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Winter rock climbing isn’t for the faint-hearted. The days are shorter, the holds are colder, and the temptation to stay in bed with a hot coffee is very real. But for those who make the effort, there’s something uniquely rewarding about braving the chill—quieter crags, crisp friction, and the satisfaction of sending while your mates are indoors pulling plastic.
Staying warm at the crag isn’t just about comfort, it’s about climbing well and staying injury-free. Cold muscles don’t perform. Numb fingers don’t crimp. And once the shivers set in, the stoke usually packs up and goes home.
This article shares some go-to tactics, warm-up routines, and gear recommendations to help you stay warm, move well, and actually enjoy climbing at the crag through winter. Let the sending season begin!
Before you even think about clothing layers, make sure you’re chasing sun, not shade. Check your local guidebook to find out the best season to visit the crag and its sunlight hours. If you don’t have access to that info, make a decision based on the direction the wall faces:
A few extra minutes of planning can mean the difference between climbing in a t-shirt or huddling under a rock muttering about your life choices.
Finding the sweet spot with layers can be tricky. Let’s talk about dressing smart when climbing and belaying. Here’s the layering system I live by at the crag:
Start with something that wicks sweat. Merino or synthetic short sleeve top, never cotton. If you get sweaty in cotton on the hike in, you’ll freeze before you even chalk up. Unless you’re at a sunny and warm crag, then a cotton shirt will be fine and dandy.
This is a light, long sleeve insulation layer (a breathable fleece, synthetic or merino) that you could warm up and climb in; keeping you warm without cooking you. You will want this layer if you’re climbing early morning, in the shade, or when temperatures are too cold and it’s affecting your fingers.
This is a medium insulation layer for the initial warm up and after you come down from a climb. Think fleece, synthetic fill, or even a light down jacket. On especially cold days, I would wear this layer when climbing. For multi-pitches, I would use a washable synthetic fill jacket to climb in for the day, instead of carrying a thick belay jacket.
This is your MVP. Oversized so it fits over everything (harness included), easy to throw on while belaying or between burns at the crag. Bonus if it has:
Synthetic pants or a thick cotton. We don't recommend wearing thermals underneath as this can feel bulky and restrict movement.
If you rock up to the crag in winter and expect to “warm up on the wall,” you’re already behind. You won’t feel your fingers or toes, and pulling hard straight out of the car is a fast track to injury. The goal isn’t just to move. You want to elevate your core temperature and get your fingers ready to grip. A proper warm-up starts before you lace up your shoes.
You want to build a light sweat without exhausting yourself. Here are some basic dynamic exercises:
Dynamic warm up for your hand can help the tendons glide, activate antagonist muscles and get heat flowing into your fingers before any loading takes place.
With the cold weather, you really want to spend time to prime the fingers to be ready and accept crimping safely. Jumping on the wall without this step is doable, but you won’t be able to tell how hard you’re crimping with your fingers feeling cold and numb. Portable training tools are useful here because you can hang them on a bolt, tree or stand on them for warm up exercises.
Some examples include:
A basic warm-up routine with a hang board:
Using a block is another way, the activation is slightly different as you’ll be focused more on engaging the fingers into the final position rather than resisting them:
Dynamometers
Attaching a dynamometer (like a PitchSix Force Board or Tindeq Progressor) to the finger board system is becoming increasingly popular to help understand your total possible muscle effort when warming up and if you’ve reached your crimping capacity. We don’t talk about how to use them in this guide, but you can learn about them here (article coming soon).
Extra tips and tricks we’ve picked up from years of climbing during winter:
Climbing through winter isn’t about being tough — it’s about being prepared. When you layer smart, warm up properly, and chase the sun, cold-weather cragging can actually be some of the best climbing all year. So don’t hang up your harness just because the temps drop. Embrace the chill, get your system dialled, and see how much better it feels to actually enjoy the cold rather than suffer through it.
Got your own winter warm-up hacks? Share them and keep the stoke alive (and the fingers thawed)!
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