Climbing Rentals at The Back Country

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Truckee, California is right off of I-80. Our store is very close to several locally and world-famous climbing areas, with an assortment of excellent granite as well as basalt and volcanic rock. You can see the granite at Donner Pass from our parking lot. Excellent bouldering lies down the street from us in Donner State Park, and we are only 5 miles from Big Chief. Or head down the West Shore of Lake Tahoe and hit up Bliss State Park Boulders, Eagle Lake Cliff and Buttress, Sugarloaf, Pie Shop, or Lover's Leap. All within an hour's drive. We are a 2 1/2 hour drive from Lee Vining, the east entrance of Yosemite, providing summer access to Tuolumne Meadows, also home to the best Ice Climbing in the state. Good luck making it past Bridgeport, however, without stopping to plan a climb!

Photos of our local climbing areas can be found on our website messageboard here: The Backcountry's Climbing discussion forum

How to Find Us

See map here. We are only 30 minutes from Reno Airport and a 2 hour drive from Sacramento.

Discounts

10% off for 3 day rental, 15% off for 4 days or more. 15% discount for groups of 8 people or more.

Special arrangements

Email mike@thebackcountry.net if you need more than a few speciality items. With some advance notice, I can sometimes bring in extra gear for your party. I'll also be happy to help you plan your adventures in any way!

Reservations

We avoid making reservations because we cannot control when the previous person returns the equipment, and would never wish to have your reservation missing at pickup time. This allows us to treat everyone with more flexibility. However, climbing rentals don't get all that busy, and we will almost always have shoes and helmet in your size. If you require an equipment reservation to make your trip possible (such as a guided trip or a class, or just have very tight scheduling), call or email ahead and we will do our best to work with you.

Equipment

We primarily rent climbing shoes and helmets. Harnesses, ropes, protection, and any other safety gear are something you need to invest in for yourself or borrow from a friend. Let us know if you have any special requests outside of these basics.

Support

We can make special arrangements for delivery or group transportation -- maybe you want to take a dozen people with you to your favorite cliff. If there's a group outing you want to put together but aren't sure how to make it happen up here in vacation-land away from your home turf, let us know what you're thinking about and we'll see if we can help you with the big picture. We can also hook you up with a professional guide or instructor from Alpine Skills International right upstairs from us; or feel free to contact them directly.

Rates and Time Periods

Climbing rental rates are for the day, and everything is pretty inexpensive so we don't do hours or half-days on this stuff like we do on bicycles. A full day is from whenever you pick up to closing (8:30am-6pm), not 24hrs. If you keep rental gear overnight on a 1-day rental there is a late return fee equal to one hour charge. Overnight fees are waived for multi-day rentals.

$8	Climbing Shoes	We have a small but adequate fleet of rental climbing shoes, covering most sizes. Call ahead if your feet are extra large or small, or if you're looking for kids' climbing shoes. Rental models are basic, average-fit trad lace-ups.
$5	Helmets	Basic hard-shell helmets to fit adult heads. We do not always have kids' helmets; call ahead if you need one.
$8	Plastic Mountaineering Boots	Our friends upstairs at Alpine Skills International have a fleet of plastic double boots for snow and ice mountaineering. Contact us ahead of time and we can usually get you a pair.
$5	Adjustable hiking or ski poles	Black Diamond Flicklock poles, K2 Lock Jaws, or comparable. Great for hiking rough terrain or moderate snow.
$15	Avalanche Transceiver	Please see our Winter Rentals page for this and other snow safety gear.
$8	Backpacks	We are rarely asked for rental backpacks, but if you catch yourself up here without one we can set you up. We also specialize in climbing packs and rope packs, so check out our new stock too.
$12	Crampons	Flexible step-in and/or strap-on boot crampons for snow travel. Great for going to Lassen or Shasta, or climbing eastern Sierra couloirs. We sell, but do not rent, rigid crampons for vertical ice climbing.
$8	"Ice" Axes	Basic mountaineering piolets for snow travel. For general mountaineering and self-arrest, whether climbing a snow field or just crossing a glacier on the way to a rock route or over a high pass on your backpacking trip. For actual ice climbing you need real ice tools, which we sell but do not rent.