Indoor Climbing Dry Tooling - Pete Hill instructional guidebook

• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Reviews

A visit to a climbing wall is no rare occurrence these days. Some years ago walls were seen as simply somewhere to go as a diversion when it was raining, with only a few climbers viewing them as training venues, ideal for practising the skills that would be needed on rock outside.

These days there are people who only ever climb indoors, and who see indoor climbing as a sport in its own right. Others use walls purely as training venues, honing the muscles and skills necessary for success on outdoor routes that would otherwise take months of trying to get the right strength and sequences together while dodging showers. Still more will use walls to maintain an overall level of climbing fitness, often for a few hours a couple of evenings a week, enabling them to stay strong until the weekend break lets them get on the rock. And of course there are those who have their first experience of climbing at a wall, in a controlled situation and perhaps with a group of friends, learning about equipment and movement, enjoying the experience together. If all goes well, they will then move on to climb more, both indoors and out, and become regular users of walls for all the right reasons.

The climbing wall environment can feel very sterile to some, and I know a number of climbers who would rather climb in the rain than ever venture inside! However, walls are now a huge and important part of the climbing scene, with the majority of climbers – both those starting out and the more experienced – using walls regularly throughout the year.

It is important that the experience at a wall is enjoyable. Naturally it must also be safe and, ideally, productive but with these factors in place enjoyment should be the next priority. Whether you are training on the hardest of routes or just sampling climbing for the first time, you should be enjoying yourself. Why else would you do it?

With the proliferation of climbing walls comes increased employment, and a significant number of people have jobs connected to the climbing wall business. Many of these are instructors, and the numbers have increased to the extent that the UK now has its own training and assessment programme. The Climbing Wall Award, or CWA, gives the successful candidate a nationally recognised qualification for taking others into the climbing wall environment.

Whatever your reason for going to a wall – simply to experience climbing on an infrequent basis with a couple of friends, as a training facility or as a form of employment – this book should cover everything you need to know.

Pete Hill