Lead Climbing Tips

Graduating from a 'Top Rope only' climber will greatly open your horizons. Leading sport climbs is often the safest and easiest transition into Lead Climbing. Lead climbing is much more demanding mentally and often physically. The art of Clipping, controlling fear and route planning are additional challenges which lead climbing introduces.

Rope on the shoulder

When you are climbing from the ground to the first Bolt toss the Rope over your shoulder. This will keep the rope away from your feet reducing the chance of you stepping on your rope (resulting in a fall). When you reach the first bolt remove the rope from your shoulder then clip like normal.

Do not down climb, just fall

Every one has done this. You climb up a little ways and decide you need to rest longer, then you try to Downclimb. You become terrified because you realize you do not have the strength to down climb. Therefore you desperately try to hold on for your dear life until you fall out of control. This process takes an immense amount of energy. Don't waste energy; gravity works real well. If you are at a safe sport crag, just take the fall (saves lots of energy giving you a better shot at completing the climb).

Public Relations with the Belayer

If you are going to Hangdog (weight the rope) for a long time clip a Quickdraw from your Belay Loop to the nearest bolt. Have the Belayer lower you until your weight is held by the quickdraw. The belayer MUST still back you up but must not hold your weight.

Falls are shorter than you think

Many new leaders look at two bolts that are five feet apart and presume they will fall ten feet if they mess up the clip. This will only happen if you fall when your waist is at the higher bolt. The distance from your finger tip to your waist is likely 3ft. Therefore when you are in the next clipping stance you will be about two feet above the last bolt (leaving you with a maximum fall of 4 feet). (Don't forget though: You can obviously fall farther after you have pulled up slack to clip. Therefore be confident about your ability to clip before you go for it.)

Once you clip, chill

After you clip into a bolt you are on top rope (until you pass the bolt). Though this may seem obvious, many climbers forget this fact. You can relax. Your fall potential is inches. Use this time to conserve energy and plan the distance to the next clip.

Practice Clipping

The faster you can clip in, the sooner you can relax. Practice clipping. Include awkward clips on bad holds. Tie your figure eight knot close to your harness so you can pull up less rope. Always keep your arms straight while clipping. This will keep the body weight on your skeletal structure (reducing energy consumption).

To clip bolts efficiently:

- climb until you think the bolt is in reach

- touch the bolt with your clipping hand (to confirm it is in reach)

- clip a quickdraw to the bolt

- request slack from your belayer and clip

Back Clipping is an important safety concern. Understand it and have your belayer double check your clips.

For tips on clipping go here: Clipping Technique

Chill on Jugs

When you find a good hold or foot stance, relax. You do not need to hold onto the hold with dear life. Learning to conserve energy is a key element. Novice lead climbers tend to exert unnecessary strength when holding the rock due to their fear of falling. Try to relax and hold good holds lightly. If you slip you will likely still have enough time to tighten up on the hold and catch yourself.

High bolts

If the first bolt is too high for comfort, use a Stick Clip.

Decking

Decking is when a climber hits the ground. Reasons why climbers deck include:

- The climber climbed beyond a bolt without clipping.

- A climber pulled out an excessive amount of slack while trying to clip the second bolt and fell.

- A climber is climbing an 'X' rated climb. Climbing Grades

- The climber has a bad belayer.

- The climber backclipped and had really bad luck. Obviously avoid all of these situations.

Related Pages

• Sport Climbing