Competitive Bouldering for Beginners


by Ed Sumner - Date: 2007-03-19 - Word Count: 314 Share This!

Competition climbing can be very different to normal climbing and with the pressure of competing thrown in as well it can sometime be difficult to replicate your normal climbing ability. A bouldering competition usually consists of a number of problems, with points awarded for completing it on the first attempt, and less points for the second, third and fourth attempts. This is known as on-site competing, as you are not allowed to try out the route beforehand, and obviously this makes it slightly tougher. Some competitions also include problems with a bonus point if you reach a certain part of the course, or use a certain hold.

Usually the routes vary from the very very easy, to the were very very tough, with a range of difficulties in between. This is good as it allows even new climbers to attempt some routes and to gain some points. However for major competitions, the focus is usually on the much harder climbing problems. The experience of competing and trying to get as many points as possible can really spur you on to climb better and push yourself and this is a good advantage of climbing competitively.

It may be quite difficult to get the routes on the first attempt when you first start competing, as even looking at the holds and the way the route moves, doesn't help much. The best thing to do if possible, is to watch someone else attempt the climb before you do, and learn from their mistakes. As some competitions are timed there might also be some routes, that it would be good to have more goes at, but this is unfortunate unless the centre is near where you live, and you can return another time, after the competition. You would probably be able to do the routes after many attempts, but the tricky part with competitions is doing them on first sight.


Related Tags: travel, hostel, climbing, competition, backpacking, beginners, bouldeing, mountaineeing, everest

Ed Sumner (a helpful kinda guy) owns,
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