Whether you’re a beginner or have been climbing for 30 years, you can always learn something to make you a better climber.
Upcoming courses
Self Rescue for Multipitch Climbing courses have resumed! I am proud to teach this class with Rocks and Ropes / The BLOC in Tucson. See the schedule of classes here: https://rocksandropes.com/thebloc/classes/
Why take climbing courses?
For the beginning climber, learning the right techniques can save hours of frustration, help avoid dangerous situations, and reduce the chances of getting hurt.
Learning to make placements, lead, build anchors, belay, route find, and manage time, rope, and transitions are all important aspects of climbing. Teaching these skills requires a completely sound knowledge base, a logical approach to teaching, and a massive amount of experience. Very few recreational climbers possess these qualifications. A certified guide, however, has undergone rigorous training and examination to demonstrate competence in both climbing and instruction.
Even for people who have been climbing for years, there is always something to learn. I have been climbing since 1997 and have watched thousands of people climb. A few of them have been excellent – great movement skills, a wide array of technical skills, and a good sense of when to apply them. Most, however, have weaknesses that are slowing them down, limiting what they can climb, placing them at increased risk, or just making their climbing less enjoyable.
Honestly consider the questions below:
- Can you build a multi-directional, equalized anchor?
- Do you know what “extension” in an anchor is, and the reason it’s a concern?
- Do you know what the effective ranges of your cams are?
- Do you know when it is appropriate to extend a draw on a piece of gear?
- Do you know how much force is generated in a typical lead fall? How much force is generated in a toprope fall?
- Do you know there’s a much better option to tying in with a daisy chain?
- Are you able to belay two people at the same time while keeping the station organized?
- Do you know when it is better to belay off the anchor vs from your harness?
- Do you know when it is better to belay with an autolocking device vs a plaquette device vs a plate device?
- Can you escape a loaded belay?
- Do you know how to quickly and easily extend the master point of your anchor?
- Do you know when to use hip belays vs terrain feature belays?
- While belaying a second to an anchor, could you set up a rappel and have yourself on rappel before your second arrived?
- Do you know how to back up rappels and lowers?
- If your partner were injured on a multipitch climb, could you smoothly and efficiently get him down, even if he is unable to assist?
- If you had to lower someone 350 feet with two joined ropes, could you do it smoothly and confidently? How about if your partner was unable to assist you by unweighting the rope?
- If your partner was injured on lead beyond the halfway point of the rope, would you know how to get them him down?
- Using a mechanical advantage, could you raise a second up a pitch if the circumstances demanded it?
- Do you know the advantages and disadvantages of tandem, simultaneous, and counterbalanced rappels?
- Can you manage your rope at belay stances? How about two ropes? At hanging belays? When swapping leads vs not swapping leads?
- Have you practiced these skills in the last month? In the last 6 months?
You might be asking if you really need to learn all of this. My answer: the more you know, and the greater your experiences, the more fun you can have. In climbing, greater skill leads to greater adventures.
Check out a list of certified providers in your area at www.amga.com
Reviews
Have you taken a class with me? If so feel free to leave a review below.
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These techniques are inherently somewhat complex, but Geir presented them in a way that was easy to understand and entertaining. His sense of humor was helpful in keeping everyone engaged and energized. I can't recommend Geir's course enough. Take it. You'll be glad you did.
Thank you Jerry! It was great to have you in the class!
The instruction was very well organized from the fundamental knots to using those knots for baseline setup to different maneuvers off that baseline. The material is dense for a day and geir is very knowledgable on any questions, including other non related climbing topics.
Thanks Bo! It was great to have you in the class!
I highly recommend this class. I feel like I can keep myself and the climbing team safer out on the rock after taking this course. I didn't realize how helpless I could have been in an emergency without these skills and know-how. With continued practice of what I learned here, I feel confident I can make sound decisions and act appropriately in the event of a climbing incident instead of making it worse. Empowering!
Thanks Tyler! I appreciated having you in the class!
Geir is able to take technical knowledge and simplify into layman’s terms, a true expert. He really knows his stuff and was able to answer all of my nerdy questions (fall factors, strength tests, etc). I arrived already knowledgeable in technical ropeworks, with an emphasis in canyoneering techniques. I wanted to learn the standards in climbing. My boyfriend is newer to climbing and does not have much technical experience. We spent the day reviewing and learning belay techniques, multi-pitch transitions, gear placement, anchors and rescue techniques. We also had a lot of fun doing it on an awesome 5-pitch trad multi-pitch! 5-star service and I highly recommend!!!
Thanks Jasmine! It was great to work with both of you!
We had a great day up on Mt. Lemmon learning from Geir as part of the Multi-Pitch Self-Rescue course. As other reviewers have already said Geir is extremely knowledgeable and experienced, funny, and a skilled instructor. He shares specific and relevant stories to put each tool into context. Everything is described, demonstrated, and practiced. I feel more confident now knowing that should we ever get into a situation requiring self-rescue, I have the template and tools to work my way through it. I highly recommend this class!
Thank you Sarah!! It was great having you in the class!
It's difficult to adequately express how awesome our experience was with Geir. He is a master of his craft, kind, funny, present, professional, and above all safe. This was our first multipitch climb, and we couldn't have asked for a better learning environment or instructor. Geir reached out, processed our wants, needs, and skill level, then made appropriate recommendations and executed the plan with aplomb. During the climb my partner and I felt safe, learned a ton, and had an amazing time. It was one of the best days climbing I've ever had, and it will always be a memory I cherish as we step into the larger world of multipitch and traditional climbing. We'll absolutely be working with Geir again on more skills. 10/10 Would Recommend!
Thanks Eric for your kind words! It was a pleasure working with you both!
Very glad I made the drive from Phoenix for this class. Geir is clearly an authority on this topic, and while expertly transferring a lot of knowledge in one day he managed to keep things fun with his constant jokes and pranks. He made me feel confident that I have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of self rescue, and left me with the tools to practice and master what we learned. Thanks Geir!
Thanks for the great review Rich! It was good to have you in the class!
Geir is an ideal guide to learn self rescue from, with decades of experience. He is passionate about the material, and has a lot of data and personal testing to back up his recommendations. Everything is presented clearly with a well thought out progression so confidence is built throughout the day. Highly recommended!
Thanks Joel! I enjoyed working with you in the class!
I learned so much during this day long course and would definitely take other courses with Geir. There were only 6 students which meant we got all the attention we needed and all our questions addressed. My wife and I did this together and plan to practice the various things we learned at home and on our climbs. Thanks Geir!
Thank you Riley! It was great to have you in the class!
This is a excellent course. Geir is a very thorough instructor and patient teacher. He brings a vast amount of easily digestible information and techniques to a topic that can be very daunting. In the first 30 minutes I learned some basic info that after 25 years of climbing it did not have in my repertoire. The course is organized very well and each activity/info builds well on what has been presented. I recommend this to EVERYONE who climbs multipitch. I feel that a refresher course in a few months would be valuable. I can't say enough how great this class was and likely because of Geir
Thanks Laurel! It was great to have you in the class!