Rock Climbing Skills Guide

Free climbing is the foundation of all climbing disciplines. It can be broadly defined as: relying solely on a climber’s own effort to ascend usable terrain without using protective gear such as ropes, nuts, expansion bolts, or pitons designed to prevent falls—only using hands and feet. The cracks, caves, and overhangs on the rock face... create infinite variations.


    But climbing isn’t about acting on impulse—there are some basic principles that can benefit all climbers. First, smooth coordination of hands and feet makes your movement more fluid; second, balance, agility, and flexibility are better weapons against gravity than brute force; third, endurance is always more important than raw power; fourth, sustained strength comes from placing your weight on your feet rather than pulling yourself up with your arms. The best approach is to complete the climb with minimal effort; fifth, finally, staying relaxed is a major factor in conserving energy. Many climbs are intuitive, and movements come naturally to a relaxed mind.

    However, climbing still requires certain techniques, and you need to learn and practice them before you can use them effectively.

    Here, we’ll first introduce some basic moves for beginners, including warm-ups and bouldering.

    1. Warm-Up

    Warming up before starting to climb is extremely important. Skipping this step can easily lead to injury. For example, if you install a pull-up bar in your home hallway and make it a habit to do a few pull-ups every time you pass through, you might end up straining or even tearing a muscle or tendon because you didn’t warm up. It’s impossible to calculate exactly how much warm-up is needed to improve climbing performance, but warming up does reduce the risk of muscle strains or tears—so never overlook it. It’s a necessary step before climbing or training. While there’s still debate on the best way to warm up, our advice is to find the method that feels most comfortable for you. The best warm-up is jogging for 10–15 minutes. Maybe there’s no track near the climbing wall, but you can jog in place, lifting your knees high and adding jumps and backward kicks. Get the first route moving actively for thirty minutes, especially when you’re carrying gear for the climb. Another big issue is that climbing often involves stopping and starting. Setting up ropes takes time and can cause your body to cool down; belaying a lead climber also consumes more mental energy than physical, so you may get cold more easily while climbing. Therefore, before you start climbing, you must do whatever you can to keep your muscles warm.

    2. Bouldering

    Bouldering is a form of unroped, entry-level climbing. Find a large rock or a smaller climbing wall to scale. One of the benefits of bouldering is that you can always return to the ground, but be careful to avoid ankle injuries—having a partner spot you with their hands is ideal. In any case, with just a pair of climbing shoes, you can try the fun of bouldering.

    No harness is used in bouldering—just climbing shoes and a chalk bag—so the importance of a crash pad and safety measures underneath becomes especially clear. It’s best to have someone nearby who can help stabilize you. The trend in world competitions also favors bouldering events, as audiences prefer watching thrilling moves over the easier parts everyone can handle, or long routes that take a lot of time, whether you're switching routes or competing.

    Try to find a large rock with various-sized cracks, different types of handholds, ledges, and pockets—terrain you’d typically encounter on regular routes. It’s said that the experience gained from climbing 100 feet on a lead route is comparable to an hour of bouldering.

    So, what can we learn from bouldering? First, balance is the most important element of climbing technique, and bouldering helps improve it. The best training method is to pay attention to your feet while climbing. Bold movements are also worth trying—success will be built on your confidence.

    Additionally, bouldering can train your fundamental techniques and teach you to choose the best handholds and footholds. You’ll start to notice the difference in power between hands and feet; using your feet more will help your muscles tire less. So, when bouldering, practice placing your feet well—for example, using edging or smearing depending on the foothold. Be mindful of leaning your body slightly outward to increase friction between your feet and the rock. A common mistake beginners make is not keeping their body vertical and getting too close to the rock, which throws off their center of gravity and wastes a lot of hand strength.

    Lastly, endurance enables you to maintain the stamina needed to finish a route. It’s a crucial attribute for climbers. Unfortunately, during bouldering, since the height isn't great, endurance training is often overlooked. To train endurance while bouldering, you can climb up, down, or traverse continuously without resting.

    3. Techniques

    1) After attaching your safety carabiner, ask your instructor to check it. Ideally, have the instructor tie a "figure-eight follow-through" or "fisherman’s knot" for added safety.

    2) While climbing, keep your body as close to the rock wall as possible to conserve energy. Place your feet in the small indentations on the holds to prevent slipping.

    3) Keep your fingers together to grip the holds firmly.

    4) Alternating the use of your hands and feet saves energy, and pushing upward with a slight swing can make your efforts more effective.

    5) When descending, face the rock wall and keep your limbs spread out to avoid bumping into the wall painfully.

    6) Wear thin-soled climbing shoes that are a half size smaller for climbing.

    7) Observing the holds and choosing a good route before climbing can improve your climbing speed...