r/ukclimbing • u/Awhouse73 • 10d ago
looking to start climbing
Im a very outdoorsy person but none of my friends are into anything like that. I have always wanted to start rock climbing and mountaineering but have never taken the leap. any tips, advice on how to start is welcome and if anyone fancies teaching me or letting me tag along that would be amazing. Im south london based near bromley. my insta is Alfred_whitehouse if you want to hit me up on there.
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u/sharli_the_unicorn 10d ago
For beginners, I always recommend taking a guided, reputable course to start out. When it comes to mountaineering, there's so many risks that you need to mitigate, and you won't know what you don't know at this stage. Friends and belay buddies are good for tips and tricks to fill in the gaps, but you need a good base to build from first.
Hiring a certified guide for the day is also another good way to learn, since they can tailor to your strengths and weaknesses, double-check your work, and they'll have a safety-focused mindset. Partnering with the wrong rando for climbing and mountaineering can get you killed, whereas guides spend years being tested, checked, and mentored before they can lead clients on their own.
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u/Pierre_Arthos 10d ago
An option is to book onto an MT Rock Skills intro course, which is a certified beginners outdoor climbing course. Then join a beginner friendly mountaineering club. Most will let you join a few meets and socials before committing.There is also a bouldering wall in Bromley and The Reach for ropes which will offer indoor courses
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u/SuperTurboUsername 10d ago
If you decide to join a climbing gym, keep in mind most of the people there never go outside. Try to join an alpine club. You could also book a group course with a guide, and stay in contact with the people from the course.
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u/Economy-Gate3604 9d ago
If you’re ever in the Highlands I’ll take you for a rattle around for the day - mountaineering, climbing, or both.
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u/TomFromThePast 8d ago
Given the time of year do an intro to bouldering session and get comfy on plastic rocks for a month. Buy shoes and chalk bag.
Month 2 Find a roped climbing centre and do an intro to roped climbing course. Enquire about their single climbers nights and community. Buy harness.
Repeat until spring and you'll have made some connections and found some communities. Research your closest outdoor crags too.
In spring search for intro to outdoor climbing courses and get acquainted with sandstone and gritstone.
Then offer to belay for anyone and get yourself outdoors. Bit by bit you'll have a few people who will be able to go with at any time. Buy bouldering mats, find local boulders.
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u/Decent-Apple9772 10d ago
First of all: mountaineering and rock climbing are effectively two separate disciplines/sports. Sometimes they overlap, but usually they don’t.
I will speak to rock climbing first since it is my area of focus.
- Go try indoor rock climbing. It will tell you if you like the movement, puzzles and moderate heights.
- Watch this series https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5FEOhiQGSo8PBwTZPeiwQGcxQ0xB99Gt&si=wJ_Y3p5OnkFoYHuO
- Learn to top rope belay and tie a figure 8.
- Practice climbing a bit to gain confidence and build connections with other climbers.
- Learn to lead climb.
- Study sport anchors and cleaning online or take a class
- Go climb sport routes until you can say that the easy routes are trivial and you are CALM while climbing them.
- Learn to place trad climbing protection. This will take more time than clipping bolts so you want to be working on routes that are easy for you until you build confidence.
- Learn gear anchors and multi-pitch procedures.
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u/Foxtrot7888 10d ago
I’d suggest starting with a beginner’s course at a climbing wall to learn the basics. Once you can belay safely you’ll be in a better position to tag along with others.