UKC

Please dont put the black, red and brown problems next to eachother as when they get chalky I cant see a bloody thing. This sucks and I end up going home and crying myself to sleep.

This counts for the yellow next to the green, and the blue next to the purple.

Thanks

In reply to Ian:
Hi Ian, I heard that they avoid having red and green holds up at the same time to help the red green colour blind. I know this doesn't help you here but it sounds like they are at least trying to be nice.

In reply to Chubbard:
i cant see those either




means i stand around like a pleb asking randoms where the holds are...

In reply to Ian:
I've always found most climbing walls are pretty rubbish for colour blind climbers.

In reply to Ian:

We have experienced the same problems with some of our colourblind climbers, but im sure no one is offended or annoyed by you asking. As a member of staff too, im sure they'd be willing to help.

In reply to Ian:
Hey Ian, I'm going to be using TCA a lot over the next couple of months to get nice and fit for my hols, so I don't mind spotting holds for you in between problems, my hands get knackered if I climb non stop!!!

In reply to liz j:
hey Liz, cool offer. Will pm you

In reply to Ian: They don't have brown problems.

In reply to Strife:


oh, well maybe dirty black or red ones?

In reply to Ian:
Hi Ian and anyone else who's colour blindness makes things difficult at our wall. Before we opened we had some comments from people asking us to avoid certain colour combinations - after a while it became clear that we were going to struggle to satisfy everyone's needs. One thing that was common was the need for good light, which we've tried to do with our daylight tubes and having plenty of them. We've also avoided having too many holds per square metre and have tried to space the problems in each coloured circuit around the place. I don't think many people would mind you asking which holds are what colour and Liz's offer seems a pretty good one.
Hope your eyes aren't too sore this morning after a night of tears.
Rich

In reply to Ian: I have the same problem, it's frustrating to say the least and sometimes means I climb harder as I'll come back down to my partner who'll say "you missed a few cracking holds/foot placements there" coz I'm climbing past holds I believe are off the route, conversely I get away with occasionally grabbing a hold off a different route when I'm struggling and just blame the colour blindness if called out on it

I climb with a good bunch generally who are aware of the situation and all I need to do usually is indicate a hold and look at my belayer who'll either nod or shake their head and direct me to the nearest best hold of the correct colour, it's amazing how many times you see this played out by different climbers & belayers on a regular basis..but what's the alternative?

In reply to The Climbing Academy:
My eyes are ok thanks, still hurt a bit but I'll pull through. <hugs> I have no tears left...

Well I'm going to try again tonight thanks. I'll see how I get on...

In reply to Ian: Climb outdoors, problem solved!

In reply to climberjamie:
i normally do

In reply to Ian:

Out of interest Ian, can you see red against a grey background. (I realise you can't distinguish some colours, period.) I have this problem. For instance if a topo guide has a photo with a red dotted line on it I can't see it. Also, if someone points out a red sling on a crag I can't see that either. Just interested...

In reply to Ian: some walls use tags with symbols on as well as colours. Maybe if this was more widespread it would help the poor colour blind climbers and stop them using the old "i tohught it was red" excuse?

In reply to jon:

i struggle with that
i can see shades etc quite well so if there is a snake in the grass i'm the first to see it, but struggle with telling which is which. sounds weird but makes sense to me

In reply to Ian:

I guess this could be a plea to RockFax to stop using red dotted lines.

In reply to Ian:

Take some insulation tape down of a colour you can see and mark the holds before you climb or let the staff know which climbs are an issue and ask them to do it for you while you get on with some climbing

In reply to FiendishMcButton:

What an awfully good idea! Would help some of us who aren't colour blind but who struggle to distinguish similarly coloured holds once they get grubby and chalky.

In reply to jon:
Actually, i'm not sure if i can be arsed going now...

What to do, what to do...

In reply to The Climbing Academy:

spotty holds are a cure for this! or swirls. Then you're following the patterns not colours

In reply to Ian:
I had a word with one of the route setters at a wall that I go to last week.
Green routes next to red routes on every wall, arrrrrrrrrrghhhhhh!
I reckon they should be clear holds with a light bulb in them. Press a button for which grade you want and those holds light up, brilliant! (pun intended).
But seriously though, would numbers be so difficult?

as well as varying the hue (colour) it is often possible to vary the
brightness (eg dark green vs bright red). But the obvious suggestion has been
made to use tape to mark a set of holds. This is easily done when setting the route if thought required. Only usually need black tape and white tape
to distinguish routes.

remember to talk to your wall as well as on here (though they are replyin on here

In reply to jon:

can you read red type on grey background or vice versa grey type on red bkgd ? like if you did it usnig your 'puter

I have known people at Liecester wall use laser pens to point out holds, this seems to work pretty well.

In reply to FiendishMcButton:

The wall i use in brighton also used chalk sticks (i.e like we all used to use in school before white boards) to annotate holds with symbols drawn next to them where two routes get to close together to tell them appart.

This shows up well on the wall surface but can be cleaned off when routes are re-set.

In reply to lithos:

Red type on grey background, I have problems. I need lots of light to make things out but still the letters blend in. Grey on red, don't know. Interestingly I've never thought of it so perhaps I can. I'll give it a go...

Why not just write the colour on the holds i.e. Red, Dark Red, Green, Dark Green

This idea was suggested by the organisation that runs my wall : P

In reply to Robbie_Phillips: I climb at the castle and mile end and always have this problem. My mates point out which ones are in but its more difficult at the top of a route or if I'm there on my own. I'm sure they used to use symbols when I started - so much easier as for me most colours are hard to make out especially when covered in chalk

In reply to simonbowyer@hotmail.co.uk:
I dont like to say it but kind of glad Im not the only one that suffers this problem , good excuse ahem for cheating though ay ? tut tut , already got my coat . . shuffle shuffle whilst studying green floor or is it grey . .? 80S

In reply to ceri:


Problem with that is that it starts to make the place look untidy adds to the work load of the setters and as soon as a tag gets torn off, no one knows what is and isn't 'in' any longer.

Maybe finding out which holds are in before starting climbing would be the best strategy? Remember that they are often of a similar design/hold manufacturer on each problem.