Indoor vs. Outdoor
People used to begin rock climbing as an extension of hiking or other outdoor activities. It was an organic progression for these well-rounded outdoors people, looking for another way to explore their natural surroundings; a new perspective.
These days, with gyms like ours, people have another avenue into the climbing world: many new climbers start off in gyms, and it might be months before they head out to try their skills outdoors. This transition has the potential to be a rocky one — for the best experience, proceed with some care.
Environmental Awareness
The access fund offers a great visual guide here to some of the biggest differences between a gym experience and being outdoors on a rock wall. It’s very worthwhile to read through that as well as their other information about being responsible outdoors.
The focus is that we need to cultivate a greater awareness about the effect of our actions when we’re out in the natural world. In the gym it is easy to relax, forget about everything else and just focus on the next route. Outside, every piece of the experience matters: from how you hike in, to how you clean up after yourself (finger tapes and chalk count as litter too), to where you leave your gear as you climb. These things might seem secondary on an excursion devoted to climbing, but they are primary when it comes to preserving our natural resources and keeping access to them available.
Rating and routes
Many climbers who begin their training in gyms also find new challenges outdoors when it comes to the climbing itself. For instance, the routes outdoors are not marked with brightly colored tapes and holds. Also, different outdoor climbing areas are known for different things — and some of the ratings may feel very different from those at the gym, especially at first. Going in with an attitude of exploration rather than competition will help ensure a positive experience.
Explore!
We hope that our gym can help introduce people to a love of climbing that will enable them see the the transition to outdoor climbing as an enhancement of their climbing experience. Ask us your questions and let us know if there’s anything we can do to help ease your transition from the gym to the great outdoors!
