How to Climb Low Angle Rock Walls Outdoors

Transcript for: How to Climb Low Angle Rock Walls Outdoors

"Hi I'm Bill with Zoar Outdoor on behalf of expertvillage.com we are here today at a Chapel Ledges at Ashfield, Massachusetts and in this series I'm going to be talking about the basics of moving on rock. Friction, slab, or low angle climbing is where a lot of folks start out. Easier climbs could often be found in low angle cliffs and they can be a little bit of intimidating because you might encounter some smaller holes or less obvious route finding. Btu keep some technique in mind and things would go fine. What s the technique you want to use? You want to keep your weight over your feet which means standing straight over them so you don't push your self away from the rock. You want to keep your hands low, shoulder height or lower if you reach to far you bring your body up close to the rock and tend to make your feet slide off. So stand up straight, look for foot holes, even small things would work as long as you get some good contact on the front of your foot, get that snuggled right on there. Using the hand holds can often mean pushing down on them which works great to keep your body upright and it doesn't use much muscle. Stepping up carefully looking where you are going, follow your feet where your hands went and up you go."