Learning To Climb

It’s been a few years since I’ve done any climbing at all, so to avoid complete breakdown due to excessive rust, Matt suggests some ground-level performance coaching as a warm-up. Before long he’s placed a crash mat at the base of the rock and is ‘bouldering’ across the face in front of me with gracious ease, while calmly offering me advice on body position:

‘Try to keep your arms straight whenever possible – don’t hug the rock. That way you’re able to look down and see your own footwork.’

It sounds – and is made to look – extremely easy, so I am probably slightly over-confident when my turn comes around. Needless to say, I fall straight away and am extremely grateful for the mat. ‘It’s about precise foot movement,’ advises Matt. ‘Climb in a slower, more controlled manner – nothing too snappy.’

The warm-up before a climb gets the blood flowing and is important in the prevention of injury, so I am keen to make the most of it before I tackle the ‘real rock’. After a bit more practice and further useful titbits of advice, I am getting more confident, so Matt suggests we move onwards and upwards, literally.

After running through some safety precautions and checking my helmet and harness are secure, Matt goes up first to show me how it should be done: the specific skill we are focusing on is how to lead a climb. The location for this was Overshoot Wall, a vertical limestone crag.

Continued...