i have spent a lot of money on shoes...well 60 quid you probably wont like them but i am excited

[zippitippitoes]

....these scarpa vantage

now what should i wear with them

bearing in mind i am hoping to encounter some hunky climbers

There was a famous British climber who once climbed with the rope tied around his balls.

It wasn't MAC was it ???

If that's how diving works, lapin, then that's also exactly how climbing works.

You and your partner must trust each other with your lives. If you've ever been on a dive with someone you don't know well or you're not 100% comfortable, you know how it can play with your nerves.

It's the same in climbing.

zippi is wise to treat belaying as just as serious as climbing, because a good belayer makes ALL the difference. after a while, you can learn exactly how to shift around to accommodate various situations.

And catching falls becomes instinct, especially because many falls happen so quickly they are over before you really register what is happening - or, in outdoor situations, teh belayer may not always be able to see his/her partner, but can feel just the slightest adjustment in the rope or when the climber stops.

I instructed beginning climbing for about 3 years, and making people new to the sport as comfortable as possible is paramount to their having a positive, fun experience.

When you climb with someone who's a great belayer, you can actually FEEL the trust and strength coming up the line and it frees you to relax and think and enjoy the experience.

zippi, i got confused and thought they were shoes to go with the dress !

i trust bf completely..rather srtangely i had to trust him from the start as we had only met 10 minutes earlier

but i am anxious about being capable myself

thats why i have booked classes instead of him teaching me to belay because it makes it a bit more distant

piratecat i wouldnt be surprised if they were

again, a VERY good decision and a wise one, zippi.

i learned from someone other than my husband/partner as well.

he insisted on it, for very good reasons.

you see a lot of fights in indoor walls and out at crags .

between couples, of course.

and there's few things worse than a bad climbing breakup.

it sounds good value the one i am doing is over 6 evenings

Oooh, I had thought this was about shoes, not climbing - I did a beginner's course a month or so ago, have been climbing lots, since.

Both DSes really love it too - and I like having a form of exercise I can do with them underfoot. No roped climbing for me with them, yet, though. Our local centre is mostly about bouldering, anyway.

where do you go

i have been to wartwick and guildford

i found it gave a really quick sense of achievement

i shall be interested to see if i get as far as a sea cliff tho

I go to Mile End Climbing Wall. Am in Cornwall for the next week, might goof around on boulders there.

for shits and giggles, lacaDAISYcal posted this most humourous website.

lamrt

my fav highlight, 'It was a fine day for climbing, but it's never a good day for falling.'

yes, like the fellas who had to use the light of their mobiles to guide them .

how did I miss this thread?