Climbing
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Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to move up the surface of a steep object. It is pursued both recreationally, either to get to a destination otherwise inaccessible or for its own enjoyment, and also professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.
Rock climbing, the scaling of steep rocky surfaces, is perhaps the most familiar sort of climbing; other types of climbing include ice climbing,
Mountaineering, the general activity of ascending mountains, often requires the use of climbing techniques.
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[edit] Types of climbing
Climbing may be divided into two broad categories: aid climbing and free climbing.
- Aid climbing involves using artificial devices placed in the surface either as hand and footholds or to support body weight in other ways.
- Free climbing requires that the climber use only natural features of the object as hand and footholds. Free climbing may be further subdivided as follows:
- Traditional lead climbing, or "Trad lead climbing", uses removable protection. The climbing team begans at the bottom of a climb and ascends to the top, with the leader placing protective devices as he or she climbs - an approach emphasising the exploratory aspect of the sport and requiring a certain amount of boldness. Trad climbing is considered by many to be the cleanest style, as the climber to follow the leader, called the cleaner, removes the protective devices and leaves but marginal traces if any at all of their passage.
- Sport lead climbing involves the use of pre-placed, permanent bolts for protection. This frees the leader of carrying so much gear, since he just clips in to the bolts with quickdraws. However, permanent protective devices, like bolts and fixed pitons, are subject to dislodgement or decay over time and thus may become an insidious hazard for a leader.
- Top rope climbing, or top-roping, involves suspending a rope from an anchor located at the top of a short climb. The climber is then safeguarded by a companion who holds the rope; the companion may be either at the top of the route or, more commonly, at the base.
- Bouldering is normally described as climbing short, severe routes on boulders or small outcrops. While ropes from above are occasionally used, most boulderers feel that the most ethical form of protection is a bouldering mat or pad similar to those used by gymnasts. This is the most gymnastically demanding form of rock climbing.
- Indoor climbing is a form of climbing that can involve bouldering, top roping, and leading in an indoor environment. For most it will be the easiest way to begin the sport. Climbing is done on a wood and plastic simulation of a rock, often in a dedicated "rock gym".
[edit] Climbing system
[edit] Techniques
[edit] Rappelling
Rappelling (Abseiling) is commonly accepted as being one of, if not the most dangerous part of climbing. The accident statistics support this view. One of the reasons is that many times on a descent or retreat people are tired and make mistakes. Another factor is that you are totally relying on your equipment to support your life instead of the normal method of using the rope as a back up to your climbing ability.
[edit] Grades
Climbing communities in many countries, as well as individual regions, have developed their own climbing rating systems. Ratings are a method to communicate or record the consensus difficulty of climbs. The more refined systems exist in areas where the routes have been ascended many times, by many climbers. Nevertheless, the perceived difficulty of a climb may vary from person to person, depending upon individual strengths and weaknesses. For a climber very good at pulling on large holds, for example, a 5.11a "jug" route will probably seem a little easier than it would for another climber whose specialty is balance-climbing on small holds.
There are three considerations that are commonly addressed by a rating system:
- How hard is the hardest move? (pure technical difficulty).
- How sustained is the route? (how much stamina you need to climb the route).
- How dangerous is the climb? (what the chance of injury is upon making a mistake whilst climbing)
Hiking, Bouldering, Roped free climbing, and Aid climbing all share these factors to one degree or another.
Many existing systems deal only with one or two of the factors cited above -- some emphasize the technical difficulty, some the endurance. Other systems (such as John Gill's
Just for good measure there is one more scale to remember. A scale for how much time a route typically takes to complete.
[edit] Access Issues
Rock climbing is not necessarily allowed on any given rock formation. The regulations vary from place to place but
Climbing on buildings and structures ("
[edit] Climbing in popular culture
Climbing has been featured in many popular movies, such as
[edit] Climbing clubs
Climbers often belong to Clubs, some of which were started in the very early days of the activity. Clubs are often responsible for the publication of Climbing Guides. The article Alpine Club lists some of these organizations.
In the
- Climbers' Club - senior club for England and Wales, except the
In the United States several venerable clubs are:
- Sierra Club - founded 1892
- California Mountaineering Club
- Colorado Mountaineering Club - founded 1912
- Chicago Mountaineering Club - founded 1940
- The Mazamas - founded 1894
In Ireland, the
[edit] See also
- List of climbing topics
- Climbing equipment
- Mountaineering