Rock climbing thread

[Trbo323]

Any other climbers in here?

Wife and I were really into climbing in college, it's one of the things that brought us together, our wedding rings are actually figure 8 knots. But life happens, we bought a house had some kids etc, but now our kids are turning 6 and 3 and we are starting to get interested in climbing again.

Basically all of our gear needs to be replaced as most of it is 14ish years old but that's a problem for down the road, we are going to start with bouldering at the local gym to get things started. I'm not really looking forward to maxing out on a v1 but you have to start somewhere right?

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[Memornix]

I share a similar story. Climbed with the wife before she was the wife in college. Moved to North Carolina then Vegas and actually lived right outside of Red Rock Canyon. I would get off work by 3:00, climb for a few hours and be home by dinner.

15 years and a kid later, I'm heavier and gear is old. Always wanted to get back into it.

[Trbo323]

I share a similar story. Climbed with the wife before she was the wife in college. Moved to North Carolina then Vegas and actually lived right outside of Red Rock Canyon. I would get off work by 3:00, climb for a few hours and be home by dinner.

15 years and a kid later, I'm heavier and gear is old. Always wanted to get back into it.

Well, if you want join us on this adventure.

My wife and I are going climbing in 2 weeks, I'm sure that will tell me a lot

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[GBDiaz]

Got into climbing with my wife when we had just started dating. I had a super active life style, but I wanted to find something her and I could do together. It has definitely changed our lives, and taken us to so many cool and unique places. We just had our first born, and we're looking forward to start taking him to the gym with us and start getting exposure to the climbing world . You're in a great location for climbing, I did some climbing in North Bend a couple years back and it was incredible. If you need any gear recs, let me know!

[Trbo323]

Got into climbing with my wife when we had just started dating. I had a super active life style, but I wanted to find something her and I could do together. It has definitely changed our lives, and taken us to so many cool and unique places. We just had our first born, and we're looking forward to start taking him to the gym with us and start getting exposure to the climbing world . You're in a great location for climbing, I did some climbing in North Bend a couple years back and it was incredible. If you need any gear recs, let me know!

I'd be interested to hear your recommendations. We have a pretty decent grasp on stuff but I'm always interested to hear others ideas and reasons

I need a new harness first and foremost then shoes and probably after that we will be looking into a newer belay device. Wife and I always used ATCs in college, we were also trained on grigri but both of us absolutely hated it for lead climbing. Personally I'm not a huge fan of gris in general, they add way too much friction in general.

But, so far we think our local gym is going to require an assisted belay device of some kind for lead climbing so the two I'm looking at right now are the pezel neox and the wild country revo. Undecided between those but leaning slightly towards the neox.

Down the road we will need a new rope, our old one I believe is a mammut but I'm not positive. Both mammut and petzel seem to have a chunk of stuff that will work for us. We have black diamond quick draws and it looks like we can buy the webbing alone from BD so that would be an easy way to get those up and running again

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[latches109]

I bolder a few times a week up to v8. Occasionally I'll top rope and use a GriGri+ - the best one bc it's a little thicker on the clasp - most gyms around me won't let you use an ATC.

[NONOBLITUS]

Cool thread, I do not but my son is big time into it and currently getting a degree in outdoor guiding adventure. He leads climbs and does all this wild stuff that I do not know anything about or the correct language.

[NONOBLITUS]

[Trbo323]

I bolder a few times a week up to v8. Occasionally I'll top rope and use a GriGri+ - the best one bc it's a little thicker on the clasp - most gyms around me won't let you use an ATC.

Jealous. Pretty sure I maxed out at v3 in college. I do think my school graded a little hard though. I managed a few 5.11 on top rope in that time as well

Will they allow assisted tube devices? Like this
https://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-atc-pilot


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[latches109]

Jealous. Pretty sure I maxed out at v3 in college. I do think my school graded a little hard though. I managed a few 5.11 on top rope in that time as well

Will they allow assisted tube devices? Like this
https://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-atc-pilot


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not sure, I just bought what they recommended. so far the grigri's work great and are easy to use, I feel better when someone inexperienced is belaying me with one.
v3 sounds really low, most can do that in a few months, your gym must have been graded like Joshua tree. Most people who show up regularly climb v5 after 8mo-1yr.

[Trbo323]

not sure, I just bought what they recommended. so far the grigri's work great and are easy to use, I feel better when someone inexperienced is belaying me with one.
v3 sounds really low, most can do that in a few months, your gym must have been graded like Joshua tree. Most people who show up regularly climb v5 after 8mo-1yr.

I've never been the strongest boulder climber though, it's just not my thing, I am on the west coast though so maybe it's a West Coast thing since Joshua tree is over here as well?

Give this a watch, at least the first 2 minutes. I've been watching this guy's stuff lately and he actually does a really good job of explaining things and setting up his own tests to find answers to questions

https://youtu.be/We-nxljgnw4?si=u0-3taIDxn5J8gmQ

I think there's a lot of reliance on Gris functioning like it's automatic but they are not and I really think that assumption that they will always work actually hinders a new belayer because it can give them a false sense of security. If I'm helping a new belayer and I'm not comfortable completely trusting them then I'm climbing 10-15 feet on a top rope and then having someone put a safety knot in the rope. Either that or have someone I do trust running backup belay. I didn't care what device they are using.

Regardless, Gris are just not for my wife and I. Like I said we really don't like the amount of friction they add when paying out slack. To me they really feel like they were designed for top rope climbing and people found a way to use them for lead. The way you have to hold down the cam to pay out has always felt awkward to me and as demonstrated in that video above it's also one of the positions, even without holding the cam down that a gri can fail even though you are using it properly

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[latches109]

great video, and a reminder the brake hand is important. use whatever you feel safe with. Would be great if he did a video with the grigri + (plus) and the top rope switch on.

[GBDiaz]

I'd be interested to hear your recommendations. We have a pretty decent grasp on stuff but I'm always interested to hear others ideas and reasons

I need a new harness first and foremost then shoes and probably after that we will be looking into a newer belay device. Wife and I always used ATCs in college, we were also trained on grigri but both of us absolutely hated it for lead climbing. Personally I'm not a huge fan of gris in general, they add way too much friction in general.

But, so far we think our local gym is going to require an assisted belay device of some kind for lead climbing so the two I'm looking at right now are the pezel neox and the wild country revo. Undecided between those but leaning slightly towards the neox.

Down the road we will need a new rope, our old one I believe is a mammut but I'm not positive. Both mammut and petzel seem to have a chunk of stuff that will work for us. We have black diamond quick draws and it looks like we can buy the webbing alone from BD so that would be an easy way to get those up and running again

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Honestly, the best recommendation I can make are Edelrid harnesses. The system they use allows you to tighten the harness all the way, but you can then slide the harness belt padding and always have your harness centered. It’s not a necessary feature, but it eases my OCD brain lol. They’re also very comfortable and I have zero complaints. I also use a Misty Mountain harness (Made in USA and super customizable), but find myself grabbing the Edelrid more.
Shoes are very personal, so I can’t really recommend anything there. Really depends on your style of climbing, whether it’s gonna be bouldering, quick sport climbing stuff, or spending the whole day on the wall. Just gotta go to a store and try stuff on. (Or if you’re like me in Miami, FL, order 100 shoes and sizes to try on and return everything that doesn’t fit lol).
I do everything with my Grigri. Top rope, lead, rappel, eat, sleep, you name it. When leading, I just push the cam down with the thumb of the brake hand. Allows me to pull slacks easily. It’s reliable, it’s been tested and abused by just about the majority of climbers so you know it won’t fail you. I do always have an ATC as back up, but it’s definitely collecting dust. But again, like all climbing gear, you use whatever makes you feel safe and confident. Grigri works for me, I have 1,000's of feet and hundreds of climbs recorded on mine and not a single hiccup. I do my checks, I'm redundant on all things safety and I never get complacent. I think that's the key to staying alive .
Another piece of gear I love is the Petzl Connect Adjust. Has made cleaning routes and rapping pretty easy. Using slings/cordelette is easy too, but this takes all the guess work out of it, and it’s real secure. Gives you a little extra space when rappelling too. Weight weenies say it’s too heavy, but I’m not doing multipitch stuff often, I mainly just do a lot of single pitch stuff.
I use DMM Alpha quick draws. Pricey, but they look great and I love them for leading. But honestly, anything works. If you’ve still got quick draws, just swap out the dogbones and you should be ready to rock.
I also use a mammut rope. Don’t remember the size or model, but I can check my email if you’d like to know.
If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know. Or if you have any questions, let me know .

Here are some fun pics!

[latches109]

what was the route on that third picture in red rock?

[GBDiaz]

Thy Spirit of a Father Lost.
https://www.mountainproject.com/rout...-a-father-lost