Today was the day! On my calendar, October 28th, 2022 from 6-9pm was booked off, for something so fun and special. @AppreciatingTheAscent and I finally got to do our lead climbing lesson at Crag X! So bare with me, for this may be a longer post because of all the excitement and fun that I get to write about! First of all, we absolutely killed it. Second of all, I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better partner to do this with. Steph is a wonderful climber, and has so much drive and passion to actually learn and practice these skills that we are developing as we go on this free inquiry journey, and I’m so grateful for it. A lot of climbing is a mental game, and having an encouraging partner to do it with can change the experience around entirely.
In our first hour into the lesson, we spent some time reviewing how to clip up the wall. We were pretty familiar with this as we had practiced clipping beforehand while top roping and using a tagline. Then, we learnt how to belay a climber who is lead climbing. I found this quite challenging, as it’s opposite of what you do when belaying on top rope. Instead of taking away rope from the climber while they climb up, the belayer’s job is to feed the rope to the climber as they climb up, clipping along the way. We practiced this by one person going up on the top rope while using the tagline to practice clipping, and then instead of being lowered to the ground once reaching the top, the climber instead climbed down. This allowed the belayer to practice the action of belaying the lead way, while at the same time having the climber still safe as they are on top rope.
Next, we got to watch two people actually lead climb. They demonstrated how to fall properly and safely as the climber, and how to respond to that fall as the belayer. At this point, when I saw how long of a fall the demonstration showed, I got incredibly nervous. The quick pace that this course went at was very helpful though as I didn’t have much time to mull around on my nervousness – it was just pick up the rope and go. After watching the demonstration, we got to do our first little lead climb! We did it on a super short wall, graded at 5.5, so it was basically guaranteed that we wouldn’t fall (because we hadn’t actually learnt how to properly fall besides watching the demo). We first got to learn how to set up the lead climbing rope and then away we went! It was fairly easy but I still felt the nerves as I wasn’t attached to the top. I definitely thought about what would happen if I fell at that moment a few times while lead climbing…
Finally, after each getting to lead climb for the first time, we took it to the big wall. This was where it all happened; everything we had just learnt was working towards this, AND, we were actually going to practice falling. I decided to climb first as I was quite nervous and didn’t know if I could stand belaying Steph while standing in a puddle of anxiety. So off I went to do my first official lead climb. Again, the climb itself wasn’t too bad, though I could definitely feel myself getting pumped a lot quicker as lead climbing is slower than top roping because of the extra time spent clipping. In addition, I was definitely gripping the holds quite tight as I climbed in fear of falling – I probably looked quite tense and robotic as I climbed my way up. And then, it was time to fall. The first fall was so nerve wracking. Letting go of the holds goes against every part of your body and mind, setting it in panic mode. For a moment, I was wondering if I could really do this. The ground was so far away, and I knew that the feeling you get in your stomach when you go down an elevator would be very much present. But then, I just let go. Whooosh, and then a bang as your feet hit the wall to embrace your impact. And it was totally fine! In fact, I actually enjoyed that fall. In a span of 2 minutes, I had gone from a ball of nerves to enjoying falling. Strange how that works huh? I got to practice falling a couple more times before letting Steph take a turn.
During Steph’s climb, I still felt a little bit anxious. Obviously, for I was lead belaying Steph for the very first time. Furthermore, what the belayer is supposed to do when the climber takes a fall is much different to top roping. When the climber falls, the belayer should almost in a way jump up to soften the landing of the climber. The belayer will pick a target on the wall that they will use to step up into when the climber falls (which in this case is all planned out). I found the timing of this to be tricky, so I apologize to Steph for some rough landings… but after a couple more falls from Steph, I understood what I was supposed to do. Eventually, Steph came down, and we got to practice on another route. This time, thanks to Grant, Steph’s partner, I got a video of me practicing falling:
Here’s a picture of Steph clipping in as she goes for her lead climb:
Ten months ago, when I first started climbing, I never would’ve believed at what I am doing right now. I’m so grateful that there’s a gym that facilitates this kind of climbing, a climbing partner who is just as stoked to learn to lead climb as I am, and for this free inquiry project that allows me to push to do something that I’ve always wanted to do but have been too scared to pursue before.
Now that we’re done the lesson, next up is the practice test, and then the final test to be lead certified at Crag X!
