Where Do I Start?

Well, where should I?

A climbing gym, if you have one available. Most big cities have several. Go in, take a beginner's lesson, which will teach you the crucial safety aspects, one or two points of basic technique, and cut you loose.

Climb one or two climbs in your normal running shoes, then rent climbing shoes and do the same climbs. You will be amazed at the difference.

Note that the instructor will tell you to climb with your legs and not your hands. She's right, but you aren't going to listen. You will climb with your arms and after two or three climbs your forearms will be blown up like balloons and you won't be able to make a fist. Don't let it worry you. Happens to us all.

How do I Pick a Climbing Gym
It's your gym, so pick one you feel comfortable in. Make sure that they have plenty of climbs at your level, and that they take safety seriously.

Can you recommend a gym in Toronto?

Of course.
• Toronto Climbing Academy is the one to visit. They offer plenty of climbs at every level, a good bouldering wall, and climbs are changed fairly frequently. The people are pretty nice, too.
• Rock Oasis is a pretty good gym, with some really tall climbs. But the climbs tend to be reachy (that is, requiring a long reach). It's also a bit cramped.
• Joe Rockheads is like the Hardrock Cafe of climbing. It's the name people know, and it sure is slick, but it doesn't offer anything that the others don't have for cheaper. I like to go occaisionally just to see all those expensive haircuts, and have people openly sneer at me if I'm tying into an easier climb than they're doing.

Don't some awesome climbers sneer at the very idea of a climbing gym?
Yeah. As long as they are truly awesome climbers, it shouldn't bother you. If they weren't sneering at you for climbing at a gym, they'd have some other good reason. Being awesome gives you that privelege. When you've got to the point where the gym no longer offers any challenges, you can sneer, too.

But isn't climbing outdoor a lot different than climbing in a gym?
Oh, yes. It is quite different, largely because outside the holds aren't clearly marked. (Except on the really tough climbs, where the only viable holds have chalk on them from previous climbers.) Climbing outdoor is more challenging and more entertaining and all around cooler, but climbing indoors is cool, too. It's good practice for outdoors, and it's fun in its own right.

There isn't any climbing gym nearby. Can't I just start climbing outdoors?
Sure. If you have a very experienced friend to teach you, or if you take a course on setting up ropes. If you've got good rock and reliable people to teach the safety aspects, there's no reason you need ever set foot in a gym.

I don't know anyone to teach me how to set up my ropes. Can you just tell me enough to get me started?
If you're asking a question like that, it is because your safety isn't that important to you. It isn't that important to me, either, but I'm still not telling you anything, because climbing deaths make all climbers look bad.

There isn't any gym nearby, and there aren't any rocks, either. What do I do?
Anything but climb, I guess. I'd move. In fact, I'd have already moved a long time ago.

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