For Beginners

Welcome to Crag Crux Climbers! Climbing is a great sport! It combines physical fitness, strength, flexibility, and endurance with technique, and a unique problem-solving aspect that results in an amazing feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration.

So, how do you get into all this? Well, you came to the right place!

First off, register here, and join Crag Crux Climbers. That will get you on the notification list, so you'll receive automatic eMail messages about upcoming club events. It will also provide you access to the list of members, where you can see who else might fall into the "beginner" category (you can generally tell by the levels up to which they climb), so you can contact them directly and see if they want to climb!

But that's not all. We can also help you get going.

New Climber Introductions

If you're a new climber and you want to see what this is all about, you can climb with a more experienced Crag Crux Climber at either Toronto Climbing Academy or Rock Oasis. All you need to do in eMail info@crag.ca, and we'll get you connected with someone who can show you the ropes... literally! We'll also try and get a few more climbers out to make an event of it if possible, and there is generally an opportunity to socialise afterwards, providing new members and beginners with an opportunity to learn about climbing from more experienced climbers.

If you're a complete beginner, and have never climbed before, please make sure to let us know, so we can help get you set up for a Beginners' Belay Lesson the first time you go climbing. In those lessons you will learn:

1. How to properly put on a climbing harness, and check that someone else has their's on properly.
2. How to tie-in to a top-rope.
3. How to check that your climbing partner has properly tied into a top-rope.
4. How to safely belay someone who is climbing.

This is enough to get you ready to climb. After that, we hit the walls! We'll try to help you with technique suggestions and general climbing style that will save your forearms and help you to climb better.

After climbing, we'll hit one of the local establishments to deal with any dehydration issues, and any undernourishment problems we may have, if you get our drift... beer anyone? It's also a great opportunity to talk about climbing adventures!

Please take a moment to read Safety at the Gyms, and Not Just a Walk in the Park.

How Else to Get Out and Climb

If you're like most of us climber types, you'll get bitten by the climbing bug, and will need to climb. That's where the forum, the members list, and the private messages here come in to play.

• Check the members list for other members that are climbing at around the same level you are. It's a great way to learn and grow together in your climbing ability.
• Don't be put off by climbers that are at a level that's a bit higher than what you're climbing right now either, and contact them. We all started off pretty low at one point, and most of us remember being totally defeated by a 5.6! So you can really contact any member, and say, "Hey! Want to climb?"
• Post a "Hey, who wants to climb?" message in the forum. Chances are you'll get a response from at least one person, and then you can head off to climb!

As the club gets a bit more organised, we'll also be looking at other options to get Crag Cruxers out climbing. So stay tuned for that!

Just Need a Bit More Information?

If you feel you need more information than what we've given here, feel free to contact us at info@crag.ca . We'll be happy to answer your questions!