Rock Climbing Techniques


Some years ago, I met a rock climber guy called Steve. At that time, he was likely in his mid-forties. He’d climbed off and on for about 20 years. For 16 of those 20 years, he’d climbed at Severe, I.e. about 5.6. He was perfectly happy at this standard and had zero desire to climb harder. Nor did he believe that he could climb harder. You can also visit www.aclimb.com, etc. for more help.

“But,” Steve told me, “a couple of years ago, through a mutual acquaintance, I met a man called Dave. Steve grinned at the memory. He was fairly relaxed about things and he climbed it quite easily, without the fuss. Well, what was I to do? I did not want to say that I’d never climbed harder than Severe before.” I inquired curiously. “I followed Dave up it,” Steve responded. “I did not find it simple but I did it without falling off. Next, we did another E4. Then we need to the pub and I told Dave that I’d jumped six levels in one day.

What had happened? Obviously Steve had climbed well within his physical ability for two decades. Quite simply, he really had no idea he could scale harder. More importantly, he had never even tried to climb harder. For instance, he had never gone out as well as put a top rope on something and simply played around on it.

So, all along, Steve was capable of much harder things. I also imagine that Dave’s easy-going style helped. A capable climber, Dave is also a really relaxed man who does not come over as a rock-jock. Instead, he’s constantly encouraging.

No votes yet.
Please wait...