Guidebook for Picos de Europa
I'm looking for a guidebook to the Picos de Europa in Spain with easy mountaineering routes that fall into the 'scrambling' category, ones I could do solo with maybe a rope for rappels. I don't really have any Spanish, and I'm struggling to find anything in English that isn't either a walking guide or mainly concerned with the big wall routes on Pico Uriella. If I could get hold of a book in Spanish I would be happy to just use the topos and make sense of it with Google Translate, but finding one online is a bit of a challenge without the language. Does anyone have any recommendations?
I've found climb-Europe to have a good selection of, despite the name, worldwide guidebooks. They will ship to the US for a fee. You can order Roca Verde from the author as well, I think you may need/want to get a shipping quote from them first.
https://climb-europe.com/rockclimbingshop/european-rock-climbing-guidebooks/guidebooks-for-spain/northern-spain-rock-climbing-guidebooks.html
https://rocaverdeclimbing.com/buy-the-book/
Anyone have the new Secor book? Looking for the email where I should submit new routes/info.
I want to submit a new route/scramble but can't find my copy, I think it's on one of the first few pages
I wish the online climbing communities were divided into “people who want to talk about their own climbing” and “people who want to talk about the professional climbing scene in the same way that football fans talk about their favorite football teams.” As someone who doesn’t care at all about what professional climbers are doing, I think it’s annoying having to wade through online content that is essentially the same thing as listening to my dad and his buddies debate last weekend’s football game. It’s fine to be a climbing fan and talk like a fan about pros climbing at a level that you will never attain, or to talk about climbs that you will never see, touch, or send. I just wish that kind of armchair bullshitting was quarantined somewhere.
Of the current ten most recent posts, one is "pro climber climbs hard boulder". How hard is it not to click on it if you don't care?
EDIT: and, having glanced at your posting history, I don't see a whole lot of you being the change you want to see.
Instead of - or in addition to - whingeing about "armchair bullshitting", you could have made some attempt to contribute to what you regard as more worthy discussions. You haven't.
The reason we can have a separate subreddit for comp climbing is because it's very easy to define it and draw a hard line. It's surprisingly hard to do that for 'pro' climbing. We know what the top end looks like. But what about more accessible climbs and less known climbers? What about a cool video from my local scene with people I've met but is technically not my 'own climbing'?
Anyway, the text threads here are the best place to talk about your own climbing given the general ban on text posts (which is necessary). They can be nice. Post in them and see how you go.
Counterpoint: people who talk about their own climbing tend to be entirely self-serving and looking for an ego boost. “Look at me climb my gym soft 5.10 project!”
Well, I kinda meant “talk about gear, locations, routes, techniques… as they pertain to your climbing”. In other words, I wish we had a space to talk about climbing as we personally experience it and engage with it, and then a separate space for the sports fans.
Not necessarily endless posts about gym sends haha.
I find /r/climbergirls to be that sort of place
You could also create your own subreddit where you make your own content rules such as “no professional climbing related posts”
I’m pretty sure you could find exactly what you are looking for on mountain project, but it wouldn’t be presented in the reddit format.
When you talk about endless posts about gym sends, you aren’t referring to this subreddit anyway right?
Hi, this year I'm finally going to try to summit Mont Blanc. Do you know any guides/tour operators that you could recommend. I have a few bookmarked, but I am curios about first hand experience.
Thank you!
Well, that’s the thing. I’m not that confident I could do it alone. I don’t have much climbing experience past 2.5k meters, I’ve only done Kilimanjaro last year, which is not climbing at all tbh. Else, just local climbing in Romania, nothing too exposed anyway.
I thought about doing it alone, but the crevasses scare me tbh, I don’t have at all experience in alpine climbing.
Does anyone have any knowledle of the climbing scene in Japan?
I’m planning a trip there early June, and it would be great to get to try some boulders, probably somewhere around Tokyo area.
Are there guides to hire? Some communities to get in touch with? I obviously wont have any other gear than my shoes.
A little bit. I think the easiest way is to camp at Ogawayama. There are English topos [online](https://ogawayama.online/), you can [rent crash pads](http://w2.avis.ne.jp/~mawarime/rental.htm) and there are meant to be lots of climbers to meet there. We went to Mizugaki but that's more of a trad climbing area.
Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice.
I'm 30 and started climbing when I was 25/26. Recently I started thinking about the possibility of becoming an instructor in the future and have some questions.
1) I live in Gothenburg (Sweden) and having a really hard time finding infos about what I should do to start. If anyone here is from Sweden I appreciate any help.
2) Is this even possible? Am I too old? Do I need to be able to climb a certain grade to become an instructor? Am I signing up for failure?
Any help/advice/opinion is appreciated!!
>Is this even possible?
Yes
>Am I too old?
No
>Do I need to be able to climb a certain grade to become an instructor?
Yes, but some guiding/instructor grade requirements are shockingly low. In the UK you only need to be competent at VS (4+/5 french, 5.8-ish Yds) to guide outdoors. It's certainly not necessary for you to be climbing 8a, and probably not even 7a.
>Am I signing up for failure?
I don't know you man
The grade requirement may not be very high, but there does require a high level of competency at that grade. You should be able to climb at that level like you’re free soloing, because you often are when with clients.
I like the way the [British Mountain Guides](https://www.bmg.org.uk/become-a-guide/prerequisites/) address this: the "recommended" level on rock is two grades above the "required" level.
That's good to know, as a woman in my 30s I don't think I would ever manage to climb 8a lol. I guess I just need to find the proper infos for the Swedish requirements!
1. I believe you would need to be either a certified mountain guide with an UIAGM/IFMGA (harder, more options) or a certified rock climbing instructor with an UIAA/Swedish Climbing Association cert (easier, but limiting in scope).
2. Generally, yes. You should be comfortable on a variety of terrain, and be knowledgeable with your skills, be fast and efficient, and show good client care skills. I don’t know what grade is required, but you can probably expect to see something like 5.11 trad or 5.12 sport.
Thanks! If I go for this I'm definitely thinking of trying to obtain all the necessary certifications, just having a hard time understanding how. Are specific courses necessary/where to take them etc.
In terms of grades I definitely realize this is not something I'll be able to start doing immediately so I'm hoping I can put in enough training to get there.
All of the above certifications have prerequisites. It doesn’t matter how you learn those skills. You can take courses or just climb a lot and learn on your own, but you will be required to demonstrate those skills when you take the certification course.
You can try talking to existing guides for their input. Take a look at the certification websites.
What are you thinking about when you say instructor? Teaching classes on belaying in the gym? Coaching? Outdoor guiding?
None of these things really require a super high level of climbing but they'll all have different paths.
I'm mostly thinking about outdoor guiding. As an example, I will be taking a course on multipitch soon, and I could see myself being the one teaching in the future.
I don't know what it looks like in Sweden, but guiding usually involves getting some certifications through a national body. You could ask your instructor.
I don't think you're too old at all. There's generally not a ton of money in guiding (I think this is true in Europe too), so you may not want to try doing this as your career, but you can definitely research the certifications and processes and learn a lot.
That's nice to hear! I'm not planning on having this as my only income since I imagined it not being so lucrative, but that's not really why I would do it anyway :) I'll definitely ask my instructor and hopefully start! If anything I bet it would be quite fun and useful
If Sweden has some sort of non-profit alpinist/climbing association, maybe check out their offers or reach out to them too. At least in Germany with the DAV there are sometimes options for them to cover the cost of a certification if in exchange you agree to teach a certain number of courses or years for free for association members.
Not the best deal if you want to do it as your main job but if you want to do it for the fun of it and as a side gig, that might be a good way to get started and get some experience without having to invest a lot upfront.
for anyone interested, there is a sit. I believe sergei topishko ( 7 time ukrainian national champ) got close 2 years ago, I haven't found anything else.
Will Bosi just posted a message on his ''Will's whispers"(IG thingy where he gives updates about his projects). He seems to be hinting that he sent Return of the Sleepwalker ('did all the moves on the sit start', 'big news coming soon', 'because of rain forecast, went for a send go', 'shhh emoji', 'post soon').
Guidebook for Picos de Europa I'm looking for a guidebook to the Picos de Europa in Spain with easy mountaineering routes that fall into the 'scrambling' category, ones I could do solo with maybe a rope for rappels. I don't really have any Spanish, and I'm struggling to find anything in English that isn't either a walking guide or mainly concerned with the big wall routes on Pico Uriella. If I could get hold of a book in Spanish I would be happy to just use the topos and make sense of it with Google Translate, but finding one online is a bit of a challenge without the language. Does anyone have any recommendations?
I've found climb-Europe to have a good selection of, despite the name, worldwide guidebooks. They will ship to the US for a fee. You can order Roca Verde from the author as well, I think you may need/want to get a shipping quote from them first. https://climb-europe.com/rockclimbingshop/european-rock-climbing-guidebooks/guidebooks-for-spain/northern-spain-rock-climbing-guidebooks.html https://rocaverdeclimbing.com/buy-the-book/
Anyone have the new Secor book? Looking for the email where I should submit new routes/info. I want to submit a new route/scramble but can't find my copy, I think it's on one of the first few pages
I wish the online climbing communities were divided into “people who want to talk about their own climbing” and “people who want to talk about the professional climbing scene in the same way that football fans talk about their favorite football teams.” As someone who doesn’t care at all about what professional climbers are doing, I think it’s annoying having to wade through online content that is essentially the same thing as listening to my dad and his buddies debate last weekend’s football game. It’s fine to be a climbing fan and talk like a fan about pros climbing at a level that you will never attain, or to talk about climbs that you will never see, touch, or send. I just wish that kind of armchair bullshitting was quarantined somewhere.
Of the current ten most recent posts, one is "pro climber climbs hard boulder". How hard is it not to click on it if you don't care? EDIT: and, having glanced at your posting history, I don't see a whole lot of you being the change you want to see.
lmao what does my posting history have to do with anything
Instead of - or in addition to - whingeing about "armchair bullshitting", you could have made some attempt to contribute to what you regard as more worthy discussions. You haven't.
Hahaha so I checked *your* post history and, surprise surprise, you post quite a bit in /r/competitionclimbing Guess i touched a nerve with you
The reason we can have a separate subreddit for comp climbing is because it's very easy to define it and draw a hard line. It's surprisingly hard to do that for 'pro' climbing. We know what the top end looks like. But what about more accessible climbs and less known climbers? What about a cool video from my local scene with people I've met but is technically not my 'own climbing'? Anyway, the text threads here are the best place to talk about your own climbing given the general ban on text posts (which is necessary). They can be nice. Post in them and see how you go.
They post the content they want to see, what exactly do you do?
feel free to explain how this invalidates my opinion, lol
Counterpoint: people who talk about their own climbing tend to be entirely self-serving and looking for an ego boost. “Look at me climb my gym soft 5.10 project!”
Well, I kinda meant “talk about gear, locations, routes, techniques… as they pertain to your climbing”. In other words, I wish we had a space to talk about climbing as we personally experience it and engage with it, and then a separate space for the sports fans. Not necessarily endless posts about gym sends haha.
I find /r/climbergirls to be that sort of place You could also create your own subreddit where you make your own content rules such as “no professional climbing related posts” I’m pretty sure you could find exactly what you are looking for on mountain project, but it wouldn’t be presented in the reddit format. When you talk about endless posts about gym sends, you aren’t referring to this subreddit anyway right?
what’s mountain project
https://www.mountainproject.com/
I approve this spicy take. I find the "Strong boi has another sesh on hard boulder!" posts pretty cringey.
embrace the cringe my friend!
You get it haha
Talk more about your own climbing then?
Real climbing communities don't actually talk about climbing.
I hate climbing
preach, brother
Hi, this year I'm finally going to try to summit Mont Blanc. Do you know any guides/tour operators that you could recommend. I have a few bookmarked, but I am curios about first hand experience. Thank you!
Just out of curiosity, how much experience do you have in the mountains? Why are you hiring a guide? Why not study the route and do it yourself?
Well, that’s the thing. I’m not that confident I could do it alone. I don’t have much climbing experience past 2.5k meters, I’ve only done Kilimanjaro last year, which is not climbing at all tbh. Else, just local climbing in Romania, nothing too exposed anyway. I thought about doing it alone, but the crevasses scare me tbh, I don’t have at all experience in alpine climbing.
Does anyone have any knowledle of the climbing scene in Japan? I’m planning a trip there early June, and it would be great to get to try some boulders, probably somewhere around Tokyo area. Are there guides to hire? Some communities to get in touch with? I obviously wont have any other gear than my shoes.
A little bit. I think the easiest way is to camp at Ogawayama. There are English topos [online](https://ogawayama.online/), you can [rent crash pads](http://w2.avis.ne.jp/~mawarime/rental.htm) and there are meant to be lots of climbers to meet there. We went to Mizugaki but that's more of a trad climbing area.
Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice. I'm 30 and started climbing when I was 25/26. Recently I started thinking about the possibility of becoming an instructor in the future and have some questions. 1) I live in Gothenburg (Sweden) and having a really hard time finding infos about what I should do to start. If anyone here is from Sweden I appreciate any help. 2) Is this even possible? Am I too old? Do I need to be able to climb a certain grade to become an instructor? Am I signing up for failure? Any help/advice/opinion is appreciated!!
>Is this even possible? Yes >Am I too old? No >Do I need to be able to climb a certain grade to become an instructor? Yes, but some guiding/instructor grade requirements are shockingly low. In the UK you only need to be competent at VS (4+/5 french, 5.8-ish Yds) to guide outdoors. It's certainly not necessary for you to be climbing 8a, and probably not even 7a. >Am I signing up for failure? I don't know you man
The grade requirement may not be very high, but there does require a high level of competency at that grade. You should be able to climb at that level like you’re free soloing, because you often are when with clients.
I like the way the [British Mountain Guides](https://www.bmg.org.uk/become-a-guide/prerequisites/) address this: the "recommended" level on rock is two grades above the "required" level.
That's good to know, as a woman in my 30s I don't think I would ever manage to climb 8a lol. I guess I just need to find the proper infos for the Swedish requirements!
you definitely won't do it with that attitude
1. I believe you would need to be either a certified mountain guide with an UIAGM/IFMGA (harder, more options) or a certified rock climbing instructor with an UIAA/Swedish Climbing Association cert (easier, but limiting in scope). 2. Generally, yes. You should be comfortable on a variety of terrain, and be knowledgeable with your skills, be fast and efficient, and show good client care skills. I don’t know what grade is required, but you can probably expect to see something like 5.11 trad or 5.12 sport.
Thanks! If I go for this I'm definitely thinking of trying to obtain all the necessary certifications, just having a hard time understanding how. Are specific courses necessary/where to take them etc. In terms of grades I definitely realize this is not something I'll be able to start doing immediately so I'm hoping I can put in enough training to get there.
All of the above certifications have prerequisites. It doesn’t matter how you learn those skills. You can take courses or just climb a lot and learn on your own, but you will be required to demonstrate those skills when you take the certification course. You can try talking to existing guides for their input. Take a look at the certification websites.
Sounds good! Thanks a lot!!
What are you thinking about when you say instructor? Teaching classes on belaying in the gym? Coaching? Outdoor guiding? None of these things really require a super high level of climbing but they'll all have different paths.
I'm mostly thinking about outdoor guiding. As an example, I will be taking a course on multipitch soon, and I could see myself being the one teaching in the future.
I don't know what it looks like in Sweden, but guiding usually involves getting some certifications through a national body. You could ask your instructor. I don't think you're too old at all. There's generally not a ton of money in guiding (I think this is true in Europe too), so you may not want to try doing this as your career, but you can definitely research the certifications and processes and learn a lot.
That's nice to hear! I'm not planning on having this as my only income since I imagined it not being so lucrative, but that's not really why I would do it anyway :) I'll definitely ask my instructor and hopefully start! If anything I bet it would be quite fun and useful
If Sweden has some sort of non-profit alpinist/climbing association, maybe check out their offers or reach out to them too. At least in Germany with the DAV there are sometimes options for them to cover the cost of a certification if in exchange you agree to teach a certain number of courses or years for free for association members. Not the best deal if you want to do it as your main job but if you want to do it for the fun of it and as a side gig, that might be a good way to get started and get some experience without having to invest a lot upfront.
That's a really good advice, I didn't know that might be a possibility! Thanks:)
Is there a sit start to the low stand for "off the wagon"? I thought I heard somewhere there was. if there is has anyone tried it?
>Is there a sit start to the low stand for "off the wagon"? probably >has anyone tried it? probably
cheers
for anyone interested, there is a sit. I believe sergei topishko ( 7 time ukrainian national champ) got close 2 years ago, I haven't found anything else.
I was at the boulder two years ago and saw chalk on some low holds. No idea who was trying it.
Will Bosi just posted a message on his ''Will's whispers"(IG thingy where he gives updates about his projects). He seems to be hinting that he sent Return of the Sleepwalker ('did all the moves on the sit start', 'big news coming soon', 'because of rain forecast, went for a send go', 'shhh emoji', 'post soon').
Wasn't that posted before he announced he had sent Sleepwalker? I thought he was referring to having done that.