Casually Explained: Rock Climbing

uh hey guys just remember the answer to my password recovery question um sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been working on a bit of a longer project that should be done in a couple months but in the meantime I have lots more content that's coming out soon while rock climbing might seem like a pretty self-explanatory concept like a lot of sports if you've never Rock climbed before it could be intimidating going to a gym for the first time and not being able to even hold the first Jug on the easiest climb this is

why it's important to know the what SWAT and the do's and don'ts of how climbing is supposed to be done so you can check yourself and avoid feeling attacked by onlookers giving you unsolicited yet polite encouragement now to start with the most famous type of rock climbing we of course have free soloing which is climbing outdoor rock faces with no gear at all except your shoes pants no shirt obviously maybe your chalk bag if you happen to remember it that day when anyone talks about free soloing they all talk about Alex Honnold who climbed this

bad boy without a rope most people don't know why you would feel compelled to do that but if you ever climb to the top of the playground with no help you know you've been chasing that Dragon for decades free soloing is one of the most fulfilling types of rock climbing because you're basically guaranteed to die doing what you love which is avoiding all social responsibility free souling is of course respected as one of the coolest forms of rock climbing because when we see a guy who repeatedly risks his own AI for what he's deeply passionate

about we all think the same thing I can fix him for this reason any variation on free souling that incorporates outside assistance is known in the community as aid for example if you use a harness with an Ascender and Ladder system to help you up the climb this is such Aid it is literally known as Aid climbing it must be avoided at all costs if you're truly committed to becoming one with the wall some people do what's called Trad or traditional climbing which is climbing those same Big Cliff faces but using a harness and rope

in case they fall where they typically Place anchors on the route on the way up and their trailing partner takes them out as they follow behind them this however isn't real climbing of course because having a friend to go climbing with is clearly Aid in the words of Alex Arnold I started free souling in part because I was too anxious to ask other climbers to belay me now that's climbing then we have bouldering which is one of the most popular types of climbing and my personal favorite consisting of short technical climbs that are done with

nothing but chalk climbing shoes and a beanie bouldering along with free soloing is the only type of outdoor climbing where climbers don't usually wear helmets because a helmet obviously isn't going to help much if you're falling off El Capitan but if a boulder were false they only fall a few feet meaning when you Bonk your head without a helmet onto the forest floor your memory will be completely erased so every attempt can be considered an on-site at the end of the day the two disciplines are pretty similar because free soloing is just one really big

boulder problem if you've ever done indoor low Ascent free swelling and a girl sees you find a knee bar on the overhang V5 you and Alex Honnold are practically the same person he just has a bit more endurance we of course have ice climbing which is where climbers continually Ascend Frozen waterfalls by repeatedly pressing up B and throwing their partner 10 to 15 feet ahead of them until they Summit while that is admittedly impressive if you've ever looked at a frozen waterfall you'll notice one thing right away there isn't any rocks in fact there aren't

any jugs pinches slopers or even cracks there's just one big sheet of ice and you get an ice pick to make your own holds and I know you're thinking what I'm thinking being able to afford to go ice climbing is clearly Aid you at least get cool spiky crampons that are designed to stick into the wall when you lose your grip so when you fall you immediately break both your ankles and have to call the helicopter to rescue you again it is extremely important that everyone tries ice climbing once so you can then tell everyone

you've been ice climbing we also have competition speed climbing which is a very Niche form of climbing where you climb an internationally standardized route as fast as possible a lot of criticism has been brought to speed climbing because of its inclusion in the Olympics where you have to compete in speed climbing bouldering and Lead climbing and then your combined score is what puts you on the podium because almost no climbers actually train speed climbing normally it's a bit like a javelin included a cheeky pint and a leg of darts or the Olympics didn't just count

how many gold medals each country won but also showed the body count each country's athletes racked up in the Olympic Village one of the best known facts in rock climbing is that taking your shirt off increases your power level by two Boulder great this is why I climb with a baseball cap instead of a beanie so I can turn it backwards if I need an extra boost this is often combined with a technique called campusing which is when you climb a route using only your hands and upper body it's usually done around new climbers and

your casual friends to suggest you could still out climb them even if you were a paraplegic now the big difference between a big beginner climber and an advanced climber is that beginner's train their fingers so they can improve their grip strength and climb harder grades of climbs whereas Advanced climbers make sure they train all their fingers because two of them are always injured but they refuse to take time off from climbing one of the great upsides of rock climbing is that if you do it long enough you gain the power to easily take toast out

of the toaster without feeling anything because your finger is almost completely callous over a lot of people suggest using a pumice stone to file them down but the last time I did that someone asked me if I was projecting my V3 and I have yet to recover from that if you've ever been to a rock climbing gym with a lot of top roping you'll notice they're often really popular date spots but one of the things to keep in mind is that you'll really mess up your nails if they're not filed down that means if you

meet a girl and want to ask if she'd like to come and be your belay partner you have to remember my Golden Rule long nails means her day would be ruined and short nails means she's probably just a thoughtful lesbian so better to keep your eyes peeled for a better opportunity and stick to the auto belay instead if you make it out to a Climbing Gym you need to keep in mind there are three types of people the entire gym stops to watch Fitness influencers and leggings who have just discovered the Synergy between yoga pants

and a harness the guy who's easily three times heavier than his five foot tall girlfriend who didn't tie into the floor anchor and the shredded shirtless guy who's about to flash the hardest problem in the gym then wander off aimlessly to do some Wing Chun Shadow Jutsu and grab the kilter board a couple times before leaving and never being seen again if you do decide to try yourself it's also important to look the part but this is where it gets tricky because if you just assume well I guess I'll just dress like everyone else and

wear a beanie Patagonia shirt nylon cargo pants North Face Fleece and a Gore-Tex soft shell you couldn't be walking a more dangerous line because although to you it would appear You're simply another zebra in the Pacific Northwestern herd you're literally one fatal mistake away from an overly friendly 30 year old with form tattoos and a mustache buying you an IPA and telling you about Whistler so pay very close attention to the crucial details of the outfit big beanie means snowboarder normal beanie means rock climber tiny beanie mean skateboarder okay you should be safe now slap

on some tiny colorful shoes that turn your feet into croissants and equip your glasses to catch anyone on the ceiling checking you out but remember if you're looking to become a lifelong climber there's an ultimate price you'll have to pay and that price is the ludicrous annual gym membership don't be surprised if you need a second job just to fund the climbing fees in your cocaine bag alone the last Golden Rule of rock climbing that you must remember at all times is that there is no injury that can't be solved with climbing tape torn tendon

peeled callus broken finger sunburn all you have to do is wrap it around the affected area and never let a doctor look at it if James Franco had some climbing tape in 127 Hours he could have just taped his arm back on and climbed out well that would have saved him from having to go to the hospital I should point out that the ascent obviously wouldn't have counted as having two arms is clearly Aid foreign [Music]