How not to get sent home early from the bouldering room:

Here is a lesson I learnt bouldering today; if you don't warm up properly, you'll have to go home early.

So Public Service Announcement: Stretch! Don't start on a tricky one!

Stretching is always good to stop you from pulling anything you shouldn't, and you'll find it a lot easier to do some high legs. Do some lunges, touch your toes, those ones where you try and hold your hands behind your back. It all helps.

Being eager is great, but throwing yourself head first into a challenging problem will make you sore and wear you out. Start from the V0s and work your way up.

And a side note -  take breaks! Constantly throwing yourself at the wall is going to take it's toll on you!

Follow these tips and you probably won't be going home after 20 mins feeling a bit embarrassed.

It's chilly outside! What do I wear to climb?

The most important thing to remember is that layers are your friend!

The pictures above are me climbing in North Wales a the end of February and it was COLD.

What I am wearing:
Two pairs of normal black leggings from Sainsbury's (can't find them online but I'm pretty sure they'll be in any Sainsbury's that sells their TU range)
One jazzy pair of sports leggings from Decathlon - closest dupe I could find!
Sports bra from Nike. (bought from the outlet store at Resorts World, but look at this amazing sparkly one from ASOS!)
Thermal top from Marks & Spencer
Jumper (not seen) from & Other stories 
A second jumper from H&M (bought in the sale so no longer available sorry! But H&M continue to have brilliant knitwear options that aren't too expensive.)
An incredible golden Primaloft Jacket from GAP of all places, bought in the sale for about £25 (I got extra discount because the waist elastic was a bit broken!) I feel like an astronaut every time I wear it. Other experienced climbers would probably recommend saving up for a RAB down jacket.

For the approach: When you are getting to the rock you're going to want to be wearing a woolly hat, some gloves, and some grippy shoes/boots. My hat was from Joy The Store a few years ago, and my boots are my trusty Doc Martens.

For the climb: It is VITAL you swap your cosy hat for a helmet (loaned from Warwick University Climbing Club). Better safe than sorry. Also swap your sturdy shoes for climbing ones - post here on a review of my beginner climbing shoes). And finally, put on your harness (this one was borrowed from WUCC too, but I have since purchased this one).

Hopefully this post shows you that you don't need to go out and spend all of your life savings in Go Outdoors for your first outdoor climb in the cold, you've probably got most of the necessary items. If you are going to buy anything new, make sure it's shoes! And a harness and helmet if you can't loan them!

Happy Climbing and hunt those bargains!

If your climb was a musical

Here, I present to you a playlist of mostly pure cheese to motivate you to do The Climb (Miley Cyrus). You should set your sights high, one day you might just be - The World's Greatest (R Kelly) because When You Believe (Whitney & Mariah) there Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye) your in with a better chance of flashing that 6a, but you gotta have Faith (George Michael).

If you have a little fall remember to Keep Your Head Up (Ben Howard) because Rome Wasn't Built In A Day (Morcheeba). You might get knocked down, but you'll get up again (Tubthumping - Chumbawamba), you're a Survivor (Destiny's Child) and you can just Shake It Off (Taylor Swift). With that attitude you Ain't Got Far To Go (Jess Glynne). Next time you'll be Stronger (Britney) and Bulletproof (La Roux)

When you feel like going home before you've finished just ask yourself, What have you done today to make you feel proud? (Proud - Heather Small) Stay a bit longer Something Good Can Work (Two Door Cinema Club), you might just Surprise Yourself (Jack Garratt). Remember, you are Formidable (The Big Moon). You have Come So Far (Queen Latifah), with each climb your're getting A Little Bit Better (Daniel Merriweather) so Don't Be So Hard on Yourself (Jess Glynne), soon you will be able to Climb Ev'ry Mountain (Peggy Wood).

Learn the Lingo: Grades

This Learn the Lingo post is mainly so you know what I'm on about when I commiserate on not sending a 4a, or congratulate myself on a V2. I still don't know all that much about the whole grading system so I have linked some more informative and technical posts at the end.

Rope climbing

At the moment I only climb lead and top rope, so will only be writing about top rope and lead climbing, for now.

Top roping is where the climber is attached to a rope which passes up through an anchor at the top of the climb and down to a belayer at the foot of the climb. The belayer keeps tightening the rope as the climber climbs, keeping them secure.

Lead climbing is where the climber is attached to the rope, which is also attached the the belayer and they clip the rope into bolts along the route, then lower off at the finish in order to collect all of the gear on the abseil down.

The grades in the indoor roped climbing start at 3a, and go up to.... 3a, 3b, 3c, and as far as I know, they go up to 9a. 

Bouldering

The indoor centres that I usually boulder in use the V Scale, so that is how I will be referring to bouldering grades. 

The V stands The “V” is short for “Verm” or “Vermin”, after boulderer John Sherman who is the creator of the V Scale. 

Bouldering grades start at VB, then V0, V1, V2, V3 etc. (I believe it goes up to V17)

Indoor, the grades are decided by the people who set the routes (decide where the holds go), so this can vary between centres. Don't be disheartened if you're flashing V2s in one centre and you go somewhere else and find them a lot more difficult! Also you're likely to find some V2s easier than others due to the types of holds used for them. I've done a post here on two very different V2s. (I'm using V2s as a point of reference purely because that's where I'm at at the moment)

Outdoor grades are decided by the first person to send the route. These routes are also named by the people to first send the route, as can be seen on the UK Climbing website, with such delights as 'The Burning Spinster' and 'Scared Shipless'. 

Read these if you want some extra info from people more in the know then me:
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/a-brief-explanation-of-uk-traditional-climbing-grades
http://www.dartrock.co.uk/climbing-grades-explained/
https://www.99boulders.com/bouldering-grades
https://www.thecrag.com/en/article/grades

Two V2s - the same, but different

This post is a case in point that two problems of the same grade can be very different, once you've mastered one V2, it doesn't mean they will all be a walk in the park. These videos were taken almost two months apart, and if anything, I found the most recent one the most difficult.

The first video is from a V2 in The Ballroom, Coventry. The holds are very slopey, and the wall itself is on a positive slant, meaning that if you slip you will hit everything on the way down. Sending it involves some different skills to the second V2. The grade was decided by a different person. This one took a few hours and a lot of stretching to get.

This second V2, in the bouldering room at Warwick University, is spread across two panels and involves an overhang. In this one there are some nice jug holds, and some less friendly one that are more like edges. Smearing (pressing your foot against the wall and moving it up, rather than using a hold), and flagging (using my free leg out to the side, with the instep of my foot against the wall) were crucial moves for me to make the finish. This one took me a good few days to finish.

Keeping your Hands in PrimCon1

*PrimCon1 is super prime conditions for climbing, usually meant in terms of weather I BELIEVE but I've taken to using climbing terms wherever I see fit, and you should too, because it makes you sound like a pro climber and also very cool.

If you can't live without your manicure and you love having baby soft hands, climbing may not be the sport for you. Wearing gloves is not an option.

However if you can handle your hands looking a bit like the above - rough and callously, and any nail varnish you put on being almost instantly chipped, then climbing is definitely an option for you. Read on my friend.

Once you've dealt with your hands never looking the same again, here's some tips on how to keep them in peak climbing condition:

Keep your nails short. No one wants to hear your nails scraping against the wall/rock, and claws aren't going to help your grip.

Get yourself some chalk (and a bag). Without chalk you'll end up cutting your climbing session short, because you'll be in AGONY and your skins will be peeling off your hands and your grip will be non existent. I bought the cheapest chalk bag on offer, which happened to be this one, and a chalk ball - which is a lot less messy than loose chalk.

Sand your callouses. I did not realise this was a thing until a callous on my little finger got so callousy that as I swung onto a lovely jug hold on a friendly looking V1, the callous fully came away from my finger and then came the blood. I had no finger tape on me and so it was home time a lot earlier than planned. If I had sand papered my callouses this would not have happened.

Invest in finger tape. If you do get a little cut, or one of your callouses does happen to rip off your finger, using finger tape instead of regular plasters means you can still climb without a plaster getting in the way or hindering your grip. I tried the cheapest one in Go Outdoors but I have now bought the one they sell in the ballroom (Psychi Finger Tape), which is £5 and much easier to tear off, and sticks around really well.

Stay away from the hand cream. When your hands start getting a bit rough, your instincts may lead you to reach for the hand cream, but this is not the way forward. It is, in fact, the way backwards. You're losing any grip you've built up on your hands and making them more susceptible to damage.

Beginner Climbing Shoes

So you're fed up of hiring shoes that hundreds of sweaty bare feet have been laced into? I don't blame ya.

I have all the info you need on buying your first pair of climbing shoes, all centred around my first pair - The Boreal Jokers.

I was recommended by several members of the climbing club that Boreal Jokers are a good starter climbing shoe. I've found it useful asking around for recommendations before going into a shop like Go Outdoors, where there may not be a super knowledgeable person on hand to help you out. By doing a bit of research pre shopping, you also may be able to get a better price. But of course, why ask anyone else when you have this all encompassing post?

Where can I buy them from, and how much for?

Currently these babies are retailing for £72 at Go Outdoors, but I would keep checking because I managed to get them cheaper on a special offer. It's worth getting a Go Outdoors discount card if you think climbing is going to be a long term hobby for you, once you want to climb outside, or even outside of club hours if you climb somewhere like Bear Rock where you can hire gear during specific hours. If you are a student you can also use NUS on top of the Go Outdoors Discount Card. AND (I promise I'm not being sponsored by Go Outdoors), Go Outdoors will price match any product if you find it cheaper and in stock in a UK retailer. Other outdoor retailers are available and if you have the money it is great to support small businesses, in the Midlands this includes Lockwoods in Leamington and The Ballroom in Coventry.

How do you know what size and style to get?

Your feet are meant to feel a bit scrunched up at the end so that you can be on your toes when you climb but you shouldn't be in a lot of pain when you first put them on. Once you've been climbing for a while, your feet will go a bit numb and you are likely to take them off when you're resting to give your feet a break. This is normal. If you have wiggle room they are too big. Mine are actually half a size bigger than my usual shoe size, but they feel half a size smaller. Sizing really varies between brands so it is best to go into a shop to try some on, rather than order the size you think you might be online - you might end up forever in and out of the post office collecting and returning.

You'll notice these are lace up ones, but you can also get velcro. Velcro shoes are a lot more convenient to take on and off, but if you have super narrow feet like me, lace up wins.

Where it all began

I wrote this about a week into my climbing journey, first published on my personal blog but I'm resurrecting it here:

10th September 2017

I was adamant that I wanted to start climbing long before I got my acceptance onto my MA, and despite my legs being the most bruised they have ever been, I think it was a brilliant decision. Here's why:

There is so much to learn. Where it seems to me that some sports are a constant test of speed, endurance and strength, climbing involves a lot of technical skills and thinking. I really enjoy having to think things through and just try hard, rather than be put down for not being strong or fast enough. And there's a whole other language of grades, holds, and moves to learn.

It has kept me grounded. The irony. The first couple of weeks of beginning university again have been great and made me feel pretty good about myself, academically and socially, but I've found that climbing stops my head getting too gigantic. It is excruciatingly obvious that I am new to climbing. It is not unusual to see me a few feet in the air feebly wailing 'I'm gonna fall!!!!!!!!' or 'I can't get my foot up there, are you crazy?!' It has brought me crashing back down to earth, sometimes literally...

I've fallen a couple of times and I'm okay. Not only has it taken me down a peg or two when necessary, but it has encouraged me to push my self because falling isn't so bad. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Just like Chumbawamba said, 'I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna bring me down.'

Small victories. I've felt proud of myself when I've completed a route I have been struggling with, even if it is a very easy level. I've found climbing to be a lot easier in terms of measuring progress than other sports.

The camaraderie between climbers. At least at Warwick, this is amazing. People you barely know will shout encouragement and tips from the floor, and they will congratulate you when you finish a route after they've seen how hard you have been trying. It could have been one that they find so easy that they use for warming up, but the only way you'd know that is from seeing them warm up on it.

DOMS. Call me a masochist but I just love getting delayed onset muscle soreness, it makes me feel like I've really done something.

Endorphins. The best reason to do any exercise.

A social life. In the two years between graduating and returning back to the world of academia my social life dwindled into almost non existence. I'm making friends and getting a sense of belonging. Climbing has turned out to be a pretty sociable activity, not only the actual climbing part but also they all seem to be fans of the pub.

and finally...

SEXY HAND CALLOUSES. I've never had particularly attractive hands, they are too big for even my gangly monkey arms, I'm terrible at painting my nails and I'm sure some of my fingers are crooked. The fact that you have to get used to your hands getting rough and callous-y makes me feel like I can really embrace my unfortunate hands.

The First Outdoor Climb - North Wales

On the 24th-25th of February I went over to North Wales with this lovely lot - The Warwick University Climbing Club, for my first foray into outdoor climbing.

On the first day we pulled up here, at Castle Inn Quarry. It was very cold and I had a lot of layers on - see here for a full post on what I wore on my first outdoor climb. My golden coat definitely kept my spirits high.

And look, clipping those Quickdraws in like an absolute pro!

After a hard day of numb hands and shaky legs, we had a pub stop before heading back to the Girl guides Bunkhouse we were staying in.

Our second day in Penmaen Head had some gorgeous sea views, but for me, was mildly unsuccessful.

 Here I am putting my shoes on like I am about to do a real good climb. 

Aaaaaand that is almost as far as I got there. The ground was a bit muddy and it made my shoes a bit slippy, and the thing is I didn't manage to finish either of the top ropes I started BUT I GAVE IT A GOOD GO. 

I still count my first weekend of outdoor climbs a success because I was on a real rock, putting on foot above the other doing real climbing. And I can only get better right? Right.