ROCK CLIMBING - BEGINNER

Let’s Climb Already. Quick and Dirty Top Rope Setups

Use a variety of anchors building skills to build an efficient and safe top rope setup quickly. Participants will familiarize themselves with active and passive protection as well learn the tools necessary to evaluate natural anchors. Participants will also will also gain knowledge and best practices for several common climbing knots and ways to stay safe working near the cliff edge.

Save the Trees! Challenging Top Rope Setups without Natural Anchors

Participants will further their anchor building stills by focusing on more challenging climbing destinations without trees and boulders for anchors. Lessons will focus on using multiple pieces of active and passive protection to construct more complex anchors and gain confidence with less than ideal protection and placing directionals.

I’m so Lost. Reading and Interpreting Guidebooks and Climbing Topos

Climb long enough and you’ll eventually get lost trying to locate a specific route or worse yet, get off route part-way up. Modern guidebooks and online resources use a variety of methods to assist with this. Lessons will cover simple topics such as determining top rope setup locations from above without distinguishable features to interpreting symbols and information on topos for longer multi-pitch or alpine routes.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down. The Art of Rappelling

Rappelling is a necessary part of this sport and unfortunately many accidents occur on the descent. Learn simple, potentially life-saving, skills to ensure safe return from your next multi-pitch adventure or from the top of the cliff line after you’ve constructed a top rope anchor.

Splash! Belaying over Water or Other Top Belay Setups

Minnesota and surrounding states have lots of climbing, however, some of the best and most interesting routes are over water or the base of the routes are otherwise inaccessible. Learn the differences and safety challenges of belaying from above. Lessons will demonstrate quick anchor transitions from traditional top rope belaying from the bottom to belaying from above and experience using various belay devises and techniques for lowering, rappelling and belaying.