When climbers discuss climbing roped climbing routes, the difficulty rating of the climb is often considered essential information. The difficulty rating gives a climber an indication of what moves, strength and/or skill the route might involve.

In North America, vertical travel is generally described using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS). The YDS gives any describes any given hiking, scrambling, or climbing route with a Class. For Class 5 and Class 6 travel, it also includes a Rating.

Most Wisconsin sport climbing is located in the western/central portion of the state. This article highlights the following six sport climbing areas: Petenwell Bluff, Granddad Bluff, Fishing Crag, Qual Wall at Governor Dodge State Park, Hillbilly Hollow and Willow River State Park.

Beginning climbers can ease their learning curve on their first day climbing by learning a few common climbing terms used by American climbers. While it’s impossible to memorize or understand all these terms, just having some familiarity will help you better understand the goings-on at the climbing area.

The lake we know today as “Devil’s Lake” was created when the Wisconsin Glacier impounded an ancient river valley (which may have been the ancestral Wisconsin or Baraboo Rivers), blocking it above and below the large gap the river had cut into the southern ridge of the Baraboo Range. Though people surely lived in the area before last Ice Age, archeologists have found no records prior to the glacier receding around 15,000 years ago,

A staggering array of ropes and cord are available to the modern climber by many different domestic and foreign manufacturers. The safety record of nylon climbing ropes is excellent; in fact, no modern rope of 9 mm diameter or greater has ever been reported to fail due to a simple lead climbing fall. Given the proliferation and safety record of modern climbing ropes, it is easy to overlook the enormous improvements that have been made since rope was first used as a climbing risk management strategy (which began during an era where many top climbers did not live to see past the age of 30) [1].

Beginning rock climbers often wonder how to get started rock climbing… there are many topics and directions to consider! We wanted to share our answer, as we know many new climbers have similar questions.

A first climbing outing is likely to generate all sorts of feelings, like excitement, anxiety, curiosity and uncertainty. For those who like to know what to expect, a little advanced preparation can be helpful. Because your trip is custom tailored to you and your group, it’s impossible to predict every detail. However, many aspects are largely consistent from trip to trip, so the rough timeline below provides a good idea of what’s likely to happen and how you can prepare for success.

Have you found yourself wondering what the difference is between scrambling, bouldering, and free climbing? Or the difference between “free climbing” and “free soloing”? Although they all have some traits in common, each climbing pursuit its own unique discipline, with a specific movement style, setting, and purpose. 

Lauren Magiera and Steve Scheurer from WGN Chicago came up to Devil’s Lake in June 2019 to film a pilot for Lauren’s new show, Destination Outdoors.