10 Basic Bouldering Tips for Beginners

So you’ve caught the bouldering bug. We can’t blame you – it’s too much fun to miss. But it helps to have a few bouldering tips under your belt before you conquer a rock.

Lucky for you, bouldering has become popular in the last several years, so there’s a lot more information, routes, and equipment available.

Here are ten tips to ensure your bouldering experience stays footloose and fancy-free.

1. Buy the right gear

If you’re a committed climber and boulderer, it’s a waste of money to rent equipment every time you set out on a climb. You’re better off investing in rock climbing equipment.

It will last you a while, it’s better quality than what you could rent, and it’s always ready when you are.

For new climbers, your necessaries include:

• Beginner climbing shoes
• Chalk, a brush, and a chalk bag
• A crash pad
• Finger tape

It looks like a long list, but most of it is relatively inexpensive – and remember, it’s going to last you a while.

2. Know your basic techniques

You wouldn’t ride a bike without knowing the underlying mechanics first. The same thing goes for bouldering.

If you’re already a rock climber, then some of the same basic principles apply. The critical difference with bouldering is that you’re not climbing with a rope.

For starters, always place your big toe on holds – not your instep. Most of your body weight should be supported by your feet and legs, with your arms helping you balance. You want to conserve upper body strength for more complex moves – and to that end, always keep your hips close to the wall.

3. Make sure to warm up properly

Bouldering is a sport, the same as any other. If you don’t walk away with any other bouldering tips in your head, always make sure you warm up properly.

The specifics of the warm-up depend on what you like and what works for you, but it should always include the following:

• A pulse raiser, like jogging
• Stretching through your whole range of motion
• Simple climbing

Beginners and advanced climbers both fall into the trap of thinking they don’t need a warm-up. Pro tip: if you want not to get injured, you need one, no matter how much you hate jogging.

4. Always have a spotter

Having a spotter is also known as bringing a friend.

Sport climbing always requires a friend/spotter/belayer to help you since you climb using ropes.

In bouldering, it’s just a good idea to have someone watching your back to ensure you don’t injure yourself, either in a fall or through a lousy climbing technique.

Plus, if you’re a beginner, getting started is a lot easier if you have a friend to do it with you.

5. Make bouldering a routine

You can’t get good at something if you never practice.

The easiest way for beginners to jump in is to sign up for a climbing or bouldering class. Since you don’t have any frame of reference in the beginning, this helps you cover the basic bouldering tips and figure out how to progress.

It also helps you keep in good bouldering shape, even if you can’t make it to a wall regularly.

Plus, it keeps you accountable. If you’re paying for a class, you’re motivated to go and make the most of the program. And you’ll see the results on your next climb.

6. Understand grades

Bouldering grades, like ratings for ski hills, are numbers and number-letter combinations used to rate the relative difficulty of a bouldering problem.

These are more useful if you’re a beginner because they will keep you from getting frustrated by more challenging climbs. As you become a more advanced climber, the grades aren’t as important – you’ll use your judgment above other criteria.

Generally, bouldering problems are graded by having various people climb them and assign a rating. For indoor bouldering, the person who sets the problem will climb it a few times and give it a rating or ask other people to send it and give their opinion to get a sense of the difficulty levels for different body types.

It’s all thoroughly subjective, which is why the longer you climb, the more other bouldering tips besides grades are helpful.

7. Ease into bouldering to avoid injury

Yes, your instructor and the other gym rats climb often.

But if you’re a beginner, your body needs more time to get used to climbing and bouldering. If you’re climbing too often, it doesn’t matter how good your technique is or the quality of your warm-up.

If your body isn’t ready to climb, you will get injured. Simple as that.

8. Know your side pulls and underclings

What list of bouldering tips would be complete without sidepulls and underclings?

Even on beginner bouldering problems, there will be individual holds you can’t grip vertically.

Sidepulls, as the name implies, has an opening on the side. Underclings have an opening on the bottom.

How you climb is different than a typical vertical hold. With sidepulls, you need to wrap your fingers around the side while leaning your hips in the opposite direction. With underclings, you need to grasp the hold underhand, bring your feet high and push up with your feet while keeping your hips close to the wall.

9. Practice silent feet

It is what it says on the tin. It is climbing without making a ruckus.

This drill forces you to pay attention to your footwork to make the minimum amount of noise possible if you want to get better footwork and silent feet on every climb.

10. Don’t be shy about asking for beta

If you were stuck on a math problem, you’d ask for help. It’s the same thing with a bouldering problem.

Beta is the strategy you use to climb a wall. Sometimes you can be strong enough to climb, but your approach is off the mark, preventing you from succeeding.

When this happens, please don’t be shy as someone else climbs the problem. It’s as common as chalking up, and people are usually quite happy to show you.

Bouldering Tips, Supplies, and More

Ready to go bouldering? Let’s make sure you’ve got everything you need.

For more bouldering tips, check out our blog for posts like this on improving your climbing footwork.

If you need gear, head to our online shop or find a retailer near you.

Happy bouldering!