How to Start Rock Climbing

‘One of the best decisions that I’ve ever made’

I started rock climbing back in 2009 and 15 years later, I can say with absolute certainty, it’s one of the best decisions that I ever made.

As a kid I grew up on adventure stories like Indiana Jones and James Bond. I dreamt about slashing my way through jungle while being pursued by tribal warriors or scaling the impregnable walls of a fortress perched upon a snow-capped mountain. These stories nurtured my desire to visit these wondrous faraway places. My first experiences of foreign travel however… couldn’t have been further from this dream. Being sandwiched between tourists queueing for the Eiffel Tower or packed into endless rows of plastic sunbeds lining generic Mediterranean beaches was not my idea of adventure. I didn’t want to be where everyone else was… I wanted to be in the places that they couldn’t get to.

Finally, after watching Tom Cruise scaling the orange sandstone towers in the opening scenes of Mission Impossible 2, I decided that rock climbing would be my way into this world that hid in the shadow of mainstream society. But If I was going to do this… I needed to learn how!

After a little research, I discovered just on my doorstep – the Peak District, which proved to be the ideal location to learn the fundamental skills that I would need in an accessible single pitch setting. I hired an instructor who taught me how to use a rope and gear to keep myself safe while climbing and how to move effectively and efficiently on the numerous and excellent gritstone outcrops.

From there my sights moved to the mountains and sea cliffs of North Wales which would allow me to put my skills to the test in a multi-pitch setting. Here I found myself wide eyed among the breath-taking rock walls of the Llanberis pass and the steep sea cliffs at Gogarth. I did however realise that my ropework needed a little fine tuning to deal with some of the complexities that multi-pitch rock climbing can create. But, after a couple more sessions with an instructor, I was off, independently rock climbing all over the UK in areas such as the lush green valleys of the Lake District and the rugged hill tops of the North York moors.
 

15 years later I have countless adventures to look back upon that have been facilitated by my skills as a rock climber. I even managed to visit the exotic locations that I had spent my family holidays dreaming about – glaciated Alpine mountains, imposing granite domes in North America and desert towers in Mexico. To top this off I am a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and teach people the very skills that enabled me to live these adventures.

So where do you start?

That depends on your experience and aspirations.

• If you’re a complete beginner, a taster session is the best place to start. This will give you the basic rope work skills that you require to climb indoors or outdoors while ensuring you get plenty of time moving on the rock. It’s the ideal way to see if climbing is the sport for you and can be done at any of the locations that we operate in.

• If you already have some experience climbing and are looking to take steps towards becoming an independent outdoor climber, then our top rope rigging courses will teach you the basics about placing gear and setting up top ropes at the crag.

• If you’re a more experienced climber and want to start lead climbing, our Learn to Lead courses will help you acquire the skills you need to become an independent lead climber.

• Alternatively, if you’re just looking for an epic day out, our guiding and scrambling courses can take you into some of the most exciting climbing terrain the UK has to offer.

Whatever your experience and aspirations, we can help you achieve them.
 

About Joe Salter
Joe’s been instructing and guiding for the past 15-years across the UK & France. He holds a Mountaineering Instructor Award certificate which is one of the highest rock-climbing qualifications in the UK. When he’s not adventuring at the crag, you’ll find him on a surf board or as a passionate musician, with a guitar in his hand.

Read about Joe and our other instructors on our guide’s page.