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.

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.

A few months ago, I felt like I was at the top of my climbing game. I on-sighted my first 5.12 trad lead, and had steadily been ticking off long difficult climbs in Washington, Oregon, and Utah. Reaching this level of fitness took years of practice and required overcoming some long-standing mental barriers.

Every week during the climbing season, I get a call or email from someone wondering if there are sport climbing routes at Devil’s Lake. Though I love helping folks answer their questions, I am usually disappointing the the inquiring party because they really want to go sport climbing outside.

Yesterday was a classic example of how October makes for PERFECT climbing conditions at Devils Lake. The weather forecast called for a high of 55, so I bundled up and prepared for a chilly day. But with sunny skies and no wind, it was downright balmy out there, and we were climbing in t-shirts most of the day.