The 2012 CBMG Women’s Climbing Clinic was a blast! Strong women and small ratios allowed our group to cover a lot of different skills throughout the days. Day 1 was geared for those new to climbing, but we were able to cover many advanced skills. We started off the day learning how to set a top rope climb, how to rappel, belay, tie-in, and different rock climbing techniques. After climbing all that we could, we covered how to belay a lead climber and how to lead climb (the climber brings the rope up and clips it into bolts or natural protection in the rock). We then set up some mock leading (the climber “leads” while having another rope for back-up protection in case of a fall).Annie Yoder went for the real thing and successfully lead her first sport climb – Congratulations Annie! The day wrapped up with more climbing and learning how to safely “clean” an anchor and rappel back to the ground.

Day 2 was geared more toward understanding rock climbing gear and learning how to safely place gear and build anchors. We spent some time placing gear in the cracks and then put our placements to the test.  One participant commented,  “I understand how they work, but I still don’t see how they could hold all that weight?”.

Well, what better way to test the gear than to put on the harness, clip in to the gear, and bounce with all your might! The picture below is Mary Tubb giving it her all to dislodge a very tiny stopper…and yes…it held.

After removing the mystery surrounding all that climbing gear, we finished up the afternoon with some crack climbing technique and continued practice cleaning gear, cleaning the anchor and rapelling to the ground.

The women’s climbing clinics not only offer a great way to become more confident in climbing, it is also a great way to meet other awesome, adventurous, women! We had a ton of fun, laughed a lot and learned a ton. Crested Butte Mountain Guides will be holding another clinic towards the end of the summer, so keep your eyes peeled for our posters around town! If there are any special requests – such as lead-climbing, multi-pitch, etc., just give the office a shout at 970-349-5430 to put in your request!

-Laura Chase (CBMG Guide)

CB Mountain Guides

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2012 at 11:03 am and is filed under Rockclimbing, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.