You have already been sending it at the gym, you are a competent belayer and you know your Bulin from your figure of eight? Great, let’s get you to the crag. For your easy transition and to stop you from behaving like a Gumby, we have put together seven pointers which will ease your transition. Because always remember: Climbing outside really is a slightly different game!

Gear: At the crag, your backpack will weigh more

You quickly packed the bag for indoor fun: shoes, harness, belay device, chalk bag, rope. But for your adventure outside you will need some important additional gear:

• Helmet: Rockfall and falling quickdraws can always strike, a helmet protects your noggin from damage.
• Quickdraws: In the gym, the intermediate runners have been fixed, but at the crag, you will only find hangers. 10-15 quickdraws belong to the inventory of any climber. It doesn’t really matter which ones you get; as a beginner, you can take the cheaper ones or buy a complete set.
• Rope: standard hall ropes are usually too short for the crag- outside you usually climb with a 70/80 meter rope
• Hardware: You will also need two screw gates or self-locking carabiners.  These are needed when setting up a top-rope or rethreading the rope.

Further gear:

• First aid kit
• Snacks & fluid
• Depending on the season: warm clothing, for example when belaying

Know-How: Gym is not rock

The biggest changes come to you as a lead climber: Not only do the hand and footholds all have the same colour, you also have to know at once how to clip your draws and how to thread the rope correctly through the lower off at the end of the climb.

Let’s get to the quickdraws first: The runners consist of two carabiners connected by a textile webbing – a bit like the ones you are used to from the gym. As a rule, one karabiner can move more freely than the other. The one on the loose side goes into the bolt hanger, whilst the other clips the rope. It is important that you always use the draws exactly the same way: When the carabiner hangs in the bolt, metal rubs against metal, creating tiny grooves and ridges. If a rope is mistakenly clipped in such a carabiner, it can be damaged by these micro crevices. Please note: always place the quickdraws in such a way that the opening points away from the expected direction of fall. In the event of a fall, it has already happened that the rope has unclipped from the carabiner. If you climb directly over your points of protection, simply hang every second draw in the opposite direction to the prior.

Re-threading the right way!

As soldiers put it: “At the summit, you have to stop climbing.” In this case, the climber’s summit is the lower off- the anchor of your climb. Important change inside: At the end of the route there is no indoor ceiling, but often just botany. So better not miss the end. Usually, this is obvious, because there is, for example, a big glued ring or two bolts connected with a chain. Unfortunately, not every climbing route is equipped with one or even two carabiners at the end, like in most gyms. Most of the time you only find one ring through which you have to thread your rope.

Back to school: A climbing course for you?

You have probably already completed a toprope course and a prep course for the gym – why not one for the rock? Belaying at the crag, finding the route, redirecting rope drag, setting up the toprope, rope commands… there is a whole encyclopedia of knowledge ou there, which is best learned through hands-on experience under professional guidance.

The important thing is that you have someone who is up to date, who patiently shows you how to do it and gives you feedback on what you are doing. Most of the time such rock climbing courses last a few days – so you have time to learn a lot of useful things, have fun climbing outside and often find new climbing partners who are willing to take the plunge with you.

Risk: Only you are responsible

In the gym, there is an obligation to ensure safety by the operators. This means: The operator is responsible for ensuring that the hangers are safe, that hand and footholds do not snap, and that you don’t slip in a puddle on your way to the wall. The crag in the outdoors is a whole different ball game.

Rocks breaking away, broken or wrongly set bolts, missing lower offs, areas at the base of the crag at risk of collapsing, the approach and descent in general. The complete risk management is in your hands. Even if the first ascentionist has set the bolts incorrectly and you deck out: it’s your bad luck! So: Go to the crag with an alert eye and remember: outside is “adventure terrain” – even if the next house is visible through the treetops.

Preparation: Choosing the right route

Climbing should be fun, make your body and mind fit, and give you a positive feeling. Depending on the route and the shape of the day, this happens – or you get a proper smackdown. Defeats are also part of the sport, but you might not want to experience them the first time around. So try to find a crag that has as much in common as possible with a gym: good protection, shorter and many easier routes. You can always up the antic in due cause.

And where can you find them? In a book – a so-called climbing guide. It lists areas, gives information about protection and exposure and describes the tours in a so-called “topo”. Don’t overdo it in the beginning and give your body and mind the chance to get used to the new environment: While when climbing indoors you can usually see the route completely and know that after every meter there is a safe hanger, this is often not the case with outdoor rock climbing. Long runouts, bad clipping positions, routes that miander creating rope drag, and also friable rock – outside is different!

Besides, if the name is not written at the beginning of every tour. You may have to search for something and compare the reality with the drawings in your topo. All in all, a day outdoors requires much more knowledge and experience than an evening in the climbing gym.

Nature conservation and climbing etiquette: Who owns the crag?

The answer is simple: not you! Therefore you should act accordingly. Here are a few pointers:

 

 

• Use official parking lots or those described in the climbing guide. They are usually agreed with the owners on site.
• The same applies to the approach: Please stay on the designated paths.
• Climbing during the day, partying in the evening – and not the other way round: music (even softly) at the crag can disturb others – outside it’s still about relaxing in nature and enjoying the fresh air.
• Trash should go back into your backpack – and not into the next tree branch. That should be left for really cool stuff – squirrels for example.
• Does your four-legged best friend want to go to the rock, too? No problem, just remember that not everyone likes dogs – and some are even afraid of your buddy. You can imagine that these people aren’t very attentive when you’re belaying them when your fluffy terrier gently licks their calves. So please take care of your dog and keep him on a leash. Even a well-intentioned shout “He won’t do anything” usually doesn’t calm the anxious one. And in the climbing crag, there is only one thing you should be afraid of: big whippers.
• Using chalk is also not always without problems: Please remove tick marks after use and note that in some areas (for example in Saxony) there are chalk bans because the dust corrodes the rock.

It`s a fact, most crags belong to someone – usually a farmer or a municipality. The relationship between owners and climbers is often a bit difficult, you should not burden this relationship even more by your actions.

Besides the human owners, there is also the flora and fauna: They also own the crag and sometimes we climbers have to stay outside to let them recover. Then there are closures: Like a climbing gym, sometimes the rock is closed. But this is not because someone is cleaning the holds, but because one should leave nesting animals alone.

There are closures of single rocks or whole areas at different seasons. If a rock is closed, one should absolutely keep off it. Punishments do not only affect you but possibly the whole climbing community. Namely when a rock is closed forever. So, better wait a few weeks or months and go to another area until then.

How do you know if and when a rock is closed? A good question! It is written in your climbing guide and of and can also be found here: Website www.dav-felsinfo.de.

Motivation: Why actually climb outdoors?

Long falls, no music, annoying birds – actually you don’t feel like climbing outside anymore, do you? Great! This is exactly what I wanted to achieve with this article: For me as a passionate rock climber, there is nothing better than having the crag for myself. So please stay in the gym, outside it’s really not as beautiful as everyone keeps saying. No, seriously: It is the best!!! When the sunlight flashes through the treetops, the cool, fresh morning air floods your lungs and you hear the jingling of your draws on your harness, you will know what I am talking about.

You will put on your shoes, feel the cool, grippy texture underneath your hands, notice the different structures of small inclines, dents and cracks and already after the first meter after leaving the ground you will wonder why you have not always been doing this.