Mountain Climbing for beginners?

You can approach mountaineering from the hiking, scrambling, backpacking side of mountaineering. Especially if you enjoy those activities, there are plenty of skills to be learned there over time. The Freedom of the Hills book addresses these skills too, not just the gear.

There is something to be said for figuring things out for yourself as opposed to/in addition to hiring a guide. With a combination of the two, you'll be confident of the skills and you'll own them.

Ronan,
Look at and read all the gear usage information from the gear manufacturers and the associated videos, all on the gear mfgrs websites. It is a lot of information.

Read and consider all the information in "Freedom of the Hills". Work to memorize much of the content, especially to begin building a more extensive vocabulary of climbing and mountaineering terms. Accurate vocabulary and more specific knowledge will allow you to begin the process of mastering the subject. This sounds generic however applies just like any subject undertaken in school/university. In this mountaineering subject the penalty for failure is severe and often permanent. Your brain will be the most important organ you use while climbing and mountaineering be sure to train and work it as much and as diligently as all your other muscles and techniques combined.

Another significant resource to learn from others is the American Alpine Club (AAC) Accidents in North American Climbing. This is an annual representative sample of what happened to whom and how. Brief reading which can fill vast time/space with loads of contemplative meditations.
http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/

  mountainproject.com/forum/t…

Like anything, it’s a linear progression.

I went out to the north cascades on tour to get into mountain climbing. I was working and living in marblemount. I started off with steep hikes. And the magnum opus was Diobsud Butte, seldom climbed, little information on it. I went out with a compass and map and found my way to the summit.

mountain climbing isn’t always technical rock climbing. Alpinism aligns more with your goals

Ronan, I really like your enthusiasm. You sound just like me when I started climbing at about your age. There was someone in the thread who recommended a NOLS course. I’d like to second that. If your family has the resources, maybe that could be a birthday present? An experience like NOLS in the mountains (look at the Sierras or the Rockies—go big!) could be life changing in a very positive way.
This thread was started a while ago… any updates, Ronan?

Ronan, I recommend getting a copy of Steve House and Scott Johnston’s book “Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete”. Even in Florida you can work on building your base fitness, a process that involves YEARS of endurance training and can last your lifetime as a climber. You will need this if you want to have success when you attempt your first mountains.

You are at a perfect age to learn about the training methods House and Johnston have developed and write about, and you can make this part of your life.

An endurance base will pay off when you have the opportunity to be in the mountains. You can never have too much endurance, and it’s very common for climbers to not have enough, depending on the objective!

+1 for reading Freedom of the Hills and for taking a NOLS course.  Reading Freedom is something you should do at least twice— once this year, when you’re barely started and starting to dream, and then again a few years after you’ve really been able to start climbing mountains, when some of the advice will strike you very differently and entire passages will make sense in whole new ways.  

As for NOLS, it’s an excellent education that puts the technical skills into the context of real decision making and provides valuable real-world experience.  FWIW, I managed to get a semester-long multi-element NOLS course to partially replace one of my college semesters (even got a few credits through the education department for it).  At that time, I was already interested in backpacking and camping and such and had done a little climbing, but it fully jump started my climbing, mountaineering, and backcountry skiing.  I was able to dream much bigger after that, and follow through.  Have a great time and be patient with yourself and the pace of the world; with any luck you’ll be doing this stuff for a long time.  My NOLS semester was in 1996.  

Daniel Joder wrote:

Ronan, I really like your enthusiasm. You sound just like me when I started climbing at about your age. There was someone in the thread who recommended a NOLS course. I’d like to second that. If your family has the resources, maybe that could be a birthday present? An experience like NOLS in the mountains (look at the Sierras or the Rockies—go big!) could be life changing in a very positive way.
This thread was started a while ago… any updates, Ronan?

I haven't went climbing in a while unfortunately. I've mostly been bouldering because we have a membership there, but I like to do top rope more. I did a few weighted walks but from what people describe, it's useless and I should just train running for long periods of time. Could you describe what NOLS is? I'm not familiar with it.

Hey, Ronan Just Google “NOLS” or “National Outdoor Leadership School” and scroll around. I’m sure they will have a few courses that will have you salivating.