Best place to practice sport falls in Boulder Canyon or nearby

Hello all,

I'm looking for beta on good places to practice some intentional sport falls. Perfect candidates would be easier sport routes (5.8 and below) that are well bolted, mostly vertical, free of features that would cause injury, and have a good belay position and stance.

I'm sure that this has been covered before, but the searches have failed me. Links or beta are appreciated.

Sean

Good luck. 5.8 and vertical is hard to find in Boulder canyon.

Best bet: The climbing gym.
Second idea: North Table Mtn. The routes are a bit steeper and you could probably find something that fits your needs.

Only decently steep one I can think of is the 5.8 at Animal World.

i'd have to second climbing gym.

5.8 in the canyon is slabby for the most part

This comes pretty close to what you are looking for.

mountainproject.com/v/edges…

Thanks for all your replies.

Yes the gym is ideal, but not the real world falls that we were looking for. Edges and Ledges looks great, might be the perfect candidate. Other suggestions are of course appreciated.

Thanks!

Oh, and I like a bright pink Defender 90 for under 30k.

If you want to fall, why do you want the route to be so easy? Get used to falling while cruxing. That's The Real McKoy.

^^^
Agreed. Not really sure why this is necessary, not outside at least, which is probably why you're having difficulty finding a thread about it. There are plenty of routes you can try where you're likely to fall given your skill set, so have at. Practice climbing, not falling.

Clear Creek Canyon might be a better bet if you want vertical and easy.

I need some practice too. So far every time I have fallen on lead outside while unsucessfully trying to clip the next bolt from the last clipped bolt, I ended up upside down and hit my head. This time I almost hit a ledge. No, the rope was not behind my leg either time. I think I lean too far back with my upper body when I fall, instead of with my feet. When falling the maximum fall distance for sport what should I be doing?

Also, I have a rant! :p Many bolts are designed to be clipped at a good standing stance when (1) entering a thin move/difficult sequence (2) where the fall would be bad (eg hit a ledge or two), so when doing the difficult sequence, the climber is effectively on toprope. My beef with Boulder Canyon is, it seems that the bolts are designed for tall(er) people and at 4'10" I am unable to reach the bolt from the good stance (height makes a difference, think about a person under 5 feet tall trying to reach the shelves in a cabinet) to put the quickdraw on, and have to do the thin move /difficult sequence above the bad fall WHILE also applying quickdraw and pulling/clipping the rope.

This has happened to me many, many times. I usually back off the move after accessing it would be too dangerous (disgruntled that I had to back off, and annoyed I am not taller) several times and also took a bad fall because of this situation.

I know I am super ultra short, official midget cut-off height, but I hope bolters become more conscientious of short climbers!

Christiney wrote:I need some practice too. So far every time I have fallen on lead outside while unsucessfully trying to clip the next bolt from the last clipped bolt, I ended up upside down and hit my head. This time I almost hit a ledge. No, the rope was not behind my leg either time. I think I lean too far back with my upper body when I fall, instead of with my feet. When falling the maximum fall distance for sport what should I be doing? Also, I have a rant! :p Many bolts are designed to be clipped at a good standing stance when (1) entering a thin move/difficult sequence (2) where the fall would be bad (eg hit a ledge or two), so when doing the difficult sequence, the climber is effectively on toprope. My beef with Boulder Canyon is, it seems that the bolts are designed for tall(er) people and at 4'10" I am unable to reach the bolt from the good stance (height makes a difference, think about a person under 5 feet tall trying to reach the shelves in a cabinet) to put the quickdraw on, and have to do the thin move /difficult sequence above the bad fall WHILE also applying quickdraw and pulling/clipping the rope. This has happened to me many, many times. I usually back off the move after accessing it would be too dangerous (disgruntled that I had to back off, and annoyed I am not taller) several times and also took a bad fall because of this situation. I know I am super ultra short, official midget cut-off height, but I hope bolters become more conscientious of short climbers!

Most people are taller than you, which means most routes are bolted accordingly. But also, plenty of short climbers do just fine and don't blow clips because they are short. You just have to plan accordingly and set yourself up for the clip.

Try climbing until your are wast level or so with the bolt. If there is a good clipping stance that usually means that there is a decent hold somewhere near the clip, especially of 5.8 and below. If you clip from near your waist you don't have much more, if any, rope out than you would if you are stretching to make the clip from below the bolt. Blowing a clip can be dangerous. Taking falls is fine, but I wouldn't make a habit out of blowing clips. I feel like it introduces a lot more variables to what can happen than just a standard lead fall. No real science behind that though, just a personal feeling.

Christiney wrote:I know I am super ultra short, official midget cut-off height, but I hope bolters become more conscientious of short climbers!

Props for getting your lead on. Maybe you should try trad climbing since sport climbing is clearly VERY dangerous for you.

James Hicks wrote: Most people are taller than you, which means most routes are bolted accordingly. But also, plenty of short climbers do just fine and don't blow clips because they are short. You just have to plan accordingly and set yourself up for the clip.

Sigh. Actually Christine has a pretty valid point, though I think it tends to be a problem throughout CO (and beyond) from my experience (Devil's Head for example has this problem all over the place). Unfortunately I think that most bolters don't think too hard about this kind of thing. I'm nearly 6 feet tall and I can't tell you the number of times that I have clipped a bolt in the Boulder area thinking to myself "man, my shorter partners would be unhappy right here." Telling someone to climb until the bolt is at their waist when that means they have to tweak on a hold mid-crux while the rest of us taller people can get a resting clip is bogus, totally unnecessary hogwash.

I would suggest to those folks that are bolting out there to take the advice of the gentleman that taught me to put routes up. He is a reasonably tall guy (over 6 foot) and he has a simple rule for choosing bolt placements. If you (the tall bolter) can reach the bolt with your elbow, then its all good. Otherwise, lower your placement. This is almost always an easy rule to follow and it means that even a 4'10" person will be able to clip the bolt from the good stance.

Christiney wrote: My beef with Boulder Canyon is, it seems that the bolts are designed for tall(er) people and at 4'10" I am unable to reach the bolt from the good stance (height makes a difference, think about a person under 5 feet tall trying to reach the shelves in a cabinet) to put the quickdraw on, and have to do the thin move /difficult sequence above the bad fall WHILE also applying quickdraw and pulling/clipping the rope. I know I am super ultra short, official midget cut-off height, but I hope bolters become more conscientious of short climbers!

Unfortunately I can't offer Christine much advice other than the following. Make yourself what's called a 'stiffy'. Basically you take a standard one-foot draw and tape the holy sh*t out of it (maybe even add something stiff inside the tape...just make sure it won't damage the draw or interfere with the biners on either end). What you are trying to accomplish is the ability to hold onto the bottom biner of the draw and hold the draw straight up without it flopping over. Essentially what you are aiming for is a draw that is stiff enough that you can put the draw on the bolt without actually being able to reach the bolt. While this won't solve all of your problems, it will very often get you that extra foot of reach that you need in order to be able to put the draw on the bolt and clip from the good stance. Make sense?

J. Albers wrote: Sigh. Actually Christine has a pretty valid point, though I think it tends to be a problem throughout CO (and beyond) from my experience (Devil's Head for example has this problem all over the place). Unfortunately I think that most bolters don't think too hard about this kind of thing. I'm nearly 6 feet tall and I can't tell you the number of times that I have clipped a bolt in the Boulder area thinking to myself "man, my shorter partners would be unhappy right here." Telling someone to climb until the bolt is at their waist when that means they have to tweak on a hold mid-crux while the rest of us taller people can get a resting clip is bogus, totally unnecessary hogwash. I would suggest to those folks that are bolting out there to take the advice of the gentleman that taught me to put routes up. He is a reasonably tall guy (over 6 foot) and he has a simple rule for choosing bolt placements. If you (the tall bolter) can reach the bolt with your elbow, then its all good. Otherwise, lower your placement. This is almost always an easy rule to follow and it means that even a 4'10" person will be able to clip the bolt from the good stance. Unfortunately I can't offer Christine much advice other than the following. Make yourself what's called a 'stiffy'. Basically you take a standard one-foot draw and tape the holy sh*t out of it (maybe even add something stiff inside the tape...just make sure it won't damage the draw or interfere with the biners on either end). What you are trying to accomplish is the ability to hold onto the bottom biner of the draw and hold the draw straight up without it flopping over. Essentially what you are aiming for is a draw that is stiff enough that you can put the draw on the bolt without actually being able to reach the bolt. While this won't solve all of your problems, it will very often get you that extra foot of reach that you need in order to be able to put the draw on the bolt and clip from the good stance. Make sense?

I clip at my waist all the time, there is nothing hogwash about it. Short/tall whatever, its not bad to tell someone that there are situations where you should not be trying to clip way above your head. It can often be more strenuous and insecure than simply climbing a bit higher before clipping.

Just because you clip from your waist doesn't automatically make every move a crux crimp, tweaky, dyno move either...talk about hogwash. You don't have to have the bolt at exactly your waist, but my point is valid. If you can't comfortably reach the clip, there is a high likelihood, especially on easy routes in BC, that you might just need to make another move or two before clipping.

James Hicks wrote: I clip at my waist all the time, there is nothing hogwash about it. Short/tall whatever, its not bad to tell someone that there are situations where you should not be trying to clip way above your head. It can often be more strenuous and insecure than simply climbing a bit higher before clipping. Just because you clip from your waist doesn't automatically make every move a crux crimp, tweaky, dyno move either...talk about hogwash. You don't have to have the bolt at exactly your waist, but my point is valid. If you can't comfortably reach the clip, there is a high likelihood, especially on easy routes in BC, that you might just need to make another move or two before clipping.

James man, I think you totally missed the point of my post. I clip all the time from my waist. Sh*t, sometimes I climb through cruxes and clip at my ankles. And when I do so, it is always in a safe manner (nearly always anyway!!) Those are not the circumstances that I was referring to. Moreover it also doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of ill bolted routes out there. Perhaps you should try and put yourself in the shoes of a shorter person the next twenty times you climb outside and then comment. Empathy man, find some.

Christiney, another thing beyond the stiffened "extendo draw" that other shorter partners use that might help would be to ask your partner to lead first, leave 12-24" quickdraws hanging, and then you could "pink point" the route. Then, if it's an issue of extended fall to the next bolt, you might swap out for a shorter quickdraw once high enough. Sure, it isn't quite as nice, but you might not hit your head as much.

I'm on Christiney's side on this one. I'm only 5'8" and I've run across a number of clips that have required quite a stretch to reach. I feel for yah.

But, other than offering sympathy, there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it. Areas like Boulder Canyon are so totally bolted out. There won't be any American with Disabilities Acts (no offense on your height) for rock climbing in the near future.

Stiff Draw

Here's a picture of the Viagra draw that's been mentioned. How to make one. Buy two popsicles. Eat them, save the sticks and wash them. Let the sticks dry. Buy a Petzl quick draw. Use duct tape, wrapping the sticks on the side of the draw and fixing the carabiner on the clipping end firmly to the draw. Use a locking carabiner for the rope end of the draw as the stiffness of the draw can create twisting forces.

Second suggestion. Sometimes it's helpful to use a full length trad draw when you clip the bolt because then the rope clipping carabiner is closer to you and easier to clip. This can be followed up by making a second clip using a short draw.

Third suggestion. Sometimes it safer to use two-rope technique. I like this if missing the clip on the 2nd bolt could result in a ground fall. You've clipped, say, the blue rope into the first bolt. Then use the red rope to make the clip on the second bolt. That way if you miss the clip, the fall will be shorter.

RobertusPunctumPacificus

As someone who is 5' tall I highly suggest having one or two "stiff" quickdraws on your rack. Mine are about 6" long. A good friend of mine who is 4'10" used to use an even longer stiffy. Reachy clips can be quite the norm at our height and many times these draws will allow the crux of the climb to be the climbing instead of the clipping. :) And I agree, sometimes the bolts could be placed at least a smidge lower with some forethought, but overall it is what it is and the stiffies can be very helpful.

Cindy wrote:As someone who is 5' tall I highly suggest having one or two "stiff" quickdraws on your rack. Mine are about 6" long. A good friend of mine who is 4'10" used to use an even longer stiffy. Reachy clips can be quite the norm at our height and many times these draws will allow the crux of the climb to be the climbing instead of the clipping. :) And I agree, sometimes the bolts could be placed at least a smidge lower with some forethought, but overall it is what it is and the stiffies can be very helpful.

thats what she said!

Sean Brady wrote:Hello all, I'm looking for beta on good places to practice some intentional sport falls. Perfect candidates would be easier sport routes (5.8 and below) that are well bolted, mostly vertical, free of features that would cause injury, and have a good belay position and stance. I'm sure that this has been covered before, but the searches have failed me. Links or beta are appreciated. Sean

wow, its similar to asking where you can go "practice" crash your car so when it really happens you wont shit yourself or have a heart attack. just go try and lead something above your level and dont be stupid, it will happen.