Bouldering: let’s talk holds
Back to bouldering again, so what is it this week? Well, a few weeks back The Circular went out towards Awesome walls and has been going since. We’ve had a few falls and some close calls, but we’ve improved and are currently tackling boulders around the 6C grades.
So what happens when you go up a grade? Well, you go up difficulty levels and experience new holds that previous grades have you starting on. Some of the holds are ridiculous especially when you get to the grade of 7A. Don’t worry there’s photos below showing what grades attach to which boulder to give you a better sense of difficulty. Here’s the different grade boundaries at Awesome Walls:
Grade boundariesSo where do you start? In the beginning stages you’ll begin on grades like 3-4B and work your way up to grades like 4b-5a within your first few goes, different grades mean different climbing holds like pinches, nipples and slopers, where each grip has a different technique to it:
Pinches: Basically pinching a hold
Nipples: tiny holds for your toes
Slopers: angled fat grips that involve your whole hand.
Have a look at the images below to get a better understanding of the holds.
Pinch – You’ll be introduced to these holds around grades 5c
Jug – You’ll be introduced to these holds around grades 4A
Nipples – You’d experience these around the grade of 6c
These holds get hard as you improve, it takes years of hard work and training to achieve the higher grades like 6b-7a (at that point you should consider competing in the world of climbing if you’re in Ireland)
To get a more in debt understanding of the grades, watch this video from one of the internets top climbing channels:
