Learn the thrill of rock climbing with an emphasis on safety and skills with group of like-minded women. This 2-day course will enable you to enjoy the sport with confidence. The climbing areas of North Bend provide the perfect classroom, and are located just 30 miles from Seattle. We hope to provide a female guide for this course, but cannot always guarantee that.
2024 Course Date: July 20-21 (call or email for custom dates)
Learn how to rock climb with a group of like-minded women! The climbing areas of Little Si and Exit 38 provide the perfect classroom to learn you what you need to know to become a safe and proficient sport climber and help you enter the climbing community knowledgeable and prepared. This technical knowledge will also teach you about yourself, and it is all directly applicable to your future mountain travels. If the weather does not allow us to climb in North Bend we will travel to Vantage to enjoy the eastside sunshine!
We will meet each morning at Pro Guiding Service headquarters inside our retail shop Pro Ski and Mountain Service in North Bend, WA. We will then venture out to Little Si, exit 38 or Vantage and get on some great introductory routes. We will start around 8:00am and finish up around 4:00pm each day.
Overall Difficulty: Moderate
Skills Required: No climbing experience required
Fitness Level: Good physical fitness
Course Curriculum
1. Introduction to Gear
• Gear selection
• Care of gear
• Correctly fitting rock shoes
• Correctly fitting climbing harness
• Explanation of rope types used in climbing
• Fall factors explained
2. Route Selection
• Explanation of the Y.D.S. (climbing grades)
• How to use guide books
3. Knots
• How to tie in
• Other basic knots related to sport climbing
4. Belaying
• Correct stance and position of the belayer
• Belaying devices
• Techniques for belaying a leader
• Static vs. dynamic belay
• When to tie belayer into end of rope
5. Rope Management
• How to coil the rope
• Stacking the rope
• Use of rope bag or tarp
6. Anchors
• How to determine a safe anchor
• How to equalize anchors
• Anchor extension
7. Setting up Top Rope Anchors
• When to use existing gear
• Safe approach of top rope anchors
• When to set up your own top rope anchor
8. Movement Skills
• Body, hand, and foot placement
• Learning to climb with your feet
• Static vs. dynamic movement
• Sequencing
• More advanced techniques for face climbing
9. Rappelling
• Practice of single rope rappels
• Use of rappel devices
• Use of backup on rappel
10. Leading
• How to place the quick draw correctly on the bolt hanger
• Clipping the rope correctly to the quick draw
• Setting up a mock lead
• Leading sport climbs
