EP 1
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swim right
swim left
dive
AnasAbdin
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shark vs the universe
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Acquired Stardust
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izzy's playlists!
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he wasn't even looking at me and he found me

Kaledo Art
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@boulderingblunders
EP 1
...
swim right
swim left
dive
dunk design for a pal
waiting for you in the house the trees ate
I have limited lower body strength and like no core or upper body strength but I want to try bouldering. Any tips? Likely just be willing to fall a lot before the muscle starts to build.
Hey, cheers to no upper body strength to speak of! When I started bouldering I was like that.
The biggest thing is - don’t get discouraged!
People who were previously involved in other sports, people who work out - in other words, people WITH body strength - are starting out with way more XP than you. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be as good as them, though - it just means it’ll take you longer to learn the basics.
There’s a way to move your body, to control your motion to conserve energy, to focus on specific muscle groups… all those things are learn-able, but they take time.
In the beginning, more so than falling, you might just get tired a lot. Or not be able to do some things that other people can. It can be frustrating, but you have to remember that ultimately, it’s all just muscle, and it’s all just a learned skill that you will eventually possess through perseverance!
That being said, the main muscle groups you use for bouldering may surprise you - it’s mostly your forearms and your core! You don’t need jacked biceps to boulder, and in fact, being bulky with muscle might actually slow you down.
BUT there IS a good way to be a smart beginner climber that requires no training whatsoever.
I won’t make this long, so here’s 3 basic tips to get you started:
#1: Visualize your route.
Whether you’re watching someone climb before you, or you just have a really good imagination - either way, don’t just jump on a route and go to town. Instead, sit back and try to imagine yourself climbing, and try to guess where you’ll put your hands and feet ahead of time. Pro climbers do this all the time! That’s why they all stand back, squint at the wall and do little claw-hands in the air.
#2: Hang with straight arms.
When you’re bouldering for the first time, a lot of people flex their arms and try to keep themselves pulled close to the wall, even when they’re just hanging there, thinking about what to do next. This is exhausting! Don’t do it. You don’t need to cling for dear life to stay up there - you just need to grip with your fingers, and relax the rest of your arm to hang out. Imagine that you’re a monkey! You can flex when you’re actually trying to get somewhere, but until then, relax and give your arms a break.
#3: Keep your feet wide.
Beginner climbers often have no idea what to do with their feet, and don’t pay attention to them. Try to focus on your feet as you climb and keep them on holds that are wider than your shoulder width. It helps you balance and not sway sideways.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
We recently went on a trip to Iwate-ken (岩手) and toured the bouldering areas. My favorite was a place called Crager’s - a bouldering gym that recently moved to a new venue. It was super fun to do the problems!
I know I haven’t done a post in a while, but that’s because I hadn’t been climbing recently. I’ll try to post more problems from my local gym soon!
Fairly new climber here! 👋🏽 I have a question for you (if you can answer). In normal every day life, I wear size 5 1/2 or 6 in shoes; my cousin gave me a free pair of size 6 rock climbing shoes that fit like a glove. I have been told rock climbing shoes should run small though, should I consider still buying new ones? Thank you for taking time to answer! 🧗🏼♀️
Heyo!
That’s a good question. I guess the answer would depend on what you mean by “fit like a glove”.
So, here’s our basic climbing shoe, right?
Climbing shoes are supposed to be small and tight enough around your foot to make sure your toes/heel don’t slide around and move at all during climbing. You depend on this to have good grip.
Basically, your foot inside the shoe should be like this:
It shouldn’t hurt, but you shouldn’t be comfortable with the idea of walking around in the shoes all day. If you feel like you can slip them on in the morning and walk around for longer than 3 hours without being bothered, they’re too big for climbing in.
That being said, if they are relatively tight and you feel like you can climb in them effectively, then don’t feel too pressured to get new shoes. They’re expensive, and I wouldn’t say that beginners need awesome super-tight climbing shoes. In fact, it’s much better to get used to climbing in older, slightly looser shoes, and get yourself some more aggressive shoes after you know that you want to keep climbing at a higher level.
Either way, have fun!! :D
I love your comics!! thanks for making them!!
Thank you for reading them! :)
We’ve finally got everything we need to do indoor climbing!
Honestly, it’s a relief because up until now we’ve been surviving by borrowing other people’s rope.
Shoes are both Tenaya, Harnesses are both Jay II (Edelrid) and the rope is Sterling, Evolution (This one is quite long (60) since we want to eventually try outdoor stuff.)
We tried it out at Skypia in Fukushima yesterday and it was great! It also helped that we were basically the only ones in that gym. :)
THOSE HARNESSES ARE SO PRETTY. But where’s the rest of the quickdraws?
In the online store, waiting to be bought when I have more money!
Haha, but seriously - we’re not climbing outside yet, so we’re waiting to buy things on a need-only basis. Hence the “everything we need to do indoor climbing” part.
We’re maybe going to try outdoor stuff this summer, but for the first few times we’ll probably borrow a friend’s equipment until we plan to do it on our own.
Quantum Holds... change when observed.
We’ve finally got everything we need to do indoor climbing!
Honestly, it’s a relief because up until now we’ve been surviving by borrowing other people’s rope.
Shoes are both Tenaya, Harnesses are both Jay II (Edelrid) and the rope is Sterling, Evolution (This one is quite long (60) since we want to eventually try outdoor stuff.)
We tried it out at Skypia in Fukushima yesterday and it was great! It also helped that we were basically the only ones in that gym. :)
I absolutely adore climbing, and it hurts me so much to live without it that I literally climb around my house and school. Unfortunately I now live in bloody northern Michigan and we haven’t any gyms, or even boulders in nature to climb. Have you got any tips for just like staying in shape, and fun stuff to climb on?
Oh damn, I’m sorry I didn’t see this message until now! I wonder how long ago it’s arrived here... to the sender - I deeply apologize! I usually blog from mobile, so I can’t see messages as easily.
Anyway, my suggestion, I suppose, would be to keep doing what you’re doing and climbing anything you can (within legal parameters)! There’s also this handy site - it looks like there ARE some bouldering in MI.
Depending on your skill level and your money level, you COULD attempt to go out of your way and travel to some gyms, but that’s hard. Alternatively, maybe just buy a beastmaker or something?
A beastmaker is this thing:
I would also recommend visiting some jungle gyms at a time when there’s no kiddos playing on them - they can be fun to climb, as long as you’re careful about how you do it!
One more! This one's for my SO! The shape was a little different but I really like the combination of fabrics he picked out!
Today I spent about 5 hours sewing myself a chalk bucket! All things considered, it didn't turn out too bad! I'm planning on making another one, for SO, since this was a test run. Still planning to use it though!
4Q/V3-ish at FLAT Bouldering in Yamagata City, Japan
Been working on this sporadically. The main issue is that I get tired halfway through and fail to connect the moves I know I can do. Well, that’s the fault of coming in only once a week now that it’s winter! My own fault.
Maybe I’ll get a video next time I go! :)
Going for the last move
Me and the spouse went lead climbing for the first time on Saturday! Having been exited as heck for it, I was severely disappointed in my own abilities... Although the routes were easy in theory, and... In practice... I was only able to force myself about 5 meters up the wall before completely freezing up and freaking the fuck out. 😫 I'm not sure why, or what came over me - I'm not usually that scared of heights, and I figured that it wouldn't bother me since I had the rope right there. But whatever underevolved creature lives in my brain was absolutely convinced I was about to die. So, for the most part, I was just bouldering upstairs in the mini-gym while my much more courageous partner climbed his way up the walls. Well, I'm determined to try again, and at least there's one thing I got out of it - new shoes! I've been climbing in really old ones up until now, so I finally got some new ones! They're amazing, and I can't wait to try them on Wednesday!