How to Prevent the Annoying ‘Barn Door’ in Climbing

It’s Really Annoying. What’s the Solution? How do you prevent the annoying ‘barn door’ in climbing? In simple terms, cross-body tension. Here’s an example. In a perfect world, we would be able to achieve maximum efficiency in every climbing move. We would carry 100% of our weight on our legs. If we were on slab, […]
What to Know About Climbing: Basic Hold Use

Basic Isn’t so Bad. Our previous article gave us a clearer idea of what straight-arming is and how it works. Let’s move on to explaining what climbers do best: holding on to holds. We’ll break it down for you so you will understand how climbers grip holds and what types of holds you will encounter […]
What is Straight-Arming and Why Every Climber Should Do It

Let’s Talk About Straight-Arming On Vertical Walls. What is straight-arming and why should every climber do it? We covered straight-arming on slab in the previous article, How to Climb on Slab Using This Technique. Even though the concept is essentially the same as on the vertical, there are some major differences. We’ll cover them in this […]
How to Climb on Slab Using This Technique

What is the Technique? It’s called straight-arming. In a previous article, we covered what your lower body should be doing on slab climbing. Now you’ll learn about the upper-body technique of straight-arming. With these two articles, you’ll be able to put it all together and climb with total body efficiency on slab climbing. […]
Beware of This Climbing No-No

What’s the No-No? Avoid the ‘M’ Position. Following up on our article on how to properly weight-shift in ‘What Every Climber Needs to Know About Balance,’ this article explains how and why you shouldn’t rely on the ‘M’ position. But why do climbers need to avoid it? Simply put, the common practice of the ‘M’ […]
What Every Climber Needs to Know About Balance

Balance, Weight-Shifting, and Hips. What every climber needs to know about balance is to focus their weight on body position, particularly their hips. Weight-shifting on vertical terrain is essentially the same as on slab. The movement and the goal (getting your hips over one foot or the other) are the same. However, as […]
3 Steps to Make You a Better Climber

It’s All About Balance and Weight-Shifting. Let’s get right into it. Here are the 3 steps to make you a better climber. And it all has to do with balance and weight-shifting. Use the inside edge of your climbing shoe, get your hips over your heel, and flag your other leg. Want more […]
Understanding Your Climbing Shoes

Getting Down to the Basics. If you’ve read our previous articles, “How to Climb Efficiently” and “All About Climbing Walls,” you are now armed with the fundamental principles of good technique and the basic terminology. Given that our ideal in rock climbing is to carry all of our weight on our feet, we will […]
Mistakes Newer Climbers Should Avoid

New to climbing? You’ve come to the right place. Let’s cover the two mistakes newer climbers should avoid with their climbing shoes. Firstly, avoid standing on the ball of the foot or instep. And secondly, avoid standing on the outside edge. If you aren’t familiar with the balance points of climbing shoes, I’d suggest […]
Glossary of Climbing Terms

Climbing, like many sports, is full of its jargon. Flash? Crimp? Slab? Sometimes you just need a simple explanation especially if you’re a beginner climber or even a long-time member of your local gym. Here is our comprehensive, though not exhaustive glossary of climbing terms. The more you know, the more you know. Kinda like beta […]