Deep Water Soloing (DWS) is one of the most enjoyable and unique styles of climbing. In many ways, DWS combines the skills from other disciplines of climbing and rolls them all together. In DWS, you’ll be climbing onsight or ground-up and just like in trad climbing, you’ll have to think about your fall, the trajectory and any potential consequences. If the rock is steep and the water is deep, you can really go all out, like you would when sport climbing. DWS can give you an amazing feeling of flow. When it comes to falling it is more like bouldering, you’re either going to top out, or jump/fall back to the very bottom. Falling off DWSing is obviously different to bouldering, but similar rules apply. You wouldn’t jump onto a bouldering mat with straight legs, or your knees might explode. Likewise, if you jump off into the water it is essential you make an effort to enter the water safely.

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