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