Unless you live within a stone’s throw of an outdoor climbing area, the easiest and most convenient place to learn how to climb is at an indoor climbing gym. In fact, these days, most outdoor climbers start out in a gym. Many of them get good fast indoors, and eventually put their gym skills to the test on real rock.
IMPORTANT- Climbing outdoors is a very different sport from climbing in the gym.
The most obvious difference, of course, is that you are very unlikely to die climbing in a gym. The routine and surroundings are familiar; the gear is minimal; the hand and footholds are red, green, and blue; and the routes are marked with colored tape. Outdoors, on the other hand, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, and there’s no one around to point out that you forgot to double back the buckle on your harness, or that your figure eight knot is all fouled up. There’s no staff member peeking over your shoulder to see if you’re using your belay device correctly. No one is going to yell- “Hey! Wake up!” if your attention strays from belaying, as your partner clings to tiny holds eight feet above the last piece of protection.
Gear Cost
Before you begin climbing outdoors, you need to buy some gear. Guiding services are happy to supply you with whatever you need to climb outdoors, but if you’ve been climbing in the gym for a while, you most likely already own a harness, shoes, and chalk bag.
Basic gear cost: $110 to $285
- Climbing shoes: $40 to $150
- Climbing harness: $35 to $90
- Locking carabiner: $10 to $20
- Chalk bag, belt, and chalk: $25
A quick word about shoes- talk to your climber friends or a knowledgeable salesperson and let them know you’ll be climbing outdoors. You’ll want a shoe with a little more arch and ankle support and a tougher rand (the rubber that surrounds the shoe above the sole). And because outdoor climbs are usually longer than gym climbs, you may not be able to take your shoes off when your feet hurt. So buy them tight, but not so tight that your toes hurt.