When climbers discuss climbing roped climbing routes, the difficulty rating of the climb is often considered essential information. The difficulty rating gives a climber an indication of what moves, strength and/or skill the route might involve.

In North America, vertical travel is generally described using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS). The YDS gives any describes any given hiking, scrambling, or climbing route with a Class. For Class 5 and Class 6 travel, it also includes a Rating.

Beginning climbers can ease their learning curve on their first day climbing by learning a few common climbing terms used by American climbers. While it’s impossible to memorize or understand all these terms, just having some familiarity will help you better understand the goings-on at the climbing area.

Beginning rock climbers often wonder how to get started rock climbing… there are many topics and directions to consider! We wanted to share our answer, as we know many new climbers have similar questions.

A first climbing outing is likely to generate all sorts of feelings, like excitement, anxiety, curiosity and uncertainty. For those who like to know what to expect, a little advanced preparation can be helpful. Because your trip is custom tailored to you and your group, it’s impossible to predict every detail. However, many aspects are largely consistent from trip to trip, so the rough timeline below provides a good idea of what’s likely to happen and how you can prepare for success.