Introduction to Rock Climbing/Gym To Crag Class

What You'll Learn

Climbers who have no previous experience or have only climbed in a gym will find this class a good way to get started climbing outdoors. All of our classes are customized to meet the participants skill level but in general you’ll come out of this class understanding:

How to provide a toprope and lead belay that inspires confidence in your friends and climbing partners.
How to correctly use climbing equipment and what is needed for basic outdoor climbing.
How to properly communicate as well as assess safety systems and perform safety checks for toprope climbing.
How to properly set up a rappel including backup methods, communication, and when to use it.
Basic outdoor climbing etiquette and ethics to help keep our climbing areas enjoyable for all.
Basic outdoor skills and self care to be outdoors for long periods of time.
Climbing jargon and terminology in order to communicate effectively.

After taking this climbing course participants should feel capable of following more experienced friends outside for toproping and recognizing how to find safe climbing partners and the types of climbing in which they are ready to participate. We offer introduction to climbing classes anytime the weather is nice. We generally recommend this as a single full day so we can cover as much of the skills as possible but more experienced indoor climbers or those with some previous experience may find a shorter day adequate.

Everyone has to start somewhere. The basics of climbing rely on several skills and knots that for beginner climbers can be a little confusing. Because our actions become habits we want to instill good climbing habits through practicing several skills so new climbers can feel confident to go outside with more experienced friends or start on their way to more advanced skills such as lead climbing. Many of the skills such as tying into the rope or belaying are fundemental across nearly all aspects of climbing so even if you are more interested in ice or mountain climbing you will learn some of the most basic skills to get started.

Climbing Instruction Rates and Availability

1 Instructor	Half Day (4 hours)	Regular Day (6 hours)	Full Day (8 hours)
1 Students	$309	$369	$429
2 Students	$249	$309	$369
3 Students	$199	$249	$309
4 Students	$149	$199	$249
2 instructors to keep low ratios for the best experience!
5-8 Students	$119	$149	$199

Rate Information:

Rates are per person, e.g. 3 people for a Regular Day would be $259/person for a total of $777. Trip start times are custom but generally we recommend 8AM starts for most rock climbing May through September to avoid heat, crowding, and afternoon thunderstorms.

Discount Information: We appreciate our guests but discounts are limited to the following and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Early Bird Discounts and Last Chance Pricing: Book early and save! Schedule any rock climbing trip a month or more in advance for a 10% discount. Any trip booked with less than 48 hours notice incur a $100 convenience fee.

Bundle Pricing: The ultimate way to get started climbing! Purchase 3 or more days of climbing guiding or instruction at once for a 10% discount. Schedule at your convenience.

Ready to book your experience or have more questions?

Climber ascending snow slope in the mountains. — Basic Mountaineering Skills
The skills to climb smaller rock faces are also many of the skills to climb big mountains or live in the backcountry for other climbing objectives.

Ice climber in the Front Range — Intro to Ice Climbing
When you want to climb all year round it helps to be able to climb ice. With many of the same basic skills as rock climbing there are a lot of techniques to learn how to use the sharp tools and crampons to climb frozen waterfalls.

Learn to Sport Lead
When you are comfortable toproping the next step is to take the sharp end and learn how to lead which opens up new worlds to climbers looking to get on bigger routes or just pushing themselves on new terrain.

Climbers building toprope anchors. — Toprope and Anchor Building Class
After learning the basics of climbing the ability to build anchors for toproping or lead climbing is one of the biggest steps for climbers to be able to climb independently outside.

Follow Up Classes

This is the very beginning of the skills to get started in most climbing. Here are some classes we would recommend after this one:

Required Skills

No previous climbing or outdoor experience is necessary. If you’ve climbed indoors that will accelerate the extent of what we can teach participants about climbing outdoors but is not necessary. While the ability to care for one’s self outdoors is helpful we’re happy to teach those skills during this course as well.