Tag: climbing

Why I Haven’t Been Around + Goals Update

Yorkshire Dales walk

Well, hello there! If you keep an eye on my blog, then you may have noticed that I’ve been posting less recently. For this, I apologise, but I wanted to give an explanation. You see, the last year has been pretty busy. I know, I know, everyone is busy all of the time. But sometimes, when you’re so busy that you struggle to see how you can to get through the next day let alone the next week, and you’re constantly falling behind on your ever-extending to-do list, it’s hard to prioritise what’s really important in life.

In the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of clients writing on some fascinating topics. I’ve also been working hard at growing the author side of my business: I’ve published one full-length novel (with a second coming soon in June), two novelettes and two novellas. I’ve also organised a wedding and started co-hosting a podcast.

When I look back on it, I’ve achieved a lot. But it has come at a price, and that has been my outdoor time. It’s ironic that, by writing about outdoor activities and adventure, I’ve actually ended up spending less time doing them myself. I suspect I’m not the only writer and entrepreneur to have fallen into this trap…

So, I decided on some changes. I will be continuing with my client work – no change there. (If you need a hand with copywriting or content marketing, get in touch!) And I’ll still be blogging, but not every week. I’ll post something as and when I have something I really want to write about and share with you. This will still probably be once or twice a month – I’m not disappearing completely!

I’m also going to be consolidating my social media channels in an effort to rationalise my social media addiction. I currently have two Twitter accounts, one for the author side of my business, and one for the outdoor copywriting side. Moving forward, I’m only going to be using this one, but I’ll be chatting about everything. The outdoors and writing about the outdoors is as much a part of me as writing novels or podcasting, so why should I try and tear myself in two?

Update on my goals for 2018

At the beginning of the year, I posted my outdoor goals for 2018. Whenever you’re setting goals, I always think it’s worth reviewing them every couple of months. Life changes, what we are able to do changes and, perhaps most importantly, what we want to do sometimes changes.

Ironically, given everything I’ve talked about above, my main aim for 2018 was to spend more time outdoors. I’m pretty sure I’ve achieved this, though based on the end of last year, I was working from a pretty low benchmark!

The main thing that’s forced me to spend more time outside is the Isle of Wight Challenge. In a week and a half, I’ll be walking 104 km around the Isle of Wight (over two days). I’m pretty sure this is the toughest challenge I’ve set myself, and I’ve been training hard for it. Many of my weekends over the past few months have been spent walking, come rain or shine. And until recently, there has been very little shine and rather a lot of rain, hail and snow.

I’m feeling reasonably well prepared for the walk. Or at least, as prepared as I can feel. (I don’t think you ever really feel ready for challenges like this.) I’m raising money for Mind, a mental health charity here in the UK, which is been a huge motivator to get out and train even when the weather has been, quite frankly, miserable. If you’d like to sponsor me, you can do so here.

My second goal of the year was to hike the John Muir Trail. My husband and I had planned to do this for our honeymoon. We may have underestimated the logistical challenge this presented… I also discovered while doing all these long walks, that while I LOVE walking, I don’t really love having to go out walking for 8 hours in the rain. We’ve also both found that we’ve missed climbing. Really missed it. With work commitments and busy lives, there’s just not the time to do everything and because I’ve been spending every weekend training for the Isle of Wight Challenge, this has meant we’ve done next to no climbing.

So, we changed our plan! We’re still planning on going out to the States, but we’re hoping to do a month long climbing trip later in the year. We haven’t been on a climbing holiday for ages so I’m really looking forward to this. 😀 I’m also looking forward to getting some strength back and exploring more of the crags around where we live.

This will also finally force me to face head-on my incapacitating fear of falling. I haven’t quite figured out how best to do this yet, but I’m working on it. More on that another time…

I would love to be a superwoman who is able to do it all, but I’m gradually coming to realise that I’m not. We all have different pressures on our lives and time and have to prioritise what’s most important to us. And if there’s one thing I know, it’s that being outdoors is important to me.

5 Tips To Improve Your Climbing Grade

Crag with climbers on hard routes

Watching climbers who are better than you can help improve your grade

When you first start climbing, you may progress rapidly through the grades. But whether you’re climbing indoors or outside, at some point you’re going to hit a plateau. If you want to make it to the next level, here are five tips to improve your climbing grade.

Get the Mileage In

As with anything, the more you do of something, the better you’ll get. This is particularly true with trad climbing. If I haven’t trad climbed for a while it takes me twice as long to pick the right piece of gear and I tend to be more cautious and place more gear than necessary. The slicker your gear placements, the more energy you save and the harder you’ll be able to climb.

Train Regularly

It’s sometimes said that climbing is the best training for climbing. This is partially true, but whatever level you’re climbing at, you should see an improvement in your climbing grade with a structured training programme. This needs to be specific to the level you’re climbing at; if you’re a beginner then jumping straight onto a fingerboard is a recipe for injured fingers!

Focus on Footwork

One of the key signs of a beginner climbing at the wall is shoddy footwork. It’s tempting to think you just need to get stronger to climb harder, but learning good technique is just as important as strength. By focusing on improving your footwork, not only will you be able to climb harder, you will become a better climber. Your strength may ebb and flow, but good footwork will stay with you for a lifetime.

If you find yourself kicking or scraping the wall when you climb, practice these seven drills to improve your footwork.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fail (or Fall)

I’d hazard a guess that the fear of falling is one of the most common things that stops people climbing to their full potential. The times I have climbed my hardest routes on both trad and sport are when I have been able to control my fear to a certain extent. To put it bluntly, if you’re terrified of falling off, you won’t push yourself to your physical limit. This means you won’t get as strong as you could do or climb the grades you’re capable of climbing.

Fear of failure also holds us back. Many people have a mental barrier in their heads around a certain grade. For example, they may be super confident climbing VS, but the mention of an HVS is enough to send them into shakes halfway up the route. You can often climb a lot harder than you think you can. Though please don’t take that as an invitation to jump on an E7 when you’re only climbing VS! Part of becoming an experienced climber is knowing when it’s safe to fall, and when it isn’t.

Learn From Climbers Who Are Better Than You

Perhaps the best tip to improve your climbing grade is to climb with people who are better than you. Seconding harder routes allows you to push your body to the limit without having to worry about placing gear or falling off. But don’t just hold your partner’s rope – watch how they climb. Look at what holds they use, how they position their body and how they rest on the route. Then, try and emulate this when you climb.

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to get out with better climbers, you can still watch how they climb and learn from it. Bouldering walls are great for this. If you’re struggling to figure out a particular problem, take a break and watch how other people climb it. Do they climb it differently depending on their size and strength? Experienced climbers will often know the best sequence for a problem just by looking at it. Once you’re fully rested, try climbing it their way and you may be surprised how much easier you find it.

Why You Should Invest in the Outdoor Gear You Love

Old-outdoor-gear-love

Just some of my much-loved outdoor gear that’s over a decade old

I was rooting through my hiking and camping gear today and came to a shocking realisation. I could find barely any gear that you can still – right now – buy in the shops. This isn’t because I don’t have much gear (trust me, we have a loft, garage and climbing room full of the stuff), but rather that most of the gear I own, I bought a long time ago.

So am I hobbling around in tattered clothing, with an ancient, creaking rucksack that’s about to spill it’s cargo of holey tents and rusted metal stoves? Not at all. I’m not adverse to buying new kit, but I only tend to buy things when I need them. Though admittedly that hasn’t always been the case.

The three gear-buying personas

In my eyes, there are three approaches to buying outdoor kit:

  1. The fashionista / outdoor shop worker: Changes colour with the seasons. Always on trend and hankering for the latest piece of shiny kit. People who work in outdoor shops also fall into this category. As you’re surrounded by beautiful kit all day and have a nice staff discount to play with, this tends to translate into frequent gear purchases. (I know, I used to work in one.)
  2. “It’ll do for now”: Buys what they need, when they need it. Ever budget-conscious, these people always have an eye on the sale rack, never mind if the down jacket is two sizes too big and canary yellow.
  3. Buy what you love: Justifying expensive purchases by calling them an ‘investment’, these people have an eye for quality and a passion for research and comparison tables.

I have been each of these people over the years, but much of my kit that’s still going strong today was bought when I was in a ‘buy what you love’ frame of mine. This happily coincided with my student days, where I was dedicated enough to survive on kidney beans and chopped tomatoes for weeks at a time, in order to invest my student loan in beautiful new outdoor gear. And I had the excuse of climbing trips to the Alps and expeditions to Iceland and Greenland, all of which required KIT.

Yes, they may be a bit worn and tattered (though my down jacket’s in such good nick no-one ever believes it’s over twelve years’ old), but these pieces of gear are like old friends. Take my Macpac Pursuit rucksack. It’ll carry any load without complaint and somehow manage to balance it perfectly on your hips. It’s been dragged up rock faces, dumped in snow and once had a rather wobbly, overloaded trip on a mountain bike. I’ve used it travelling in New Zealand and on multi-day hikes in the UK. On every one of my mountaineering adventures, it has been my constant companion.

It wasn’t the cheapest rucksack at the time, but it has repaid the investment ten times over. So why did I choose this rucksack, when I was a skint student and there were many cheaper models? Because I loved it. And because it was about the roughest, toughest alpine rucksack around at the time.

Why you should buy things you love

Having experimented with various philosophies of buying, I’m now convinced that buying what you love is the best option for you, the environment and your bank balance (all things I care deeply about). This can be hard when money is tight and option two (“it’ll do for now”) seems to be the only viable route. But I know, from bitter experience, that if you buy something that’s merely ‘ok’, said item will rarely be used and is likely to end up lurking under your bed gathering spiders.

If you buy something you love on the other hand, you will cherish it, wear it often and, most importantly LOOK AFTER IT. This is why my down jacket still looks shiny and new. And yes, I admit I can be a bit pedantic about not chucking my stuff in the dirt. But even my very dear friend (who shall remain nameless) who attracts mud like a headtorch attracts mosquitos, has taken such great care of her beloved new coat that it still looks almost new TWO years after buying it. Which, for her, is something of a record.

It’s a no brainer: looking after your gear will help it last longer. So rather than buying a sleeping bag every three years, you may buy one every ten or fifteen years. Which means you’re actually making a saving by buying more expensive gear. And it’s better for the environment. Less waste, less energy and non-renewable resource use in manufacture, and fewer carbon emissions from transporting goods.

5 outdoor gear companies I love

What gear you love and what gear I love may be quite different. But, if you’re interested, these are my favourite outdoor gear companies at the moment.

  1. Patagonia: Fondly referred to by one of my friends as Patagucci, Patagonia kit is definitely at the more expensive end of the outdoor gear spectrum. But it does last – my R1 fleece still looks good today, eight years or so after I bought it. Compare that to other fleeces which go bobbly within the year, and well, do I have to sy anything more? Plus, they do a lot of environmental work and campaigning and let their staff go surfing.
  2. Macpac: A New Zealand brand, Macpac make, hands down, the most durable rucksacks on the planet (in my honest opinion). I’d beg them to bring back the Pursuit Classic into their range, but quite honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever need to replace the one I’ve got.
  3. Alpkit: Alpkit is proof that quality kit doesn’t have to have a super-high price tag. I can still remember the murmurs on the outdoor scene when this British company broke into the market, and they continue making waves (so to speak) today.
  4. La Sportiva: The La Sportiva Nepal Extreme were the alpine boot of choice back when I was actually doing alpine climbing. They’re a bit on the heavy side now, but I still love my old, battered pair to bits. They are also my favourite company for climbing shoes, though if anyone from La Sportiva is reading this, you need to sort out the rubber delamination issue and PLEASE stop cutting the Miuras so high round the ankle bone.
  5. 3rd Rock Clothing: This small, British clothing eco-company is single-handedly responsible for the resurgence of ’80s style fluro-patterned leggings at the climbing wall. They’re made from recycled material though, so I’ll forgive them. Plus I absolutely love their comfy, durable clothing and environmental ethos.

What’s your favourite beloved old bit of kit that’s still going strong? Get in touch on Twitter to tell me all about it! If anyone would like to send me gear to review, please get it touch. Especially if you’re one of the companies listed above. 🙂

Losing Motivation (and How to Find It Again)

Climbing-Motivation

Happy climbing in motivated times

Motivation has always been a funny thing for me. I like to think I’m quite a motivated person, but I also take setbacks hard. Like most people, I sometimes feel tempted to quit when things aren’t going quite the way I want them to.

Take rock climbing. It’s been a huge part of my life for the past fifteen years. I would never go so far as to say there is one sport I’d choose over all others, but if I had to pick, climbing would be a strong contender. It’s not just the physical aspect of it – having the strength and flexibility to pull, push and twist your way up a rock face – but the mental aspect. Climbing is a three-dimensional puzzle. You have to figure out what sequence of moves and holds will unlock the key to the route. And the really fun part? The puzzle is different for every person.

For most of the past ten years, I’ve focused on sport climbing, with some bouldering thrown in. Don’t get me wrong, I love trad, but for me, discovering sport climbing and redpointing* allowed me to push myself harder than I thought possible. Climbing 7a went from an impossibility to a frequent occurrence. 7b fell, then 7b+, and 7c was nearly in my grasp. Perhaps, I thought, with a bit more focused training, I could even climb 8a – a lifetime goal I’ve never been brave enough to admit to having.

Ironically enough, the peak of my climbing ability occurred when I lived in London – about the furthest place in the UK from any decent climbing. But in my final year of living in London, my climbing started to wane. I put it down to maintaining a long-distance relationship, along with a busy job and fitting in climbing around life. My increasing nervousness about leading down to a big (but safe) fall I’d taken.

When I moved up to Yorkshire eighteen months ago, I thought this would be the start of a new era. Time to get strong again, and crags practically on the doorstep. No excuses. But things didn’t quite turn out like that. Despite getting down to the wall more and climbing outside, I was getting weaker, not stronger.

Fine, I thought. I’ve been slack and need to get back on the training bandwagon. And I’ve been trying to do this, really I have. But despite my mental will to pull hard, my body didn’t respond. The power and finger strength that I’d always relied on had gone. I could no longer do even a single pull up, or a proper press up. And it seemed as if the more I tried, the weaker I got.

This week we are back down on Portland, my main weekend haunt from my London climbing years. Back at the Cuttings, I looked idly up at Hall of Mirrors – the 7c that I was so close to getting a few years ago. I was feeling positive, my fingers tingling in anticipation of getting back on the Portland rock I know and love; of warming up on routes I feel comfortable on. Getting my lead head sorted, and perhaps getting a quick 7a tick or two.

I was quickly brought back down to earth. I puffed my way up the 6b warm-up, tried to persuade myself that the move above the bolt would be totally fine (you’ve done it before) and finally slumped down in defeat. My optimism went right out the metaphorical window. And when I finally did get on my ‘project’ for the week, progress was essentially non-existent. I could see what I had to do, even picture the moves in my mind, but I just couldn’t get my body to actually do them. I walked away, frustrated and downcast.

Getting Back On the Horse

I remember one of the first lessons I was taught when I started horse-riding as a kid. If you fall off, get up and get back on that horse. I took my fair share of tumbles during my riding years and quite often the last thing I wanted to do after falling off was to get back on the horse which I knew was prancing round ready to gallop off and dump me again. But even so, I got back in the saddle.

The same is true if you fall out of a sport for a while. This may be because of injury, a busy period at work, or because you fell in love with another sport for a time. It may be for good, happy reasons: having a child, or falling in love with someone who loves you, but not your sport. When you do come back to training again, it can be tough to get going, to keep motivated when you know you should be doing better than this.

Getting back on the horse is not easy. It requires willpower, toughness and a willingness to fail. So why do it? Why not just move on and accept that that part of your life – the part where you were a good, strong climber – is over.

I’ll tell you why. It’s because there is still part of you that wants to believe that it doesn’t have to be over. The part of you that remembers that glorious feeling when every piece of the puzzle falls into place as you climb higher and higher, dancing up the rock face; grasping every challenge that faces you and conquering it. The feeling of finally clipping the chains on your project, having devoted countless hours to figuring out the precise moves and body positions you needed to climb it, and riding the wave of highs and lows that is redpointing. It’s the child in you that believes you can do anything, if you want it enough. Listen to that child. Nurture that child.

Finding Your Motivation

Losing motivation is easy. Finding it again is a journey. And the first thing to realise is that this won’t happen overnight. (Unless you are one of those super naturally fit people who can go from couch to Ironman in four weeks, in which case you probably aren’t reading this article.)

Step 1: Start with baby steps

Remember what you love about your sport and focus on that. If that means going backwards for a while, so be it. For example, I have always struggled with my leading head, and my lack of fitness made this even worse, to the point that I wasn’t even pushing myself on climbs or getting tired because I was too scared of getting pumped. Crazy, huh?

So when we took a few days off to go out to Spain earlier this year, my main goal wasn’t to climb a particular route or a particular grade, it was to enjoy myself. To learn to love climbing again. I gave permission to myself to only lead what I wanted to lead. And if that meant spending the whole trip seconding easy routes, so be it.

And I did spend most of the time seconding routes. But you know what? I loved it. My body slowly remembered how to move on rock. The subtleties of body position and the flow of climbing. I got pumped out of my mind on long 6a+ routes that a few years ago, I’d have been warming up on. But I didn’t mind. Much. Ok there was a part of me that was frustrated at my lack of progress, but a bigger part of me was whooping inside at rediscovering just how FUN climbing is.

Step 2: Set small goals

Goals are important tools for motivation. But remember, these don’t have to be end goals, they can be process goals. To start with, focus your goals on your training. Set yourself a realistic training programme (based on the current ‘you’, not the former ‘you’) and create small, incremental goals. If you’re struggling for motivation, then just keep going and trust the process.

Step 3: Explore new areas

Going back to old haunts and the sites of your top achievements is not a good idea right now. You’ll only end up comparing your current performance to your past performances and wind up feeling disheartened. (As per my example above.)

Instead, use this opportunity to explore new places. Climb the classic routes you used to overlook as being ‘too easy’. Bike or ski down the green and blue trails, rather than scaring yourself on the black runs. Instead of running your usual circuits from your front door, venture further afield to a new park, forest or hill. Enjoy the experience and focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.

A Final Word

It won’t happen overnight, or even in a few weeks or months. But little by little, your strength and confidence will return. Or you may discover that your goals and how you measure success in your sport has changed during your journey. That what you want to achieve is something quite different to what you originally thought.

Motivation is not a finite resource. There is plenty of it – you just need to capture and hold on to it. Plug the hole in your motivation reservoir and figure out how to fill it up again. And if in doubt, listen to your inner child; he, or she, is probably right.

Have you been struggling with motivation recently? Share what tips and tricks you have for pulling through in the comments below or with me on Twitter. Thanks to Stuart Stronach for the awesome photo – there aren’t many good ones of me climbing!

*Redpointing is climbing a route, cleanly in one go after practising some or all of the moves.

How to Kit Yourself Out for Climbing for Under £100

climbing-kit-100-quid

You don’t need much gear to start climbing and if you’re cunning with your shopping you could bag everything you need for £100

Having invested thousands of pounds in climbing kit over the years, I can attest to the fact that it can be an expensive sport. But if you’re just starting out, it doesn’t need to be. In fact, it’s quite possible to buy the basic kit you need for climbing for under £100. Don’t believe me? Here’s how.

Basic rock climbing equipment

If you’re new to climbing, it’s likely that you’ll mostly be climbing at your local wall. Most walls will have equipment you can hire to use in the centre, but if you’re serious about climbing, the first pieces of kit you’ll need are shoes, a chalk-bag and chalk.

Climbing shoes

There’s this whole myth that climbing shoes should be painfully tight, so you can really stay in touch with the rock. Y’know. Man. Let me set one thing straight: if your climbing shoes are too tight they will hurt and that will stop you enjoying your climbing (unless you have some kind of sadomasacistic climbing thing going on). However, it’s also true that shoes do stretch and mould themselves to your feet. This is more likely with leather shoes than synthetic, and not at all likely if your climbing shoes live in the cupboard because they are just too painful to put on.

My best tip for choosing your first pair of climbing shoes? Pick something that’s snug but comfortable. Yes, they will be tighter than your sloppy trainers, but you should be able to put them on and stand on small holds without descending into whimpers of pain. Check they don’t rub at the back or dig into your heel and that they’re wide or narrow enough to accommodate your foot snugly.

Also bear in mind that the really cool looking, down-toed shoes such as the La Sportiva Futuras (which are indeed a thing of beauty) are designed with experienced climbers in mind. Climbers whose feet have been accustomed, through many years of wearing pointy shoes, to point downwards. Your feet have probably not reached this stage. They also tend to have thinner rubber, ‘cos high-level climbers have pretty good footwork (allegedly) and can dab their foot on the right hold first time. If you choose (against the friendly shop assistant’s advice) to go with a pair of performance shoes, you’re going to start off a very expensive shoe habit.

As you progress in your climbing career, you’ll get to know what style and brand of shoe suits your foot best. And let me tell you this; there’s nothing like the satisfaction of a perfect-fitting climbing shoe. Ahhhh.

Top picks:

Chalk bag and chalk

Old-skool climbers may tell you that chalk is completely unnecessary and back in t’ day, they just use to spit on t’ hands and get on with it. Personally, I think ninety-nine percent of climbers use it for a reason. It helps dry your hands out and prevents your sweaty fingers slipping off sweaty holds.

It’s pretty easy to get hold of a cheap chalk bag in any shop sale, or you can buy a full-price one for about a tenner. Or if your budget’s really stretched, why not get creative and make your own? A piece of accessory cord is a good belt substitute and a chalk ball will only set you back a couple of quid.

Top picks:

Harness and belay device

Though you could quite happily spend a lifetime bouldering, if you want to progress to roped climbing you’ll want to invest in a harness. Harnesses range from super lightweight Alpine-style harnesses to well-padded styles with plenty of gear loops. I’d definitely advise you to try before you buy – most outdoor shops will have a rope somewhere for you to dangle from.

If you’re looking online, don’t make the mistake of just going for the cheapest option. Although Alpine-style harnesses tend to sit at the lower end of the price spectrum, this is for a reason. They’re designed to be worn over several layers of clothing when mountaineering. (Note: hanging on a rope is considered rather bad form in mountaineering.) With the lack of padding, if you’re dangling on a rope for any length of time, it’s likely to be an uncomfortable experience.

When it comes to belay devices you’ll be looking at either an assisted braking device, such as the GriGri 2 or a more traditional, ‘tuber’ style device. Although it’s becoming common for people to learn to belay at climbing walls using an assisted braking device, these are a) more expensive, and b) less versatile that the humble tuber. The Black Diamond ATC XP (£16.99) and DMM bug (£11.50) are both popular devices.

Top picks:

Where to buy cheap climbing gear

Your local climbing wall shop is a good place to start. They typically have a range of gear available and will certainly stock essential kit for new climbers. Climbing walls sometimes sell off their old hire shoes for super-cheap prices, but unless you’re really desperate I’d steer clear; they’re likely to be pretty battered and worn out.

Climbing shops often sell hugely discounted gear at various times of year. Keep your eye out and it’s easy to snap up a bargain. Rock + Run are one of my favourites – at the time of writing (February 2017) you can get a pair of Edelrid Tempest shoes, Edelrid Smith Climbing Harness, Wild Country belay device, Red Chilli chalk bag and a chalk ball for just £67.

If you’re taking this approach, it’s definitely worth taking some time to try on different shoes and harnesses so you know what size you are in which brands. Also, when you can afford it, go back to the shops you tried kit on in and BUY FROM THEM. Seriously – they need your support.

Buying second-hand

I would advise not buying climbing gear which has a safety element (e.g. ropes, harnesses) second-hand unless you know the owner really well and can guarantee it’s in good condition.

However, for other gear, such as shoes and chalk bags looking for second-hand equipment is a good money-saver. Now I’m a bit squeamish about the thought of buying second-hand shoes (thinking of other people’s sweaty feet in them just makes me go ‘ewww’), but it’s not uncommon for someone to buy a pair of climbing shoes online or in a sale and only wear them once or twice before decided they don’t like the fit. Keep an eye out on the noticeboard at your local wall or on the UKC Gear Forum and you may be able to grab yourself a top-quality pair of shoes for a bargain price.

Join a club

Desperate to move onto routes or start climbing outside? Your best bet to learn the ropes (literally) and avoid having to buy any expensive equipment (at least in the short term) is to join a club. Most climbing clubs have members of mixed abilities and you’re more than likely to find an experienced climber who’s willing to take an enthusiastic newbie under their wing.

The other good thing about clubs is that they may have equipment they can loan out to you, or club huts (which tend to be conveniently located in good climbing areas). The Climbers’ Club has eight of the best huts, but you do need to be an experienced outdoor climber to join.

You’ll probably be expected to know how to belay and second a route outside before joining a club. If you’re in any doubt as to your belaying skills, take a course at your local climbing wall or from a qualified instructor to reassure yourself (and potential climbing partners!) that you can catch a fall safely.

Prices correct as of 21st February 2017.