Getting Outside

I live in the Washington D.C. metro area, which is not exactly mountainous. One of the things we climbers love about our sport is the chance to be outdoors in amazing places. So naturally, a major challenge of being a rock climber in a not so rocky area is finding opportunities to get outside. Now, even in this urbanized and not-so-mountainous area small, local crags exist. I have climbed at Carderock and Great Falls, but if you want world-class routes, you are looking at roughly a five-hour drive each direction, which is not something most of us can do very often. Occasionally I heard about local bouldering spots, but I never really gave them much thought, focusing instead on the famous places I wished I could go.

Recently I was on quite the streak of complaining about the lack of real rock in the DC Metro Area. But after chatting with a few friends at the gym I started to think maybe I had been too quick to dismiss the local options, and I gained hope. There were at least three crags (mostly bouldering) within 30 minutes of my home. It might not be Hueco Tanks or Joshua Tree, but why not give it a try?

Then, however, I began sulking for a different reason: I do not own any crash pads. (For those who don’t know, a crash pad is a portable mat used to cushion a climber’s fall when bouldering outdoors.) In places with lots of outdoor climbing, there are gyms and outfitters where you can rent crash pads, but not around here, and my parents weren’t quite ready to drop a couple hundred dollars on this item for an experimental outing. But then I remembered my community! Would a friend or coach at the gym be willing to lend me a pad or two for my first outdoor session? The answer turned out to be yes – all I had to do was ask. In fact, after this excursion I learned that it is very common for gym climbers looking to get outside to borrow a couple pads or team up with friends who have pads. Looking back, I was silly not to ask my community of climbers for help sooner. Before I knew it, I had pads and the Mountain Project app (see Resources down below) and I was on my way to a place called Springfield Boulders. 

There was a certain empowering feeling the moment I jumped over a guardrail by the side of the road with pads on my back and approached this crag. The rock had graffiti on it and there was glass on the ground, but to me it was beautiful. It was an outcropping next to the Accotink Creek, about 50 feet long and 25 feet tall at its highest point. Soon, more climbers arrived. They offered to share pads, which greatly expanded our fall zone and allowed me to meet some more people. Then came the climbing. The rock was sharp and hard. It cut up my hands in an instant, and was not the grippy fiberglass I am used to at the gym. I also found it interesting that most of the holds on the rock were either extremely sharp edges, small ledges, or stone cold slopers (a hand hold that has no incuts or edges to grab onto). Climbing here was perhaps more mentally tiring than physically: no blazingly colored holds for me to follow, no cushy 20x20 landing mat, and no idea what the feeling of the next hold would be. All of these factors forced me to think about more than just the act of climbing. I had to be more mindful of my falls, and found myself becoming more mindful of my body. It was all new to me, but I suppose one gets used to reading the sequence of outdoor climbs and to the feeling of knife-edge holds.

All in all, my first boulder session outdoors was truly amazing. I left feeling knackered, and I wanted more! The smell of nature, the breezes passing by, and the feeling of rock is one I need more of. I also think that outdoor climbing in general is very good for a gym climber looking to get a bit stronger. However, back to the point, even in an urban area it is possible to find spots to climb and expand my skillset outdoors. So, let’s climb some rocks!

Resources: 

You can find out about your local crags through the Mountain Project website (https://www.mountainproject.com) or the Mountain Project app (that can be downloaded onto your device). Friends are also a good resource to find out about climbing around you.