Five Fun Climbing New Year’s Resolutions
With the start of 2019, it’s fun to think about all of the different things you can stay busy with in the world of climbing.
Whether you’re a new climber or a veteran, changes are good that one of these five things will work for you.
Climbing is a fun and amazing sport that can change your life in a positive way, but it’s also dangerous and potentially deadly. Be safe in 2019, check your safeties and have fun.
Climb a Grade Harder
If you’re a boulderer, then trying ticking those harder V-grades, same applies to sport climbers. If you’re an alpinist, go for a more committing, which doesn’t always mean climbing a grade harder, but climbing faster and smarter.
To climb harder, you’ll have to climb more, focus on training and stay focused. Here are some great training resources.
Climb Somewhere New
No climber has climbed everywhere, so you’ll always be able to find a new area to visit. Whether it’s a crag, town, mountain range or boulder field, there’s a lot waiting to be explored.
Some main areas in Canada are Squamish, Skaha, Bow Valley, Thunder Bay, Niagara Escarpment, Val-David and Cochrane Lane. Look for the new book Northern Stone to help show you where to go by summer.
Try New Type of Climbing
It’s easy to get consumed by one type of climbing, especially if you’re trying to advance through the grades. Sometimes the best way to bump a grade or to re-stoke is to mix up the style of climbing you’re doing.
If you go to the gym and just boulder, add a few hours a week on the auto-belay or routes. If you only go sport climbing in the summer, take up trad climbing, it will teach you to slow down. And if you’re an alpinist, be sure to do all of the climbing disciplines because they all help in the mountains.
Read a Climbing Book
Put the phone down this year and pick up a climbing book. Think about how many pages you could have read if you just removed a few hours of scrolling social media.
There are many new climbing books coming out in 2019, but check out a few suggestions here while we wait for the new books to hit the shelves.
Write a Climbing Story
How many hours have you put into crafting that perfect Instagram post or Facebook story? Climbers have stories to tell and it’s better to put the experience on “paper” then to just leave snippets online for your followers.
If you write a climbing story about a new area, a favourite climber or survived an epic, send it to us for the print magazine or to appear online at brandon@gripped.com.
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