by Myth » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:47 am
Welcome...
By climbing I take it you mean "rope and harness" type thing, and if so then I recommend finding the local climbing wall AND climbing club (strangely enough, information on both is often co-located...).
The climbing wall will enable you to hire gear and try out some moves but you will need a second to hold the rope. May be possible to team up with a solo at the wall, or get an auto descender on some pitches, but having a real person making helpful comments from the belay can be educational (or demoralising) - the centre might run classes... the Inverness one does, and they are wildly popular.
Your local climbing club will (I presume) hold meets on on local rock - certainly my local club did over 20 years ago, and I turned up and was introduced to climbing on club gear - all a bit used and rough, but adequate. I bought sticky shoes and a (PINK!) troll harness, sling, krabs and a belay device in short order, and climbed second to a friend for a few years until he moved away. Never did get around to buying a full rack of protection, but had a few bits and pieces.
Mind you, I've not climbed outdoors for about 20 years, and cut up my rope 12 years ago when the local Scout group needed some ropes for knotting practice!
