Climbing Crash Course Session 2: Sport Climbing (Leading)

OVERVIEW

Welcome to the climbing crash course series, a sequence of workshops designed to equip you with the information and skills you need to start practicing that next set of climbing techniques you’ve been dying to learn. As we all know, the smartest place to practice any new life-bearing technique is on the ground, so let this serve as the catalyst to start your ground practice. (See below for the list of topics in the series. Specific workshops/topics available upon request.)

Session 0: Useful Knots (and How to Tie Them)
Session 1: Climbing Basics and Top Roping
Session 2: Sport Climbing Part 1 – Leading
Session 3: Sport Climbing Part 2 – Seconding
Session 4: All About Anchors
Session 5: Rigging Rappels
Session 6: Baby’s First Multi-Pitch
Session 7: Trad Gear Placements
Session 8: Self-Rescue Techniques
Session 9: Aid Climbing
Session 10: A Brief Introduction to Advanced Climbing Techniques

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BEFORE signing up for this session, you should be very comfortable with top rope climbing and belaying.

In this session (Sport Climbing Part 1 – Leading), we will go through everything you need to know to climb sport routes on lead. The safety-related “whys” are baked into each topic. Topics include:
– New gear and knots
– How is a climber protected on lead?
– Dangerous things not to do (backclip, z clip, chicken clip, backstep, etc.)
– Clip techniques (thumb flicks, anchor/index flicks, reverse thumbs, loop-ins, etc.)
– Cleaning the route to set up a top rope
– Communication
– Risks

The session will be workshop style with intermixed talking and doing. About half of the time will be a presentation with the other half of the time dedicated to questions and hands-on practice interspersed throughout the lecture segments.

Things you should bring:
– Harness
– Spare rope/practice rope (even an old shoelace would be good)

I will bring climbing ropes and quickdraws to practice with. Let me know if you need a harness.