Climbing FAQs

A. Rock climbing is dangerous, but so is driving a car or crossing the street! In fact, statistically you are more likely to be injured by driving, riding a bike, or walking than climbing. You need to remember that climbing, like any sport and outdoor activity, is only as safe as the person participating in it.

Everything we do in climbing, as well as all of the climbing equipment that we use, is designed to lessen the risks of climbing and gravity. A rope and protection gear, such as cams and carabiners, are used to keep you from falling to the ground. Your climbing shoes stick to the rock and your harness attaches you to the rope.

Some types of climbing, like lead climbing and bouldering, often have more risk of injury than top ropeclimbing. As a climber, you will learn to reduce the risks of climbing and the chances of injury by climbing smart and practicing safety techniques.

A. We only use CE/UIAA certified equipment and qualified staff checking equipment regularly to make sure all the equipment is safe.

For example, each rope can hold up to 20KN (2 Tons). 

A. We suggest that you wear sports clothing (shorts, joggers, t-shirts, vests), and climbing shoes can be borrowed from the sport centre, however, normal trainers can also be used. You will not be allowed to climb in jeans, buttoned shirts or dresses for safety reasons.

No, you do not need insurance for climbing activities within the sports centre, as you are covered by the university's insurance policy. If we go climbing outside of the university, there will be options to buy additional insurance which we strongly recommend you do.

A. “I’m afraid of heights” is one of the most common fears encountered by climbers, especially beginners. The fear of heights and high places is a natural human fear. We’re hard-wired to be afraid of heights for self-preservation. We instinctively know that if we fall from a high place that the result is not going to be good. That fear of heights, however, keeps you alive when you’re climbing.

Overcoming a fear of heights is one of the biggest climbing challenges for lots of people. Often, that fear comes from an ignorance of the climbing safety system. Once you understand that every precaution we take as climbers, including tying into the rope, clipping the rope to anchors in the rock, and using belay devices to hold the rope and safeguard a climber, is to protect you from the dire consequences of falling then the novice climber is able to begin to let go of that fear of heights. We suggest you climb higher gradually and take the different heights at your own pace.  In our experience, people will surprise themselves with how high they can climb!

We suggest that you take it step-by-step first of all to get to 1 meter and down for your first time, then go again and aim for something between 2-5 metres and come back down, then try again and aim for something between 5-10 metres. You will never be forced into climbing a height you are not comfortable with, so take everything at your pace.

A. Belaying is the process of safeguarding a climber during a fall by using the rope to hold the climber’s weight. The climber and the belayer or the person holding the rope, which is threaded through a belay device, is a team that is linked together by the climbing rope.

Belaying, an important part of the climbing chain of safety, is one of the most important skills that a novice climber will master. It is easy to learn how to belay in an indoor climbing gym and all gyms require a belay test in order for you to belay another climber.

If you can hold a bicycle handle bar to ride a bike then you have enough strength to be belaying. The end of the rope, dynamic rope, belay device and anchor will provide a huge friction for belaying.

A. Falling and the fear of falling is a part of climbing. When we attempt to climb something harder than what we can do, then there is a good chance that we will fall off the rock or the climbing gym wall. The good news is that as a beginner climber you will be climbing on a top rope or auto belay device that is anchored above you.

The normal set-up for a top rope climb is having the belayer standing on the ground below the route and the rope threaded through locking carabiners attached to a belay anchor at the top of the cliff. The rope then goes down to you, the climber, who is tied into the rope with a figure-8 follow-through knot, the preferred tie-in knot.

When you climb up the wall, the rope is always above you and is held by your belayer. If you fall, the rope and the belayer will catch and hold your fall.

We use TRUBLUE Auto Belay, due to its high quality design, patented magnetic technology, and reliable performance. The TRUBLUE Auto Belay has performed over 2 billion descents in over 60 countries on 6 continents. The TRUBLUE Auto Belay is the most tested, most trusted and most TRU Auto Belay in the world. User weight can range from 10kg to 150kg.

A.They tell you how hard the climb is. The number assigned is a grade to a climb and indicates its difficulty. For routes, the grade will be a decimal number that always begins with 5. The number after the decimal increases with difficulty. Therefore, easier routes are graded between 5.4 and 5.7 and harder routes in the gym are in the range of 5.11-5.13.

For bouldering, all grades start with V. As with routes, lower numbers correspond to easier problems, and higher numbers correspond to harder problems. You are likely to find problems rated V0 through to V12 in the climbing gym.

A. Generally speaking, no. Gloves may protect your skin, but they prevent you from properly feeling the holds. For climbing, feeling the friction and the details of the holds helps you better “stick” to them. Your skin will be sore at first but over time it will toughen up and develop small callouses so it won’t hurt anymore.

There is one exception to the no-glove rule; many climbers who do a specialised kind of climbing called “crack climbing” wear partial gloves. These type of gloves keep the fingers free for dexterity and feeling the rock but protect the skin on the backs of the hands – particularly the knuckles – from being scraped up, as hands are repeatedly “jammed” into cracks.

A. It cleans the holds.You may have seen people while they are climbing take out little brushes (toothbrush-to-hairbrush-size) and brushing the holds on the wall before climbing. These climbers are brushing off slime and grime built up on holds over time from climbers' sweat and excess chalk. Brushing holds gives them more friction and friction means you can hold/stick to them better.

A. Comfortably snug. You don’t want your feet to move around in your shoes because good climbing requires precise foot placements, and for that you need to feel the details, such as little edges, on the foot holds. On the other hand, if your shoes are too tight, they will get numb and you won’t feel anything.

Your shoes should definitely feel tighter than your regular street footwear. Thus, it is quite common for climbers to take off their shoes on regular intervals, even as often as in between climbs, to give their feet a break. (Note that many gyms require flip-flops or socks if removing shoes).

A.This may come as news, but your legs are stronger than your fingers. When you start climbing with us we will train you to avoid doing pullups on each hold, and instead focus on raising your legs, extending your legs (like you’re standing up), and repeating that process.Your forearms might feel very tired after the first couple of times you go climbing — this gradually gets better the more you climb.

A. A typical remark when people start climbing is how tired and sore they get, particularly in the forearms. People who are physically strong and good at other sports are likely to feel weak when they first start climbing. This is normal because, as with any new sport, there is a technical learning curve and your body has to get used to using new muscles in a new way. The best way to get stronger for climbing, at first, is to climb and climb again.

You will notice improvement as you strengthen those climbing-specific muscles and also as your technique improves because when you’re more efficient at moving on the wall you conserve energy. You may consider taking a technique lesson for this reason.