How to Start Rock Climbing
Challenging and rewarding for people of any age, Rock climbing is a great sport that anyone can get into! If you're a beginner, start by taking a class. There are a few types of courses in which you can enroll, indoor, outdoor, bouldering and rappelling. Let's break down the differences.
Indoor Rock Climbing
Indoor climbing is probably the safest of the options when choosing to learn how to climb. Most indoor gyms offer a basic introductory class which will teach you safety, how to properly wear a harness, how to belay, correct rock climbing terminology, rappelling, basic skills and how to read levels of difficulty. Gyms often require members to either enroll in their belay class, or pass a belay test before being allowed to free climb in a gym.
Outdoor Rock Climbing
If you're a little more adventurous, start with an outdoor beginners' course which will go over the same basics as an indoor climbing course, yet in the wilderness. Many outdoor courses will teach a few more techniques as general hand holds & foot holds are much harder to find. Lots of outdoor classes will also touch on anchoring, i.e. learning how to create your own outdoor climbing experience in locations without lead ropes & laid out climbs.
Bouldering
Bouldering eliminates learning how to belay, yet adds in a level of difficulty in so much that many boulders require climbers to have extreme upper body strength. While standard rock climbing involves going up & coming down, bouldering centers on a small or large boulder which is fairly close to the ground which a climber must traverse around. It's a little more dangerous since you don't have a rope to catch you if you fall.
Rappelling
And finally rappelling which is the opposite of climbing. Many outdoor locations, especially around caves, offer introductory rappelling courses where students learn how to properly lower themselves into caverns or down cliffs.
