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maggot
Jan 3, 2006, 2:04 PM
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Hi,
I'm thinking of getting my boyfriend a gift voucher for a one day outdoor rock climbing introductory course for his birthday. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on whether this would be worth it.
As far as I know he's never done proper rock climbing before (though he climbs trees and boulders and so on whenever he comes across them). He's 25 and physically fairly fit with a good sense of balance.
My questions are basically:
a) Are these courses generally well run, and is there anything specific I should look out for in a climbing school?
b) Would a single day's climbing be enjoyable for a beginner, or would it all be spent in safety drills and learning knots? While I think he might want to do more after a taster, he doesn't have a car or a lot of time so it's more likely to be a one off thing.
Thanks
Maggie
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overlord
Jan 3, 2006, 2:35 PM
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In reply to: Are these courses generally well run, and is there anything specific I should look out for in a climbing school?
they should have a certified instructor
In reply to: Would a single day's climbing be enjoyable for a beginner, or would it all be spent in safety drills and learning knots? While I think he might want to do more after a taster, he doesn't have a car or a lot of time so it's more likely to be a one off thing.
IMHO it would be enjoyable. hed probably just be tought the basics (like how to tie in) and spend the day TRing some easy routes. usually beginner have lots of fun that way. maybe you could even arange it with the instructor to climb more and worry about learning a bit less.
another thing to consider is hiring a guide to take him climbing. it would probably be a bit more costly, but the experience would be well worth it. and hed learn a lot more.
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tonypurmal
Jan 3, 2006, 5:37 PM
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I learned to climb through a one day outdoor course and loved it. I took my course from the Bear Valley Climbing School in Bear Valley, California. We learned all the basics (how to tie in, belay, rappel, etc) and we also learned the basics of protection, how to tie anchors (for top roping) and how to boulder to increase one's skills. We did all that in the morning and then moved to the rock to climb in the afternoon.
It was a full day and extremely enjoyable. I'd highly recommend such a course because it completely prepared me to go out on my own to top rope or boulder to get better at climbing. I'd go for a course like that if you can find one, however if you can only find one that focuses on the basics and climbing, that would be reasonable as well.
I chose the climbing school I did because I had access to a cabin in Bear Valley and was able to stay there for free when up there for the course.
I hope you find a great school and that your boyfriend enjoys the class.
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billl7
Jan 3, 2006, 6:26 PM
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A couple of years ago I took a ~5 day course spread over as many weekends that emphasized safety and took one to the level of being a competent enough member on a team. This course did not emphasize how to climb but just how to be safe for yourself and for your partners. There was a low-key multi-pitch graduation climb at the end. Five days seemed about the right amount of commitment for someone who wants to come away with enough safety skills to continue climbing - although not as a leader; I wouldn't do less for that outcome.
But I suspect that this is more than you intend. If you want a day or two up high on a multi-pitch somewhere with little to no prior experience then hiring a guide is probably the way to go. It will be expensive because they will probably need two guides so that the client is never alone on the rock.
The best thing is to talk to the folks there that offer such services. Climbing gyms here offer various introductory courses. Another avenue _might_ be climbing clubs but maybe that means more commitment? A guide sounds best although hard to know for sure from my end. The key is to weigh what they offer against what you want because there is quite a lot of variation in these types of services. Sounds like you are well on your way to finding the right fit.
I'm not really addressing your first question about how well run the courses are.
Sounds like a great idea for a birthday present!
Bill
Edited to add that this is from a multi-pitch perspective. The amount of knowledge and/or expense needed can be reduced if the focus is more on single pitch (for example, top roping). You may already know but, multi-pitch is when the climbing route is too long for doing in one stretch of the rope and so there are intermediate stations along the way.
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redlegrangerone
Jan 3, 2006, 7:52 PM
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Just make sure you get a course from a certified guide. It makes a big difference in not only the quality of instruction, but in how they take care of the climber.
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rgold
Jan 3, 2006, 8:51 PM
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I'd talk to a individual guide. Many years ago, when I was guiding, it was my policy to do as little technical instruction as possible on the first day and as much multipitch climbing as I could fit in the day---no toproping and no rappelling, for example. My feeling then (and now, for that matter) is that if you didn't like that experience, then climbing wasn't really for you anyway. Of course, climbing then had a different meaning then it does now, and I imagine I'd be roundly criticized for my approach nowadays (not that I think I was wrong, mind you).
But it seems that what I have described is what you think your boyfriend would like (and reasonably so). The idea is not to obtain any type of competence after a day, but to have a decent inkling of what the climbing game is really all about (although my concept would be viewed as just one type of climbing). I imagine most guides would understand such a request and could tailor their day to provide it.
One thing you should understand is that a private guide is going to cost you several times more than a climbing school class, where the expense is shared by several students. But the climbing schools have their curricula, and are geared to training future climbers, not providing an authentic climbing experience to beginners. Perhaps some schools are successful at both, but many will devote a lot of time to knots, belays, rappels, and short top-rope problems. The fact that a previous poster took five days to arrive at the type of thing I used to do on day one illustrates the issues.
A final note. Climbing is something that can grab people pretty hard. Your boyfriend already has a natural inclination to do it. If he gets into it, it will become a significant part of his life. If you yourself have no interest in climbing, you may find you have introduced a source of conflict into your relationship.
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thetroutscout
Jan 4, 2006, 7:09 AM
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In reply to: A final note. Climbing is something that can grab people pretty hard. Your boyfriend already has a natural inclination to do it. If he gets into it, it will become a significant part of his life. If you yourself have no interest in climbing, you may find you have introduced a source of conflict into your relationship.
Well said, lets not have you back in a few months posting under the thread, "Climbing Boyfriends and the Girlfriends that introduced them."
Seriously though, its amazing how suddenly one can forget about all other aspect of one's life. Maybe it something you could learn together. It sounds like a great idea though.
^^ike
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arrowhead
Jan 4, 2006, 9:09 AM
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Yeap, great idea - and you can follow that up with a climbing gym membership :-)
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maggot
Jan 6, 2006, 11:47 AM
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Thanks everyone for your help.
Unfortunately a guide is a bit out of my budget, but I phoned up a few schools and found one which does an intro class where you spend the morning learning some technical stuff and the afternoon climbing. This seems like a decent compromise to me.
In reply to: thetroutscout Posted: 04 Jan 2006 07:09 Post subject: Re: Questions about Outdoor intro to rock climbing days -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- rgold wrote: A final note. Climbing is something that can grab people pretty hard. Your boyfriend already has a natural inclination to do it. If he gets into it, it will become a significant part of his life. If you yourself have no interest in climbing, you may find you have introduced a source of conflict into your relationship. Well said, lets not have you back in a few months posting under the thread, "Climbing Boyfriends and the Girlfriends that introduced them."
I consider myself warned on this one! If he does become obsessed with it, I suppose I'll just have to get myself a gym membership and see this as a good opportunity to overcome my fear of heights.
Maggie
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nola_angie
Jan 6, 2006, 2:32 PM
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In reply to: I consider myself warned on this one! If he does become obsessed with it, I suppose I'll just have to get myself a gym membership and see this as a good opportunity to overcome my fear of heights. Maggie
it just may shock the hell out of you how many climbers do this. My advice? Why wait. If your afraid of heights, climb till you can control it. No need to wait for the boyfriend to get all into it. It's a great feeling when you go from that quaking fear to being *okay* with it!
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tonypurmal
Jan 6, 2006, 5:48 PM
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In reply to: If he does become obsessed with it, I suppose I'll just have to get myself a gym membership and see this as a good opportunity to overcome my fear of heights.
Actually fear of heights is what got me into climbing in the first place. I still don't enjoy heights that much, and am extremely cautious when setting up top ropes, etc. However I feel more comfortable roped in on a cliff than I do standing behind a railing at the top of a cliff. When I'm up at Glacier Point in Yosemite I stand back about two feet from the railing, lean forward to get an iron grip on the railing with my hands and then move forward to look over the edge.
I hope that both you and your boyfriend enjoy climbing. It's a great sport/activity/lifestyle depending on how it fits into your life.
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