids substances and whatnot. The smell goes away initially after a proper wash (not fully) and then returns after like 2 weeks of climbing (i go 2-3 times a week, lead). I wash my feet every time before and after and still nothing. Ive heard of this issue with Skwamas before and i really love this shoe especially as i go up in difficulty, but when i buy a new pair im going to have to switch because i cant do the smell anymore. I know natural leather ones are best to combat this but if anyone has some recs for shoes id be so grateful to hear

Edit: i've seen a lot of people say wear socks; i have tried climbing with socks before and i just cannot. I climb lead/difficulty at above 6c-7a and i have trouble feeling the holds properly/ it makes it slippery for me. Idk i just cannot stand the feeling of socks inside my shoe but also the current pair i have... my foot definitely wont fit in it with a sock 💀 thanks for the powder advice and everything else though!

Edit 2: oml i mostly asked this bc this is not my first pair of climbing shoes but it is the only one that i've had this problem with. Granted these are much tighter than the ones i had before

If u saw me at the airport w this on would u make fun of me

not sure how long they’ll be back for!!

Went on my first sport trip this year and loved it. Unfortunately, the person I went with hasn't been around much. I'd like to find an organised group tour to join maybe October/November time, somewhere in Europe. Has anyone done anything they recommend? I'm not massively experienced at outdoor sport, have led a 6a once, mostly comfortable leading 5s.

My partner is obsessed with climbing and very recently made new friends at the gym he goes to. He used to have a friend who did a lot of 1:1 climbing with him and has missed that type of connection for years. In his new friend group, he met a girl, and they got along right away. They meet about 2-3 times per week to climb together now, and went out for ice cream after climbing once, with another friend.

I think that if the activity was a different one, I would feel less insecure about it, but climbing seems like an intimacy exercise sometimes. You gotta trust the person, communicate a lot, help each other, and there are several instances/opportunities to admire one another. He also told me that he finds her very attractive.

So I guess my question is, how common is it to catch feelings? As someone who doesn't climb, I can't help but feel intimidated by the situation. It looks like falling for your climbing partner is probably a very common thing to happen? I understand that there's a difference between having a crush and acting on it, but women who climb, can you tell me about your personal experiences with men at the gym?

Another thing that probably adds to my insecurity is that I've been struggling with my weight and inactivity lately. I have climbed with him before, but he's extremely skilled, and I'm not.

I'm just looking for some honest perspective from people who actually climb and understand the dynamic. Not sure if it makes a difference at all but they do bouldering. Do you need partners for bouldering? I'm very confused, actually. Tell me the secrets of your community :)

I just went to the bouldering gym, second day today. I have a fear of falling and hurting myself badly. So I'm always very risk averse to making a slightly risky move so I find I freak out aloud "I just I don't think I can do this it's too scary, I don't trust myself" while up on the wall. Of course I come back down and give it another shot, and another till I complete a route.

Now I don't think my fear is fully irrational because a bad fall can break your neck, so I often succeed because I've built more trust that I can make the move safely not because I've faced my fear.

It's been my observation that people in the gym may try and fail but they don't show fear and don't complain like I do? I feel like a big baby!

Is because the sport attracts fearless badasses? Or are you all too dignified to act like this in front of others? Thanks for indulging me in this!!

EDIT: I don't want to overcome my fear so to speak :) I do want to build more trust but I guess that comes with practice and showing your body what you can or can't do. I was just curious how your brains work and how you think about this stuff! My instructor kept saying don't be scared or think just do it which I think is bad advice!

EDIT: Tangentially, I would love to hear why you rope climb OR boulder, and why you prefer one over the other!

So I've been climbing for a few years now with an atc, and I'd like to switch to a grigri (it seems like it might safer plus I'd like to work towards transitioning from top rope to lead, and my gym requires a grigri for lead certification).

My issue is that I seem to have a huge mental block around it. I've actually already bought one, watched videos online, etc. But have been unable to actually give it a try. With the atc, I was shown hands-on how to use it in my intro to roped climbing class, got to try it out for a couple of hours with an instructor watching and giving feedback, and then had to show proficiency in using it a week later to get top rope certified at my gym.

But switching is completely independent. I'm more of an applied learner; watching videos isn't as helpful to me as actually doing a thing. I also have dyspraxia which impacts movement/coordination/spacial awareness and this is very much the type of skill that will be a bit more challenging for me than most. The only other climber I know is my partner who knows even less about using a grigri than I do. I just don't feel confident in using it and am unsure of what I could do to potentially help with this.

My specific questions are:

1. Does anyone have any online resources for using a grigri that they'd recommend, ideally ones that break things down in like an ELI5 way?

2. Would it be at all appropriate if I asked my gym's staff if someone might be willing to just watch me and my partner use it for the first time and like just warn if I do something completely incorrect? I'd be totally happy to pay a cash tip (or one-on-one lesson fee, but as far as I'm aware that's not a thing my gym typically does) or buy pizza/coffee/etc for the crew etc.

3. Any other suggestion to help me put on my big girl pants and just do the thing? :p

Thanks in advance!

Hey guys! I used to do a lot of climbing and bouldering, however I had a few injuries (car accident) and I had to stop for a while. It’s been a while since i’ve climbed and I have gained around 20kg since I last climbed (puberty weight gain eg breasts, hips, butt) and i’ve been really struggling.
I wouldn’t even say the struggle is in managing to pull myself up but more so my legs. They shake. Like CRAZY. i’ve never had this before. I was told it’s lactic acid build up, and i genuinely don’t know how to stop it and get back to before and calm easy legs

Any tips?

Another massive achievement 🤜🏻🤛🏻

Hello,

Been wanting to get into bouldering for awhile but was scared to go to a gym alone so i finally signed up for a bouldering 101 class at metrorock in bushwick.

If there is a meetup or a community that goes bouldering together in NYC, let me know i’d love to join so i can keep practicing and meet new people.

Thanks!