Technique/Safety
Climbing Grades Guide
Techniques
Belaying
Injuries
Knots
Yoga
Training & Games
All these links open a new window. Close the window to return to this page. Please read our disclaimer before you visit any site.
WARNING! None of these links are a substitute for proper training by climbing instructors.
Please locate your nearest climbing wall for information on courses.
PLEASE NOTE: children are not like small adults. They recover from fatigue in very different ways to adults. There could be long term consequences to overtraining for kids under the age of puberty. Please be sensible about how much climbing training you provide for your child, and look up relevant information about this before going ahead.
Try some of these cautionary overtraining links (not climbing-specific):
http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/sports_training_howmuchistoomuch.htm
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/fitness/sports_safety.html
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Climbing grades Guide
Climbing in the UK is defined by a system of grading using short words or phrases to describe the difficulty of the climbs. These are further refined by the technical difficulty of the climb.
See this useful guide on the BBC site for more info:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3851192
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Techniques
Skills Articles from the BMC
Skills and advice articles from BMC information sheets and Summit magazine. Please note that the opinions expressed in Summit articles are those of the writer, and not always the BMC.
Download The Basics: indoors by Steve Long for a starter.
Simple roped climbing techniques
Very basic overview of what roped climbing is about.
Move onto the Climbing Outside booklet below for more detailed information.
Climbing Outside
The BMC's new thirty-page booklet has been written for climbers who have experience of indoor climbing, and want to make the transition to climbing outdoors safely. The booklet covers bouldering and sport climbing, but concentrates on traditional climbing and the necessary skills, such as placing protection, building belays, and abseiling. Also covered are ethics, grades, conservation, and history. Climbing Outside is available free from selected walls and the BMC office.
Or download it now as a .pdf from the BMC
The Archive of Rock Climbing Moves & Tips
This is an excellent, well-written, easy to read and comprehensive guide to all aspects of climbing from simple beginners stuff to more technical.
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Belaying
Belay devices
Self-arresting (locking) devices
Devices which don't self-arrest
Belaying - Get it right! (from the BMC again)
With the choice of ropes and belaying devices expanding, and more climbers getting into the sport through indoor walls, this vital skill needs more focus.
Download the .pdf BMC Belaying leaflet.
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Injuries
Injury Prevention
Useful info from BMC Youth
Recognising & treating climbing injuries
Important! This site is not a substitute for going to your doctor. It is very useful for recognising the type of climbing injury and gives useful climbing-specific ways to recuperate.
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Knots
Fantastic Animated Knot tying site!
What an amazing site. Shows just how to tie all kinds of knots in an animated sequence, so you can follow it easily. This is the link to the climbing knots section.
Another great knots guide from Planet Fear.com
More knotty stuff from Chockstone.org.
Types of climbing from Doctor Danger.
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Yoga
Yoga and climbing from Spadout.com
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Training
PLEASE NOTE: These are not child specific articles. Children are not like small adults. They recover from fatigue in very different ways to adults. There could be long term consequences to overtraining for kids under the age of puberty. Please be sensible about how much climbing training you provide for your child, and look up relevant information about this before going ahead.
Neil Gresham's Guide to Training Juniors part 1
Neil Gresham's Guide to Training Juniors part 2
A really thought-provoking insight into the physiology of the young climber and the risks of intensive training
Training also from Spadout.com
Another training link from Indoorclimbing.com
Climbing games also from Indoorclimbing.com
Noticeboard
26 August
Many thanks also to Alien Rock Climbing Centre in Edinburgh for donating £10 to our Just Giving charity. See their entry on the Kid-Friendly Climbing Walls/Club page.
25 August
Big thanks to Kent & Sussex Climbing for donating £10 to our Just Giving charity. See their entry on the Kid Friendly Courses page or.
9 July new stuff.
New online climbing games added!
Climbing robot added to Videos page.
3 July 2010 new stuff.
Simpler Grades Guide in Technique/Safety page. The old one was a bit too complicated!
Also Swanage topo page link in Kidrock page with thanks to Mike Swann.
03 July 2010 Outdoor/climbing kit for sale:
IMPORTANT NEWS! All companies with links to their sites from the Kidsclimbing pages please note - although we don't charge for a link, it would be appreciated if you donate to my current charity the Children's Trust by using the link in the left hand menu on a regular basis. After all you're getting free advertising and they would benefit greatly from any donation.
When Paul Kellagher, one of our parent visitors had a problem with an order recently, Walkhigh Mountaineering quickly resolved it for him, and generously donated £10 to our current charity. Thanks Walkhigh!
Mountain weather reports added on 26 June 10.
Like our cool cartoons? Thanks to our fantastic artist Abi for creating them especially for Kidsclimbing! Look at more of Abi's excellent work at Greencreepers.co.uk.
I came across this useful link recently to the UK Children's Directory - it's a comprehensive web directory of children's activities and services throughout the UK.
Any parents⁄carers who have second hand⁄outgrown climbing/walking boots please contact me and I'll post it up on the noticeboard.
If you've got any comments or questions about this site or you can write a review of any of the gear, please contact me.
