Climbing Skin Care: Tape, Chalk, and Fingers
How to look after finger skin so you can climb on consecutive days, what chalk actually does, and when tape helps rather than hinders.
Climbing
Climbing Chalk: What It Does and When to Use Less
How chalk works, why dry skin cracks, and how to choose between loose chalk, blocks and liquid without spending much at all.
Taping Fingers for Climbing: When It Helps
The two or three tape patterns worth knowing, what tape does and does not protect, and why taping as a habit makes you worse.
Partner Safety Checks Before You Climb
The two-minute routine that catches the mistakes people actually make, what to say, and why it has to be said out loud even with a trusted partner.
Climbing Shoe Fit: Why Tight Is Not the Same as Right
A climbing shoe is a tool for transmitting force through your toes, not a device for causing pain. How to size for the terrain you actually climb, what happens as the shoe breaks in, and when a tight shoe is costing you more than it gives.
Climbing Rope Care: Inspection, Storage and When to Retire It
A climbing rope is a consumable item with a measurable life. How to inspect sheath and core, what actually damages a rope, and the honest criteria for retiring one instead of hoping.
From the Gym to the Crag: Your First Outdoor Climb
What changes when the wall stops being plastic, how to pick a first crag, and the habits that transfer from indoor climbing and the ones that do not.
Harness Fit and Belay Loop Wear: What to Check Every Season
A climbing harness is safety equipment with a service life. How to fit one so it stays put in a fall, what wear actually matters, and when retirement is the right call rather than a costly one.
Climbing Anchor Basics: Equalising, Angles and Redundancy
What makes an anchor trustworthy is not the number of pieces but how the load is shared. How equalising works, why small angle changes matter so much, and the redundancy principle behind every sound setup.
Anchors at the Crag: What Beginners Need to Understand
The principles behind a good anchor, why equalisation matters less than the quality of the placements, and how to learn without guessing.
Bouldering Pads and Spotting: Reducing the Worst Landings
A pad is a landing surface, not a safety net. How to place pads so they cover where you will actually fall, what a spotter should be doing, and why the most important decision happens before you pull on.
Belay Devices: Tube, Assisted Braking, and Choosing One
What the two families of belay device actually do differently, why the assisted-braking claim needs reading carefully, and what to learn first.