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Yesterday the day was bright and warm so I decided to test an outdoor public boulder in a park fifteen minutes away from my home. I decided to write about it, also because it's a nice opportunity to talk about safety measures.
So, while on an indoor boulder, there are fluffy mats to prevent injures if someone falls when climbing. But outdoor walls doesn't usually have this. Therefore, it's necessary to bring your own. Mine is a foldable climbing mat from Sismond called "crashpad", similar to this one: https://www.decathlon.es/es/p/crashpad-de-escalada-bloque-block-1mx1m/_/R-p-143827?mc=8495266&c=GRIS_AZUL
Nevertheless is important to check it accordingly to your weight, and keep in mind that also this is about climbing lower than 3 m or so, without ropes. If you climb higher, the mat and the security measures are different. As I sad, I usually climb horizontally and study technical things, but almost never climb high - rope style, and I never climbed with ropes in outdoor climbing walls. Once I choose where do I want to practice in the wall, I put the crashpad and use the climbing carabiner to attach my regular shoes (I commonly use mountain boots which have rope hitches) and my backpack which notebooks and such. I also wear a fanny pack with my wallet, phone and such with me, and the bag with chalk alongside. I commonly use liquid chalk because it's the one permitted in the indoor boulder, but having it there is nice to get a chalk touch while hanging in the wall.
Outside, public bouldering places are not as well maintained as private ones. They might be not well secured, broken, damaged or have pointy/sticky things that annoying people put there. So, before getting to the climbing, I make sure all the interesting parts I want to rely on on the wall (even cracks) are safe to use. I also make sure around me there aren't kids playing I can hurt if falling or annoying teenagers that look like wanting to mess up with my things.
Next thing is have fun! When I'm on an indoor boulder I tend to hang until I feel I cannot hold myself anymore, but when outdoor climbing I jump or go down way before. I use the crashpad but I want to control the best I can the fall, and try to fall standing up, so in order to make a good fall or getting down the wall, I want to spend part of my strength on that.
I'm no expert whatsoever! but I've always been obsessed with self-security. I don't use a helmet or knee protections, though, because my vision is blocked by the helmet and my movements by the knee protection. But when I climb several meters up (with ropes, on indoor), I always wear a helmet. I strongly test the carabiner and the ropes, and try not to fall if possible (to be honest, even being very safe, I'm terrified sometimes). People doesn't usually wear helmet indoor for this but... :p I need my head in good conditions. So if I feel safe while not wearing helmet for regular "horizontal" climbing, trust me I gave it a thought. It's very important, though, that you known how to fall. Even by surprise. I already knew about this because it's the same as in self-defense, which I learned quite some time ago. The falling is try to fall in fetal position, back against the floor, and head leaning to our chest. If you don't known how to, this is important, take a look at videos. When you are still learning, is also recommended to have someone with you that offers "support" by keeping close to you and your "falling" area, and makes sure to catch you if you trip. I go on my own because I have practice, but if you don't, maybe try going with a friend or a relative you trust. In my opinion is better to calculate the strength you need to climb down, and try to do that, instead of jumping. It's nice to both practice technique and security. But sometimes you trip or you suddenly don't know how to get down, this is fine: you can jump (but I wouldn't jump over 2 and something meters).
About the park boulder: it was "meh". I enjoyed the practice but the distribution of the hanging rocks was messy. I spent sometime looking at the wall trying to figure out how it was meant to be climbed, and I'm not sure the people who built it knew what they were doing. There were tons of "foot" rocks (they are smaller and meant mostly to be stepped in, rather than to be grabbed) where starting "grabbing" positions are, for example. Actually I decided to rely mostly on cracks for grabbing, and focused on choosing good stepping-in rocks (which is actually how you should perform your climbing, focusing on the feet), but it was a but frustrating. In any case I took advantage of the situation and practiced some basic postures and exercises, instead of loosing myself in a funny wall.
Aaanyway, long post! To sum up: safety first and I liked to practice slowly on a messy, public wall! the only thing I forgot is to wear a brush to clean up the chalk. But I didn't make a particular mess, so I tried my best to clean it without the brush.