Climbers Coffee Q&A

The Women’s Lead Club met for our first Climbers Coffee on Sept. 8th, 2024, hosted by Ed Team: Hannah and @creeeeeis (who brought delicious treats to share!) and chat facilitated by @zoejetguitars The instant takeaway was how good it feels to be together in community, to talk about our shared passions, to voice our dreams and fears, to be heard and supported, and the stoke in this group is definitely high!

This first climbers coffee was about how to transition from indoor to outdoor climbing while staying safe. Special thanks to Colleen and Zoe for sharing
their stories of how they compromised their own safety by not being aware of different factors before jumping on a climb. “There’s no shame in saying you don’t want to do something,” says Hannah. “Backing down is always an option.” At the end of the day, “No one cares more about your safety than you do.” From her own experience climbing and being taught by others, Hannah noted the three aspects in which we’re always testing ourselves climbing and that we may not always want to test more than one aspect at a time.

1. The climbing (strength, technique, style)  
2. Technical skills (protection, anchors, lowering, rappelling etc)
3. Route reading

Thanks to all who came and shared their experiences and asked questions!

Question: In those freeze moments outside – “oh shit, what do I do?” – what are things to look for or consider? ie: climb up, climb down, fall, etc…

• Zoe: The real answer to this question lies in the book Espresso Lessons. Amazing book about the mental aspect (fear, confidence, etc…) The author does an excellent job teaching how to approach these problems in a very organized way so that you know how to handle any situation (as well as avoid getting into bad ones). I highly recommend this book to everyone in general.

• Hannah: As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Climbs should be assessed on the ground before you hop on the rope. When I am climbing outside I assess three arenas of climbing: route finding, climbing (technique, style of climbing, difficulty etc), technical skills (if you are leading this means protecting the route, anchors, proper use of gear, systems, rappelling etc). My aim is to only challenge myself in one arena at a time. When I stick to this rule and I get scared up on the rock I am able to logic my way backwards to gain a clear head and make my decision about how to proceed. For example, if I am leading a meandering trad route that is new to me and I get spooked, I can remind myself it is at a grade that isn’t too challenging for me and I know my gear is relatively secure. If I am top-roping a hard route, I can remind myself I know where I am heading (towards the anchor!) and I don’t have to worry about the technical risks associated with leading. It takes time climbing outdoors to understand the consequences of our decisions. If in doubt, there’s nothing wrong with reassessing what is in your comfort zone at that moment in time. Not every day outdoors is the same as the last!

• Crissi: In the “oh shit” moments, I find myself pausing and inspecting my gear. If there’s an opportunity to weight your system (like on top rope) I find that also provides peace of mind that I’m safe in that moment and can take a breath to evaluate. 

Question: How to start to go outside? – what gear and skills? which skills beside the climbing itself can be practiced at the gym?

• Zoe: First of all, the obvious answer is Climbers Coffee! I think they’re going to be monthly and it sounds like there’s a lot of interest for more on this topic. Starting to go outside can be daunting because of how many aspects there are to learn about. You can learn a lot from reading climbing magazines and listening to podcasts. You’ll gain insight into things you wouldn’t have thought about. Also, climbing outside can be extremely simple and accessible. Don’t think you have to know everything to be able to climb outside. You can start by simply top roping – don’t even have to know how to lead. There are crags where the anchors are bolted and you can get to the anchor by hiking up. You can just walk up to the top of the climb, set up a top rope anchor, and walk down. Don’t be afraid to start small. You can usually practice gear stuff anywhere, even at home. You can clip carabiners to random things in your house to simulate an anchor setup. Any crack you can find is a place you can practice placing gear. 

• Hannah: Come to a meetup! Also post in the group requesting a date at a local outdoor spot. I think it’s helpful to climb all the walls at the gym – overhang, slab, corners. Climbing outdoors can feel difficult at first because the holds aren’t labeled and the climbing might be a different style than you are used to. 

• Crissi: I have found that the outdoor days with WLC have created a comfortable setting for learning. Everyone is of different skill levels and has different bits of knowledge and experience to share. Having a basic understanding of some of the “lingo” helps (we will provide a page that includes common terminology) as well as which gear does what and why. And though I am a ropes fan myself, I do see value in bouldering outside and getting your hands on some rock, as long as you have a crash pad. The gym also has a small anchor station where you can practice building anchors of various kinds (in the back cave area of Session)

Question: How to find a mentor?

• Zoe: This is a hard one. I got super lucky and started climbing with my partner. As someone who feels socially uncomfortable, I would be lost without him. I’m probably not the best person to answer this but I would say the better educated you are, the better you’ll be able to identify a good mentor. Keep climbing and meeting people and pay attention to what people are doing – do they seem like they have safe practices? You won’t always know specifically if their gear placement is good or their anchor is solid (because you’re learning) but you can observe if they have a generally safe, respectful attitude toward climbing. 

• Hannah: I agree, this is tough. There are a lot of variables at play. I think showing up to WLC events and being curious is a great first step. Like Zoe said, getting to know a lot of folks in the community will help discover what you are looking for in a mentor or partner – there’s a lot of personalities out there!

• Crissi: Finding a mentor seems to be difficult, however finding community is not. I think there is a lot of opportunity for making those deeper connections on the bigger trips (like our Bishop trip in Spring ‘24) where there is not only a lot of climbing going on, but also a good amount of socializing and getting to know each other. Refining what you want in a climbing partner and what YOUR personal values are will help as well. 

Question: How to gain the knowledge needed for transitioning to outdoor?

• Zoe: I kind of answered this one above – Climbers Coffee and climbing magazines and podcasts. You can find a lot of information online but be careful with YouTube. There’s A LOT of people making videos with bad information. Taking classes is ideal. 

• Hannah: WLC Education team has compiled a resource library dedicated to professional and accurate information about various topics – anchors, belaying, knots etc. We weeded through the quagmire of online information and posted primarily from official AMGA-teacher training and directly from the product pages. Book learning and practicing at home (yes, I build anchors on my fence for practice) helps orient you at the crag so you aren’t seeing everything for the first time.

• Crissi: I echo these two ladies above. WLC Ed team has put in a ton of time with the intention of making this information accessible and we love to see people using it and enjoying it!