To:

From:

Professor Laura Wilson

Jesse Badinghaus, Jason Bradley, Matt McConaha

Date:
Subject:

September 19, 2014

Informal Internal Proposal Beginners Guide to UC Climbing

INTRODUCTION
Climbing is a technical sport which can be intimidating for a beginner. Because climbing involves
heights, there is inherent danger. There is also a plethora of equipment and jargon which can be
overwhelming for a would-be climber. The purpose of this proposal is to acquire permission to produce
an introductory manual to the sport of climbing for UC students. The manual will provide a complete
overview of the sport in an informative and easily accessible way for UC students or anyone considering
taking up climbing. Among the various topics covered will be: the history of climbing, the types of
climbing, types of gear, understanding climbing routes, climbing technique, local climbing locations, and
climbing jargon.

DISCUSSION
In the following sections we will discuss the problem, our solution, and our plan to implement and
complete our manual. We will analyze the causes of the problem, how our solution solves the problem,
what benefits our solution has, show our schedule, and discuss the duties of each member of the team.

Problem
The UC REC Center has a rock climbing wall that is accessible to all UC students. Some students already
have a solid climbing background when they first step foot into the climbing area. However, a large
portion of students do not have much, if any, experience. For these participants, approaching the wall
for the first time can be very intimidating, and often an off-putting experience if the climber is unable to
get over the initial anxiety. We believe that it would be beneficial for prospective visitors to familiarize
themselves with the basics of climbing before ever grabbing on to the wall. UC does offer an
introductory course, but not every student can or will be willing to schedule the course into their busy
lives. Plus, the course costs 30 dollars; an amount of money that a lot of students cannot spare.

Solution
Our solution to the aforementioned problem is to construct a comprehensive beginners guide to UC
climbing. This guide will offer everything an uneasy, potential climber would want to know in order to be
comfortable with the idea of climbing before they even step into the REC Center. An added benefit is

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that this guide will also be helpful to those more experienced climbers who want to branch out and try
new types of climbing or who want to find new places to climb.
We will start with a brief history of climbing, and then go over the different types of climbing. Following
this we will go through all the different gear, explaining what it is and how it is used. Then we will teach
the reader how to understand the climbing routes that are taped off on the wall. We will then briefly
discuss a few different climbing techniques. Finally we will list a few local climbing locations and give a
description of them. Throughout the guide we will offer climbing tips and give definitions to some
common climbing jargon. In order to make our manual clear and easy to understand, we will include
multiple diagrams that show step-by-step processes and pictures that clearly show what a particular
object looks like.

Context
Our schedule, as illustrated below in Figure 1, is based around the sub-projects A2 through A5 which
contribute to the final manual which is project A6. Each sub-project has a period of drafting and a
period of finalizing before submission. The only exception to this is the progress report and mock
manual page which are due midway through the project. By implementing this schedule our team will
be able to complete the project fully and on time. Following the schedule is a breakdown of each team
members assigned responsibilities which indicates what they will contribute toward the final
completion of the project.

Figure 1: Climbing Guide Project Schedule

Matt McConaha - Project Manager: Matts duty is to oversee the larger project and ensure all
of the pieces come together. Matt is also in charge of making sure that tasks are done on time
and that everything is done correctly. He has the final review of items to look for errors before
submission. He will also help in the writing and design process as needed.
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Jesse Badinghaus - Writer: Jesse will have primary responsibility for producing the content for
the manual. Jesse will also serve as the primary editor, looking for linguistic errors and
improvements of content. Jesse will receive help generating content from the project manager
and the designer, and will be available to assist the designer if needed.
Jason Bradley - Designer: Jasons primary duty is in developing the design of the manual.
Among his primary tasks will be to develop the style guide and produce the mock manual page
due midway through the project. He will also help produce the content and write copy as is
necessary.

Manual Contents
Our bound manual will have at least 30 pages of content, but may exceed 30 pages if the need arises.
The manual will employ various descriptions, procedures, and graphics to educate readers in the
following content areas:

Cover
Table of contents
Intro
- History
- Types of climbing
Gear
- Ropes & knots
- Harnesses
- Chalk
- Shoes
- Carabiners
- Belay/rappel devices (ATC & Grigri)
- Anchor hardware
- Helmets
Wall anatomy
- Climbing routes
- The Yosemite Decimal Rating System
Climbing
- Technique/holds
- Belaying
- Commands
So you're ready to start climbing...
- Etiquette

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- Locations (description, services, gear rental, cost, etc.)

Glossary
Sources

CONCLUSION
The idea of walking into the climbing center not knowing a thing about climbing can be very intimidating
and overwhelming. We want to offer the students at UC a comprehensive beginners guide so that
anyone who may be interested in learning to climb has the knowledge and confidence to begin their
climbing adventures. As an added benefit, our guide can also be helpful for those more experienced
climbers who might be looking to branch out and try new types of climbing in new places. Please
approve our topic so we may begin working to provide this necessary climbing guide to UCs students.

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