Is 2 Intro courses too many?

Going to the Gunks tomorrow for my first intro course with Eastern Mountain Sports and my first outdoor climbing.

I have also booked a place for October 6-8 in Gardiner to hike, and would love to get to climb.  Alpine Endeavors has an opening for their intro course, would this be a waste of time after already doing one?  Is my only other option to get a guide for the day?

TIA

A second intro course will probably bore you with all the ground school and downtime.  I'd hire a guide to put ropes up for you.

You will (should) get way more out of hiring a guide than from an intro course...

Robert Swrote:

A second intro course will probably bore you with all the ground school and downtime.  I'd hire a guide to put ropes up for you.

Guides putting up ropes is pretty much the definition of the Intro course (a full day clinic).  OP - Is there an intermediate course? That might be better for you.  If you do the Intro day (it's cheaper than a normal guided day BTW), let the guide know that it's not your first day, but be honest about what you have learned/not learned so far. Ask if (s)he will explain each anchor to you, ideally even let you watch them build it. See if they can take a minute to explain how cams and other gear are placed. Ask for pros and cons of the various belay device options. I'm assuming it's a 4:1 ratio, so there will be downtime, and the guide will have loads of time to answer your questions while belaying the other clients. If there's a rappel, study the anchor and the safety system(s) used. You'll almost certainly be belayed on a second rope; ask how the process is different when there's not a guide belaying the rap from above. The point is not to be just another passive climber out for the day.

My dog took intro to obedience twice. The first time, he passed with flying colors, but he was getting bored easily outside of class, so we took him to another. After the 2nd one, he ate his achievement certificate. What he really needed was a more difficult course to keep him interested

Before you sign up for another intro course, ask yourself how likely it is you'll just eat your certificate.

Torin, I’d be interested in hearing of your experience and how that might effect your decision to have a guide or do a course again,  You didn’t directly say you climbed inside or at your comfort level…bouldering, TR, or Leading all in the gym.

Hopefully you had a positive experience and that will direct your decision.  My advice would be to go with a guide as you get an individualized experience. Enjoy 

To follow up, after taking the intro course my question was answered pretty quickly, time to go for bigger stuff.  I'm going to go the guide route next and do some multi-pitch in the Trapps.  Thanks for the thoughtful responses!

The bot steps up to the plate.  It swings. And misses; Strike One. (This is in response to sakuna t's nonsense post)

How did this comment make it here?

sakuna tenison wrote:

Why are the introductory classes not a real class? They are for credit and you also learn something from them. Are they easy, yes but will you get an A if you dont study at all, no.

We need to get to the bottom of this. Emphasis on "bot."

Torin Swrote:

Going to the Gunks tomorrow for my first intro course with Eastern Mountain Sports and my first outdoor climbing.

I have also booked a place for October 6-8 in Gardiner to hike, and would love to get to climb.  Alpine Endeavors has an opening for their intro course, would this be a waste of time after already doing one?  Is my only other option to get a guide for the day?

TIA

You can take as many introductory courses as you need. Get a guide as well if you’ve the money?

neil harris wrote:

Why are the introductory classes not a real class?

I do bot know

And if you win the bottery, you can take more guide sessions than you can shake an antenna at.

Edit: But whether exclusively from courses or guides, your AI will only get better with more than a single input - no? Mine did.

I’ve climbed for just under 18 months and taken a bunch of courses for top rope anchors, sport climbing, multipitch sport, self-rescue and trad intro. Ive taken intro to trad clinics more than once. I’ve also been out with guides 3x for 1-on-1 guiding. If what you want is to get reps in practicing skills you learn at the first course, booking a day alone is really worth it. I climbed 3x more practicing placing gear on TR with one of my guided days than I did during each day at the intro trad clinics - with more people there is just more waiting for climbing and less attention for feedback. That day alone with the guide really gave me a boost to do my first trad leads a few weeks later after about 35-40hrs of trad clinic time and other mentoring. Courses are great for learning skills, though you don’t get a lot of time to practice them. Guided days you can ask to practice specific things and get a lot of reps in, learn some things that maybe there isn’t time for in the group courses. Even if you just want to get out on the rock a bunch, you’ll get more climbing 1 on 1 with a guide. Both have their pros and cons, but I would think it would be better to get a chance to practice more than spend time on the ground listening to things you already heard.