Close but not close enough

I like I'm sure everyone in this forum has or at one point had an obsession with climbing that has led them to the point to venture outdoors. I have all the gear needed to sport climb and set up top rope however I would like more i instruction, someone to teach me how to climb outdoors safely so I may share this with climbers after me.

Look around at your climbing gym for people actually climbing. You will easily recognise them (keywords: challenge, commit, focus). Approach them and say Hi!

Nope...started outdoors and loathed going indoors. Your gym should have a class....take a class from someone especially if you plan to pass it to the left hand side..

You could hire a climbing guide.

Cron wrote: You could hire a climbing guide.

I'll tell you what; spending the $175 to go out with a guide for a full day to learn outdoor lead climbing (anchors, rappel, etc..) was about the best money I've ever spent.

Pavel Burov wrote: Look around at your climbing gym for people actually climbing. You will easily recognise them (keywords: challenge, commit, focus). Approach them and say Hi!

Or just look for scratches on their belay device.

Also started outdoors. Honestly, you can learn just about everything you need to sport climb and set up a TR from youtube and google. Learn to tie knots and use your brain to analyze different systems that are proposed.

Not hating at all, we were all there at some point. I just think you can really teach most of the simple basics to yourself. It will be helpful to find a mentor but as others have stated it is usually easier/better to do that in person.

I was fortunate that I had friends that taught me the basics. 

Jeffrey K wrote:

I'll tell you what; spending the $175 to go out with a guide for a full day to learn outdoor lead climbing (anchors, rappel, etc..) was about the best money I've ever spent.

He could always climb with Kyle..

Kidding,

 I second the guide. Don't fall for one of the gym classes though, hire him/her to actually go outside and build anchors, practice multipitch on something easy. Have them rate your placements: was that cam behind a loose block? Did you extend the placement to keep it from coming out or walking?

All these things need to be learned to the point of being intuitive, where you don't have to think about it, you just do it. Like a hand jam in a 2" crack.

He is talking about sport and TR, not trad right? Do not learn to trad solely from internet parsing. 

There are experienced climbers in this group that can help you get outside: meetup.com/Rock-Climbers-Of…
 

Appreciate all the support and options guys. Noah I feel very confident learning basic on my own however I did sign up to the Jtree climbing course so will see if this helps. From this forum it seems like the guide was a good choice. Any other recommendations to learn from others I appreciate it. Thank you all 

Good stuff. I taught myself most of the basics then ran my techniques by my more experienced buddy.

I have heard that preparing a bunch of questions is a good way to get more out of your guided experience. 

Jeffrey K wrote:

I'll tell you what; spending the $175 to go out with a guide for a full day to learn outdoor lead climbing (anchors, rappel, etc..) was about the best money I've ever spent.

Just signed up to the jtree courses should help as you stated