Types of Rock Climbing - Are They For Me ?

Is climbing for you? You might be surprised. Not many
sports have the diversity of style that climbing enjoys.
Football, for example, offers full contact, touch or flag.
Choose any of the three and, at the very least, you're going to
have to have some degree of stamina that not all
desk-jockeys enjoy. Climbing can be broken down into
multiple styles and each style can be further segmented into
various degrees of difficulty and associated risk. The key
differences in styles are the result of the methods of
anchoring, environment, equipment, risk, physical/mental
difficulty and method of belaying. Wikipedia defines belaying
as "In climbing, belaying is the technique of controlling the
rope so that a falling climber does not fall very far. This task
is assigned to a belayer". For a full definition click here. We
don't want to overload you with details just yet so for now,
let's start with explaining styles.

How many different styles of climbing could there possibly be? Let's tick a few off. Bouldering, Top Roped,
Traditional, Aid, Sport, Ice, Dry Tool, Mixed, Free-Soloing, Deep Water and Alpine serve to round it out nicely.
Of all of these a beginning climber is most likely to cut their teeth on Bouldering and Top Roped as the others are
reserved for those with far more experience, skill and equipment. A beginner might graduate fairly early into Sport
or Traditional climbing. Don't be confused, though... the potential difficulty of ANY routes in ANY style can reach
astronomical levels. The risks of serious injury are simply diminished in Bouldering and Top Roping than might be
the case with other styles.

As your interest and exposure to climbing grows you'll naturally learn about the more exotic styles available. If they
interest you, perhaps you'll find an experienced mentor to guide you in a natural progression to those styles. For
now, however, we're going to focus on the styles you'll be exposed to in the beginning.

Bouldering
Bouldering involves climbing without a rope on short, sequency routes that are graded on a V rating scale in the
US. The V scale is an open-ended scale from V0 to V15 (allowing for - and + at either end). How many people
are good enough to climb in the 15 area? Well, there are probably only a few more of them than there are humans
who have flown in space.

This style is one of the most accessible styles available to a beginning climber as equipment needs are negligible. A
pair of climbing shoes, a chalk bag and some chalk are all it takes to boulder - though as the terrain gets uglier and
the routes get higher you and your friends might find yourselves investing in a crash pad or two to avoid serious
injury on falls.

Speaking of injury, you might be surprised to learn that bouldering is the discipline most likely to cause you injury.
Surprising, given that the routes are comparitively short, but remember it doesn't take much of a fall to break a
wrist or ankle if you land wrong. Even standing still, your head is probably 5 or more feet off the ground and prone
to injury if you happen to fall that short distance onto a rock. The fact that you are higher on a TR route and safely
roped in and belayed goes a long way to cutting down on the injury potential relative to bouldering.

Bouldering routes are typically 10-20 feet in height though they can go higher or shorter (a long traverse that never
goes up but covers a lot of horizontal ground can still be a fun bouldering problem). The objective isn't to cover a
lot of terrain in one go but to master moves on easily repeatable routes of ever increasing difficulty. A route may be
as short as a few difficult moves from a sitting start to a gut-wrenching, overhanging high-ball adventure to 30 +
feet that most people never dream of trying without a rope. Save the latter for the pros, please.

At the outset, your goal is to build mental and muscle memory. Particular hand, foot and body placements repeated
over time will become familiar. When you later encounter those same moves on a scary roped climb 80 feet in the
air you'll find yourself breezing through them with far less concern and distraction than somebody who hasn't logged
300+ repeats on short bouldering routes like you have.

You may be thinking bouldering doesn't sound like a lot of fun. After all, where's the adventure in scaling a few
measly feet up a rock. The high stuff is where the real adventure waits! Well, perhaps. But there is no substitute for
experience and Bouldering will give you boat-loads of experience. I find it's a great deal of fun particularly when
done with friends. Regardless your opinion of what is and isn't exciting, some of the most challenging moves you'll
ever encounter in climbing are going to be on Bouldering routes and the experience you gain here will add
immeasurably to your abilities on the high stuff. It's a lot easier to practice a certain move from a standing start on
the ground than it is to first grunt through 50 feet of rock, expending valuable energy every bit of the way, before
getting to the same sequence on a roped climb.

Another benefit of Bouldering is that it very specifically targets strength and power that you will find you need at
certain points in more complicated high routes. You might find yourself relying on efficiency and endurance through
the majority of a 70 foot climb but find yourself repeatedly failing mid-way through the route because you don't
have the strength or power to make it through the crux (most difficult part of the route). This unbelievably
frustrating experience can be minimized by some quality time spent training on the boulders.