Climbing covers a range of recreational, adventurous or sporting activities involving using one's hands and feet to move up the surface of a steep object. Evolving from the pursuit of mountaineering, rock climbing is the scaling of steep rocky surfaces, usually using ropes and other climbing equipment for protection.
Rock climbing can be subdivided into free climbing (where ropes and gear are used strictly for safety in the case of a fall), and aid climbing, where a passage up a piece of rock is engineered by using equipment placed in the rock for upward progress.
People have been climbing mountains recreationally since the early 1700s. The use of a rope in mountain climbing started in the mid-1800s in Europe. At this time the rule was the leader (one who climbs first on the rope) - usually a professional guide - must not fall. This was a fairly straightforward rule as the ropes and techniques of the day meant that a lead fall would most likely be fatal. By the early 1900s climbers in Saxony were using ropes in a somewhat more efficient manner - threading them through occasional iron safety rings embedded in the rock - in their attempts to protect dangerous leads.
History of rock climbing - evolution of equipment
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Climbing has evolved from the cliff dwellings of the Anasazis, to the modern-day, hundred-foot-tall artificial climbing walls of the professional climbing circuit. Some Indian cliff dwellings require modern climbing techniques to enter safely. One of the earliest recorded climbs was by Antoine de Ville. His 1492 ascent of Mont Inaccessible, Mont Aiguille was accomplished under orders, through the use of techniques developed for sieging castles.
The first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 is often referred to as the start of mountaineering’s “modern era”. It took another century before history documents the use of devices similar to today’s fixed anchors: pitons, bolts and rappel slings. By the mid 1800's, climbing had developed into a recreational pastime, with equipment consisting mainly of: an alpenstock (a large walking stick with a metal tip), a primitive form of an instep crampon, and a large, thick, and usually weak rope.
By 1910, German and Italian climbers had made significant strides in rope-handling techniques, and in developing special pitons and carabiners (which had evolved from those first appearing around 1900). Circa 1910 was a busy time, with the Austrian development of rappelling, and Hans Fiechtl replacing the attached ring on pitons with an eye in the body of the piton (a design used to this day). Otto Herzog adopted the first steel carabiner used for climbing from the munich fire brigade, Hans Dülfer devised the dulferitz technique of rappelling, and Willo Welzenbach created the standard numerical rating system based on the amount of time typically needed to complete a route (Grades I to VI).
An advocate of Free climbing, Paul Preuss - in 1913 - coined the term "artificial aid" to describe the use of mechanical aids to progress up a rock. His rule number four (of six) stated: "The piton is an emergency aid and not the basis of a system of mountaineering."
European pitons made their way across the Atlantic to the United States in 1914, when Albert Ellingwood, an American who had climbed while in England, used them to protect a route later known as the “Ellingwood Ledge” on Greyrock in Garden of the Gods Park near Colorado Springs.
Around 1927, Laurent Grivel of France, introduced and sold the first rock drill and expansion bolt.
Fred Pigott's experiments in 1927 with slinging natural chockstones and later machine nuts, for protection at Cloggy in the UK, directly led to the development of the modern device known as a Stopper.
Emilio Comici, climbing in the Dolomites(1931), was the inventor and proponent of multi-step aid ladders, solid belays, the use of a trail/tag line, and hanging bivouacs - pretty much the origin of big wall climbing and techniques. He used them to good purpose with an ascent of the 26 pitch, 4000 foot northwest face of the Civetta.[1]
WWII led to the development of inexpensive army surplus pitons, carabiners, and the newly invented nylon rope. Nylon ropes were much stronger and less likely to break in a fall than the older natural-fiber varieties. Climbers begin to ascend more exposed and overhanging terrain.
Types of climbing
- Traditional climbing, or "Trad climbing" uses removable and fixed protection. It stresses staying connected to the origins of climbing and the idea of starting at the bottom and climbing to the top. Trad climbing will always require a certain amount of boldness and danger is accepted as being part of the game.
- Sport climbing involves the use of pre-placed bolts for protection. It emphasizes the gymnastic qualities of moving over rock. Danger is to be eliminated as much as possible.
- Bouldering is the act of climbing small rocks without a rope. It is the least gear and knowledge-intensive type of rock climbing, though the most demanding in a gymnastic sense. This has led to its popularity with the younger crowd. However, bouldering is not something new to the climbing scene, having been practised in one form or another in France and England since the late 1800s.
- Aid climbing involves using equipment to climb the rock instead of hands and feet.
- Ice climbing is similar to traditional climbing except on ice-covered slopes or frozen waterfalls. Different equipment and ethical rules apply, however.
- Top rope climbing is one of the safer forms of climbing because the safety line is always above the climber.
- Indoor climbing is a form of sport climbing that can involve bouldering, top roping, and lead climbing. It can be the safest form of climbing and for most people it will be the easiest way to get started. The climbing is done on a wood and plastic simulation of a rock, often in a dedicated "rock gym". Climbing competitions are held at artificial climbing walls.
- Alpine climbing involves rock and ice climbing as a part of mountaineering, usually employing traditional techniques. Sometimes refered to as Mixed climbing, this form of climbing often employs the use of ice tools on bare rock surfaces.
Safety
Being safe in climbing is mainly a process of making safe choices and decisions. Gear placements, the type of route, the difficulty of the route are all things that have to be taken into consideration in determining whether a given climber can "safely" attempt a given route.
Climbing system
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Techniques
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Climbing Techniques can be divided into basic categories. In reality, these techniques apply to all of the forms of climbing
- Face climbing:
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- Vertical: Smaller hand holds and edging
- Over-hanging: climbing rock features beyond vertical
- Slab climbing: low angle smearing (with the sole of your foot)
- Crack climbing:
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- Jam crack: Hand, fist, or finger size
- Off-widths: bigger than fist, but smaller than chimney
- Chimneys: Body or bigger sized cracks
Rappelling
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Rappelling (Abseiling) is commonly accepted as being one of, if not the most dangerous part of rock 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 rock climbing ability.
Grades
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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?
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 "B" system) are partially based on the number of ascents the climb has had. The result is a complicated situation in which comparison of climbs from one region to another--particularly if the types of rock differ--can be tenuous. Go to the main article for details of the various systems, and a comparison chart.
Just for good measure there is one more scale to remember. A scale for how much time a route typically takes to complete.
Access Issues
Rock climbing is not necessarily allowed on any given rock formation. The regulations vary from place to place but trespass laws are the most common impediment to climbing. Even where physical access is not an issue, climbing might not be allowed due to public liability concerns. Land owners often ban climbing during particular seasons to protect, for example, nesting birds. There are several organisations devoted to opening up new areas, or protecting access to existing areas, for rock climbing. In the USA, the largest of these is The Access Fund. In the UK, an equivalent organisation is the British Mountaineering Council's Access and Conservation Trust.
Climbing on buildings and structures ("buildering") without the owner's consent is illegal in most cases.
Climbing in popular culture
Rock climbing has been featured in many popular movies, such as Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit, but save for a few exceptions (The Eiger Sanction being one example) it is generally given an inaccurate portrayal by Hollywood and much of the popular media. The sport of rock climbing was swept up in the extreme sport craze in the late 1990s which led to images of rock climbers on everything from anti-perspirant and United States Marine Corps commercials, to college promotional materials.
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 UK there are several prominent clubs, including:
In the United States several venerable clubs are:
See also
Sources and notes
- ^ Bigwalls
External links