43 Ways to Find Your Next Climbing Partner, IRL or Online

Sick of bouldering sans spotter? Growing weary of that rope solo lifestyle? Autobelay got you down? Don’t go it alone—find a new climbing partner, or three.

But where, you ask? The digital age represents a double-edged sword when it comes to partner-finding. On the one hand, we have many partner-finding tools at our disposal online. On the other hand, thanks to all that screen time, we’re more isolated than ever. Like dating, finding a good climbing partner might seem easy on paper, but can end up being a struggle in practice.

Of course, it may only be a matter of time before AI figures out a way to serve as a totally acceptable and safer-than-human climbing partner. But as far as we know, AI hasn’t even cracked crying on a 5.7 trad route yet. So in the meantime, you’ll need to stick to human-only climbing partnerships.

The other, more timeless, crux of partner-finding is that not all climbing partners are created equal. Climbing with a sketchball is arguably more dangerous than bouldering alone. When you climb with someone new, make sure you keep in mind some belaytionship red flags as you consider whether you must sink to new lows.

Digital tools aside, most folks are still seeking out climbing partners in real life. In an Instagram poll with over 1,000 respondents, 86% of climbers told us that they meet partners IRL. Only 14% said they find partners online. And some of these climbers shared their best tips for searching out the one when it comes to the pursuit of rock and ice.

Whichever medium you prefer, here are some ideas for meeting your next partner, from our community and our own editors.

1. Bulletin boards still reign supreme around some climbing areas. At Yosemite’s Camp 4, at the Stawamus Chief Camp in Squamish, or at the Supercrack lot in Indian Creek, for example, check out the bulletin board or post your own friendly “ISO partner” note.
2. Go to the nearest coffee shop to a destination crag. Try to make eye contact with any individuals that have chalk residue on their clothing, helmet hair, or extremely weathered synthetic insulated layers. Bring a local guidebook with you and flip through it as you caffeinate for what will hopefully be a day of climbing with your new partner.
3. Show up to the closest bar to the crag wearing a puffy with duct taped holes and weathered approach shoes. Buy someone else wearing a duct taped puffy and approach shoes a beer.
4. One climber shared that the Oak app is “the most effective online way” to find a climbing partner. This partner-finding purpose-built app lets you find people near you to climb, summit peaks, and ski with. It’s also free! Note that Oak is not a dating app—only for finding adventure partners.
5. Check out the local bookstore in an outdoor community. Ask the staff if they have recommendations on which climbing guide to buy—and if they know any locally skilled rope guns.
6. If you still have a Facebook account, many areas have Facebook partner-finding groups or local pages for the climbing community. Search on Facebook, ask to join, and make a friendly post.
7. Use the Partner Finder tool on Mountain Project. Enter your specs—and try not to shoot yourself in the foot by narrowing your search too much.
8. Head to the Mountain Project forums. Try posting in a regional partner forum.
9. Show up at the crag with a Grigri, a rope, snacks to share, and a smile. Ask if anyone fancies a belay.
10. To dial in that last tip a bit further, if you show up to the crag solo, strategically scout out groups of three or crews with an odd one out. Look for a couple people standing around, looking aimless. This is a great way to meet several partners, and increase your odds of getting an affirmative response.
11. Go to a meetup at your climbing gym—check out your gym’s bulletin board or event calendar to see when the next one is.
12. Get a job at a climbing gym. Even if it’s only a part-time desk job or working the occasional grom birthday party, you’re guaranteed to meet other climbers who work there and want to get out.
13. If you’re also looking for love, some climbers recommend turning to dating apps like Hinge and Tinder. Make it patently obvious that you’re a climber on your profile—call climbing out as a hobby and use a climbing shot as your profile pic. Then, screen your dating pool for other climbers.
14. “Start dating and slowly convince her[/him/them] to get into climbing over months,” as one climber suggested. If you adopt this strategy, we recommend looking for indications that the person you’re dating will be relatively easy to recruit into the climbing lifestyle. For example, keep an eye out for someone with an interest in geology, excellent flexibility, or anarchic tendencies.
15. If you’re not looking for love, spend some time developing a platonic friend into your next climbing partner. Pay for their day at the gym—or for their harness/shoe rentals to use at the crag. Show them some proper climbing Type I fun.
16. “Invite the spray,” recommended another climber. You can always tune out the ensuing hosedown if it’s not to your liking. But there’s nothing quite like a beta spray invitation that soothes a climber’s ego—and will make them want to belay you for many sessions to come.
17. Go on a guided climbing trip. Even if you consider yourself an expert climber, choose a discipline you’re less than adept at—whether that’s ice, deep water soloing, or crack climbing—and find a guided trip catered to that. This is a great way to meet other climbers who, like you, are probably looking for a way to tap into more partners and community.
18. A less expensive option? Take a class or clinic. This could be a specialized clinic at a climbing fest, or a class in an area you could brush up in, like self-rescue skills or trad anchor building. Ask a fellow student to climb after—or impress your instructor with your skills and passion and see if they’re looking for someone to climb with.
19. If you’re simply far too advanced for a guide or instructor, why not become one? Commit a few days of your life (and a few hundred dollars—or more …) to take your Single Pitch Instructor course. This is a great way to meet other avid climbers. Of course, you could actually then start working as a guide (even if only part-time) to recoup your partner-finding investment costs.
20. “Ask literally everyone you know,” recommended one climber. You will probably get a lot of “no’s” but if you get one “yes,” weathering all that rejection will be worth it—and mentally prepare you for getting shut down on your project. You could also ask friends if they have friends who climb.
21. Become a member of the American Alpine Club and find your regional chapter. Or seek out and join an unaffiliated local alpine or mountaineering club. They’re all over the country! From the Wasatch Mountain Club to the Chicago Mountaineering Club, these regional organizations host group outings and events that can help you get plugged into your local climbing community.
22. Take actually good pictures or footage of someone climbing (no butt shots). Then offer to Airdrop it to the climber in question. Then ask if they need a belay.
23. Get a job at a gear shop—or even a retailer like REI. Odds are high you will find someone to climb with. Even if you don’t, the gear discount will be well worth it.
24. At the bare minimum, you’ll want to be well-equipped in your quest for another human who climbs. No one wants to rope up with a partner who needs to borrow a belay device, whose rope is looking haggard, or who doesn’t have a rope at all. This holds especially true if you’re trying to meet a partner at the boulders or at the crag, vs. in advance.
25. Load up on the good gear. The longest stick clip. A quadruple trad rack (this will especially be a hit at the Creek). The most cush crashpad in existence. Whip it out and watch as the focus of belayers and spotters in your midst shifts from the climber to your shiny, new gear. Then offer to share.
26. Work in the industry. Get a job with a climbing brand, become a climbing shoe resoler, write for Climbing, or manage the social media account for a climbing training organization to make new connections across the sport.
27. Search Instagram for semi-pro climbers with absolutely miserable projects—long approaches, hundreds of burns, adverse conditions. Slide into their DMs and offer to belay them. When they become injured, ask if they’ll belay you.
28. “Look lonely and sad at the gym,” advised one climber. This means not staring at your phone (unless you’re on the Oak app looking for a partner within a .1 mile radius).
29. Acquire some advanced skills, such as getting ropes unstuck, rodeo clipping the first bolt, or removing hopelessly stuck cams. Lurk at the crag until other climbers appear to be struggling therein. Then offer your services up at no cost—with one catch (literally).
30. Show up with extra. Extra chalk, extra tape, extra draws, extra water, extra snacks. Await the moment when someone runs out. Offer up your reserves. Then ask if the unprepared climber in question would belay you in return.
31. If you feel self-conscious about hustling for partners at the crag, make up a story. Your buddy was supposed to meet you, but they got sick, totally ghosted you, had to bail, etc. Then other climbers may take pity on you—and wonder less about why you’re solo in the first place.
32. Go to Reel Rock or another climbing film fest. Drag along a buddy as a wing-person. Make conversation with the person sitting next to you. Chat up the person in line for beer behind you. Win a raffle prize and bravely declare you’re ISO a partner on stage.
33. Head to an (ideally local) climbing festival (check out a list of the best fests here). Everyone there will be a climber(!). Find other locals and exchange numbers.
34. Volunteer for a crag clean-up day with Access Fund or your local climbing organization. Sometimes volunteer events are chased by climbing sessions. So not only can you get some climbing in, but you’ll meet locals to climb with later.
35. One climber recommended drinking beer in front of a cliff. As in the gym scenario (tip 22), you could also try to look sad and lonely while doing so. A better approach might be to tailgate in the parking lot for the approach trailhead to a popular crag, where you can intercept groups with odd numbers as they arrive.
36. Hand out business cards at your gym or crag with your phone number and the phrase, “First belay’s on me.”
37. Spectate at a USA Climbing local comp or a competition at your gym.
38. Post some used gear for sale on local resale platforms (no shipping!). When you meet the purchaser, tell them a fun story about said gear. Then ask them if they want to go climb.
39. Buy used gear from a local. Ask the seller to tell you a story about the used gear when you pick it up. Then ask if they want to climb sometime—or, like, right now.
40. Are you crafty? Put those strong fingers to work and start making a climbing-related quirky product. It could be dog leashes made from retired ropes, a vibrant sticker with a locally riotous reference, or a nut tool that doubles as a spork. Hand deliveries only, wherein you ask your patrons if they could belay you on the proj in exchange for a discount.
41. “Join a hackysack circle,” suggested one climber. Our editors can’t vouch for this one, but it certainly can’t hurt.
42. If these tips aren’t working, it might be time to consider your hygiene. When was the last time you took a shower? Got a haircut? Attended to your bloody fingertips? Spruce up your appearances, then repeat attempts at tips 1-41.
43. If you’re getting truly desperate, you may need to consider more extreme partner-finding measures, such as moving. Whether that’s moving into your car and going on a nomadic quest for friends across the Americas, or moving to a climber town, pack it up and good luck on the open road.

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