Hiking and Climbing?

Hi!

Not only am I new to the forum, but I'm new to climbing too. Most of my experience is on a climbing wall in a gym. Primarily I'm a hiker, but I'm interested in starting to climb as well. 

My question is: How would you say that hiking relates to climbing? What would be most useful that I can take from my hiking experience and apply to climbing?

I should also mention I have a torn meniscus, which I got hiking, hah. I have a fabulous treatment I'm using to heal, but while I'm doing this treatment, I'm researching new trails to explore and possibly starting climbing. Think it might be too much to ask of my knees?

Are you a bot? 

Edit: What is the "fabulous treatment" for your torn meniscus?

Almost every climbing day starts with a hike to the crag or boulders!

Sometimes people start climbing without a background in outdoor sports like hiking and if they don't do research or get instruction, it can show. My years hiking and backpacking taught me a lot about reading a forecast and dressing appropriately for the weather, reading a map, following a trail, walking on durable surfaces to avoid erosion, packing out trash, dealing with human waste, and generally treating the outdoor world with the appropriate degree of respect. None of us are born with those skills and hiking is one of many great ways to acquire them. 

Hiking is a phenomenal skillset with climbing. It will also give you access to a great many climbs. Many climbers are kinda funny and avoid routes with longer approaches. Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains is a humorous example of this where people are waiting in line often on weekends at the crag with a three minute approach, but the crag with the fifteen minute approach is empty. 

As you get more into climbing it will open up some seriously rad stuff with seriously long approaches, also. I'm not much of a hiker but I do enjoy long approaches to climbing, and being willing to hike a bit often means climbing in more solitude and getting to climb radder stuff. 

FrankPS wrote:

Are you a bot? 

Edit: What is the "fabulous treatment" for your torn meniscus?

Not a bot, just someone who enjoys sharing good things with others, but thanks for asking. :) The treatment I use is a blood flow stimulation device. It works through electromagnetic energy to improve your circulation. I enjoy talking about it because it has helped me to heal from a painful injury wonderfully, but I'm concerned about aggravating my knee or re-tearing it when I can start seriously getting out there again...after this thing has done so much to help me recover. 

Nkane 1 wrote:

Almost every climbing day starts with a hike to the crag or boulders!

Sometimes people start climbing without a background in outdoor sports like hiking and if they don't do research or get instruction, it can show. My years hiking and backpacking taught me a lot about reading a forecast and dressing appropriately for the weather, reading a map, following a trail, walking on durable surfaces to avoid erosion, packing out trash, dealing with human waste, and generally treating the outdoor world with the appropriate degree of respect. None of us are born with those skills and hiking is one of many great ways to acquire them. 

This is so useful! I especially hear you about reading a forecast and being prepared for the weather - altitude is not something I typically deal with much so I'm wondering if I'm underestimating how to adapt as you start climbing at higher altitudes. 

Ricky Harline wrote:

Hiking is a phenomenal skillset with climbing. It will also give you access to a great many climbs. Many climbers are kinda funny and avoid routes with longer approaches. Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains is a humorous example of this where people are waiting in line often on weekends at the crag with a three minute approach, but the crag with the fifteen minute approach is empty. 

As you get more into climbing it will open up some seriously rad stuff with seriously long approaches, also. I'm not much of a hiker but I do enjoy long approaches to climbing, and being willing to hike a bit often means climbing in more solitude and getting to climb radder stuff. 

Lol getting there is half the fun! I enjoy more isolated areas when hiking as well, gotta admit I'm a little nervous about climbing solo so I'll definitely take a buddy with me at first. Santa Cruz mountains are gorgeous by the way, I bet that was a beautiful view!

Tally Marks wrote:

Lol getting there is half the fun! I enjoy more isolated areas when hiking as well, gotta admit I'm a little nervous about climbing solo so I'll definitely take a buddy with me at first. Santa Cruz mountains are gorgeous by the way, I bet that was a beautiful view!

That’s awesome! I agree with what the others said about it being a great skill set to have.

My partner and I are also avid hikers and beginner/intermediate climbers. Like you, I love the adventure of hauling a heavy pack of rock climbing gear a few miles to find an isolated place to climb, even if I only get a couple of climbs in. My partner, on the other hand, wants a short approach and lots of climbs. We tend to compromise based on the day and make it a point to talk about what “success” looks like before we head out (success always includes coming home unharmed). Early on, we would have different perspectives of what a good day was and that would hamper our energy together. Now that we’ve worked that out, we have some seriously great days. Something to think about when you’re gearing up with a partner. 

Kelly O wrote:

That’s awesome! I agree with what the others said about it being a great skill set to have.

My partner and I are also avid hikers and beginner/intermediate climbers. Like you, I love the adventure of hauling a heavy pack of rock climbing gear a few miles to find an isolated place to climb, even if I only get a couple of climbs in. My partner, on the other hand, wants a short approach and lots of climbs. We tend to compromise based on the day and make it a point to talk about what “success” looks like before we head out (success always includes coming home unharmed). Early on, we would have different perspectives of what a good day was and that would hamper our energy together. Now that we’ve worked that out, we have some seriously great days. Something to think about when you’re gearing up with a partner. 

That is great advice, I find that good communication is essential when hiking with a partner and setting your expectations together for the trip is really smart. Have you and your partner discovered any other good ways to support each other during your climbs? 

Tally Marks wrote:

That is great advice, I find that good communication is essential when hiking with a partner and setting your expectations together for the trip is really smart. Have you and your partner discovered any other good ways to support each other during your climbs? 

Yes, lots! Well I don’t know that we “discovered” these, haha but some things we try to stick with every time.  I put a few below but there are so many people with more experience that will probably have even better examples

- leading up to climb, we make sure we are both involved in the gear requirements and that we both know the route and logistics.

- we make sure we have an InReach on and with us at all times, we check the emergency call instructions for the climbing area, and we know where the nearest hospital is.

- we assess each other’s comfort level with a route before stepping on the wall and go over the plan for the route, we challenge each other in a healthy way if we have questions about or don’t agree with the plan.

- we have a similar risk tolerance and so if one us wants or needs to back down from a climb, even if we leave bail equipment, we do it. 

- we always do a post-climb discussion - what went well, what didn’t go as well, what we appreciated about each other, what didn’t we appreciate, did we make any mistakes, how will we fix that next time, etc. 

Hope this helps, would love to see a post about your adventures when you get out to it.