What seventeen years of experience has taught me

Earlier today I was browsing the Start Here section of UKClimbing.com, which is where we have loads of Frequently Asked Questions articles, beginners articles, instructional stuff, etc.

I was actually looking to see how well we have covered ‘Setting up a belay’ – as this is pretty vital for many climbers in the UK and is something that I think should be fairly prominent on that part of the website.

I found we had this article from Libby Peter, but I also think we should perhaps have a more in depth piece on this belay set up.

Anyway, I also stumbled across this article from 2003 by Charles Arthur: 100 things you learn from experience.

And whilst I didn’t learn anything from the article, the title got me thinking; ‘actually, I know a hell of a lot more about climbing now than I did when I first started’. But can I point out exactly what these things are?

I have tried to think of a few, but it isn’t easy. So here are some things that I have learnt over time.

Trad climbing:

• Some hard ‘trad’ routes are easier than some ‘easy’ trad routes. Some routes are just way more ‘climbable’ than others and this often has nothing to do with grade.
• Well travelled, clean, chalked trad routes can feel much easier than seldom climbed routes of the same grade.
• Seating in your wires with a stiff tug can save your life. Especially if you use short, stiff quickdraws that can lead to your wires being lifted out by the rope.
• Long, floppy quickdraws are usually best (see previous point).
• Double ropes are basically twice as good as single ropes – in almost every circumstance. Use doubles. If you can’t belay with double ropes, then learn. If you can’t learn – trad climbing isn’t for you.
• E3 climbers can usually climb E7 if they try.
• Crack climbing seems to get easier the older you get.
• There is a massive difference between routes on which you can die and routes on which you just get a bit scared. This becomes more apparent when you reach 25.

Sport climbing:

• Short, stiff quickdraws are best.
• But take a few long ones so you can extend key bolts to avoid rope drag.
• It’s harder than trad climbing.
• It becomes ever more appealing as you approach 30 years old.
• 4 days on a route isn’t very long.
• Falling off can still feel scary, but you can also ‘redpoint’ falls. The more times you fall from a route the less scary it becomes.
• I don’t really see much difference between steep trad climbing on reasonable gear and sport climbing.

General climbing:

• Footholds don’t have to look like they are going to work to actually work.
• Sometimes you need to pull harder/squeeze harder/push harder then it feels like you need to, to be able to do a move. This is hard to explain, but for example, don’t just stand on the hold, shove down on it hard with your leg muscles.
• Climbing well is often about your mindset. This can be massively affected by the people you climb with. Choose them carefully.
• Conditions really do make a huge difference, adding several grades if they are bad.
• Finger skin makes a huge difference – just like conditions.

Big wall / Alpine climbing:

• Yes it might be 5 grades below your hardest send on <insert name of local 12m high crag here>, but after 12 hours in the boiling sun with skinned fingers and feet that are on fire, it might feel quite tricky. See note in general climbing about conditions.
• ‘Leading in blocks’ doesn’t really do anything.
• Climbing fast is all about mindset. “Just climb faster”. Maintain that feeling (like the one when you are trying to drive to work but know you are late) whilst you are climbing, and keep that feeling going until the belay is set up and your second is climbing. Then relax, because in 10mins you will have to do it all again.
• If you want to free climb hard on big walls, then look after your feet. It has taken me many trips to get a shoes system that works for me, but I have cracked it:

Firstly I take a pair of approach shoes I can climb in, and I use them for approaches, any scrambling, easy pitches and some wide cracks. I also take 3 pairs of fairly stiff shoes on the trip.

One pair I take is my usual UK ‘hard routes’ pair – tight and for general hard climbing ( I have an even smaller pair for slate etc – but would never consider them for big walls!). I never wear these ‘hard routes’ shoes all day on big walls, but they come in for bouldering/sport days or very occasional crux stuff on big walls.

Next is my ‘big trad’ size, which is half a size bigger than my UK ‘sport routes’ size. These usually turn in to my ‘hard big free routes’ shoes and can be paired up with the approach shoes pretty well. It is important that they are stiff and not too old. As they are a bit bigger than I usually climb hard in, I really appreciate the extra stiffness and support. If I’m on a really hard route, with pitches that perhaps I think I might need to redpoint, then I carry my smaller ‘hard routes’ shoes on my harness.

I then take another pair that is half a size bigger again. I always stick with exactly the same model of shoe, but just in different sizes. These largest sized shoes feel too big for anything in the UK, but are great for really long routes with easier climbing. Or I just climb in approach shoes.

Right now I use Evolv Pontas Lace-Ups in a UK 9, 9.5 and 10

• Carry a headtorch. No, I don’t care what you have just said. Carry a headtorch.