I recently walked into my local climbing store for nothing in particular. As I was browsing, I came across a box and thought, “Is this box empty? Why are they displaying an empty box?” Skeptical, I opened the box and found...a climbing helmet! I was dumbfounded. Climbing helmets are normally bulky pieces! And while even the heavier versions aren’t that burdensome, at the end of a long day at the crag, I find myself tilting my head to the side and belaying while practicing neck rolls. As far as I'm concerned, cutting a few ounces can make a huge difference.

As Fitness Program Manager of Movement Golden and Englewood, I notice that a lot of our members are more than just avid climbers. You’re trail running, backpacking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and more. That’s why we’re creating a fitness training series called Mountain Prep designed to get you ready to crush your other outdoor pursuits. It may only be October, but winter and, specifically, ski and snowboarding season is just around the corner. It may still be a while before we can get our first turns in, but now is the time to harness your upcoming ski and snowboarding excitement into exercises to get your body prepped for the season. Here’s a series of exercises you can start now so that your first ski day feels more like your 10th.

You’re outside at your favorite crag or bouldering pit. The weather is perfect, you’ve been training hard to send your project and you’re geared up and ready to crush! You start climbing, your heart’s beating, you’re starting to sweat and your forearms are pumping out. You only have a few more moves until you send, but you don’t think you’re going to make it. What do you do? The answer: Breathe!

Lead climbing is what I love most about this sport. While climbing can primarily be described as an individual sport, there is almost nothing more important to a lead climber’s success than trusting their belayer. This trust allows the climber to focus 100% on their climb and to commit to those harder and scarier moves. On the flip side, the fastest way to erase that trust is to give your climber a hard catch, which can happen if the lead belayer doesn't leave out enough rope while the climber is climbing. Hard catches can result in more than just a stunned climber, if your climber hits the wall hard enough, they could potentially hurt their ankles or hands.

Some of my fondest climbing memories have been spent with friends, huddled around the same 15 foot tall boulder, figuring out the precise sequence to send, and laughing all the while. I love bouldering outside--it's really awesome! However, there are a few things you should know before you take your inside hobby into the great wide open.

The climbing approach, the trail or walk in to the base of an outdoor rock climb, can be a weird concept for newer climbers who have learned in a gym setting. I’ve heard from some that it can be intimidating climbing outside the gym because there is so much more you need to know and it can take some time before you can get there. But approaching the crag is one of my favorite parts of any excursion.

Not long ago Black Diamond released the ATC-Pilot--a brand new assisted braking belay device that’s perfect for the gym or the crag. I was skeptical at first since there are numerous similar devices already on the market, but I’m a huge gear nerd so I had to try it out.

You make it to a yoga class. You're laying down at the end and you're ready to relax in Savasana, the last resting pose. As you settle in, the teacher tells you in their softest and most reassuring voice to let go, to surrender.

When I’m in Rifle, all I want to do is climb. From the moment I wake up, I’m ready to take off and jump on the warm-up routes. I sleep with the guide book next to my pillow. On a sheet of scratch paper sticking out of the book is the list of routes I carefully chose the night before. I’m still a bit impatient, like a kid at Disneyland, but I’m working on it. As the sun creeps over my van, I get out and walk around and pace around my climbing partner’s car, who is usually still fast asleep. I might even bump into his car a few times to get the ball rolling.

As climbers, most of us have felt the awesome impacts that climbing can have on us as individuals and on our local communities. Ideally, the continued growth in climbing and the development of new climbing areas in new communities will continue to have a positive impact and foster our community. That is our goal for Loreto and Comundu, two small communities in the incredible Sierra Giganta Mountains in Baja California Sur.