10 Dec Holiday gift guide for climbers

Holiday season is upon us, and the annual struggle of what to buy the people in your life begins. But if you’re lucky enough to be surrounded by climbers, your holiday shopping will be a breeze— climbing requires lots of stuff. If you’re wondering what exactly to buy the climbers in your life for Christmas, this guide breaks it down for you.

For the boulderer

Bouldering requires less stuff than other types of climbing, but there’s still plenty you can buy. One option is a huge “boulder bro” chalk bag– in contrast to regular size chalk bags, which can be clipped to a harness for sport climbing, these chalk buckets are only good for taking up too much space on the climbing gym floor. Here’s an example.

For the sport climber

If your climber likes to sport climb, chances are they can’t send their project. What’s second best to sending? Micro sending. While you can’t help your climber stick the crux of the proj, you can definitely help them redpoint the mini proj (crag location: the fridge). Buy a micro sending set here.

For the trad climber

Trad climbers are ridiculously easy to shop for, because they love gear. Try buying them a unique piece of gear that they don’t already have on their rack, like a ball nut or an offset cam. If you don’t like the trad climber you’re shopping for very much, get them some rope, tie it into a monkey fist knot, and tell them to place it in a crack for pro.

Another good gift option for a trad climber is a new pair of crack gloves. This gift serves the extra purpose of reminding the climber in your life that they aren’t skilled enough to climb sans gloves, like the real climbers do.

If your climber carries a lot of internalized self hatred and therefore subjects themselves to pain by choice (read: they love climbing finger cracks), you should definitely buy them some magic tape. Seriously, this stuff is unmatched for protecting finger skin in thin cracks.

For the aid climber

If the climber in your life is an aid climber, consider buying them a journal. This way, they can do some serious reflection on why in the world they would go aid climbing instead of something safer and more fun. If you want to be a little nicer, you could buy them this flask, which will solve the problem by making the aid climbing more fun.

For the alpine adventurer

Alpine folks like to go light and fast, so you probably shouldn’t get them anything at all.

For the comp climber

Why are you hanging out with a comp climber??

Stocking stuffers

Filling a climber’s stocking is ridiculously easy. Hand salve is a great option to help the climber in your life soothe worn down skin. Or you can get a little brush so your climber will take even longer on each climb as they brush every single hold while you shiver at the base, belaying for hours…. If that doesn’t sound appealing, perhaps some locking carabiners would be a better fit. Climbers always need more of those. Or, perhaps you want to replenish their chalk supply, so you can support them in their mission of ruining climbs for other people by ticking every possible hold.

With these ideas in mind, you’ll be sure to give the climber in your life an excellent gift.