Posts tagged rock-climbing
Subtag of climbing
What are the chances of falling and turning upside down, with your head down. Is the gear special from preventing such falls?
I recently picked up bouldering and bought my first pair of shoes as well as chalk and a bag. I've only been climbing in the gym for now and handled the equipment like any other gym-sports-equipme...
I love rock climbing and I try to go to my local gym and boulder as often as possible (usually 2-3 times a week). But it's really hard for me to climb for any extended period of time because my arm...
Sometimes when clipping in people who are rappelling, or setting up anchors in some places from above or showing people how to get onto a fixed line, I need an adjustable tether. I often carry a n...
Long & Gaines Climbing Anchors says: Jim Bridwell, one of the most experienced climbers in the history of the sport, uses only four knots for any and all climbing situations. Better to ...
I am practicing falls with a self belay device indoors and I am tying the rope to the anchors so to fall on a single strand of rope as I would in real life. I used the figure eight on a bight but ...
Climbing anchors usually have 2-3 redundant protection points, which distribute weight. So if one point breaks, this will not be a catastrophic failure. However, what should I do in practice if th...
If you had a climbing rope anchored above you on either a sheer cliff or a really steep incline, what is the minimum amount of gear that a person would need to ascend the rope without assistance fr...
Senario: I am leading the climb with 2 ropes. I reach at the first pitch. I put myself on the self anchor and built a master point. Now I want to top belay 2 climbers at the same time. They both w...
In Dean Potters and Sean Leary's 2010 attempt to take the speed record of The Nose at El Capitan in Yosemite, Dean Potter has something white on his legs (and arms?): What could this be, and whi...
I would like to prepare for a long route (700 m altitude gain, 12-16 hours, including descent, with alpine start), one like which I have never [successfully] climbed before. It involves many sectio...
What are the practical aspects of using good quality hiking boots (e.g. ones shown below) for climbing? Arguably, an outdoor enthusiast might be involved in various sorts of activities from hik...
I am wondering if anyone else has experienced fear/panic that gets in the way of bouldering, and what their tips are for dealing with this. (There is a prior question on fear in lead climbing, but ...
This question was borrowed from a comment on this question. But what is meant by an "aggressive" climbing shoe? What is the difference in a non-aggressive shoe? And when would you use one over the ...
I had been a regular climber half a decade back. And, then I got off the routine. Now I am trying to get back into climbing. For that, I go to a local climbing gym kind of thing managed by a frien...
I resumed climbing a couple of months back after a gap of a couple of years. After spending a month of quality time at the wall regularly in order to get back in touch, I have started to try differ...
I sometimes climb in the gym with a partner who outweighs me by about 50%. When he's leading and falls from above his protection, I can get pulled up to the first clip. If he's not very far up, thi...
I have been piling up carabiners, cordelette loops, webbing, ATC devices, Gri-Gri, etc., and it is all now hanging from my harness. This adds a considerable amount of weight and becomes a bit unwie...
I have a 120cm nylon runner that I want to use to tether me to an anchor bolt while cleaning the anchor. The runner has a small fray (pictures below). Is it safe to use?
Is it safe to girth-hitch nylon webbing through my harness tie-in points and then shorten the webbing via an overhand loop (assume it is too long) and clipping the non-bight part to the bolt in the...
I think the title speaks for itself. I have done a basic google search and I do not find the references to be sufficient. I'm looking for a short synopsis that would educate a layman such as myse...
My girlfriend often complains that a route or boulder was created for tall climbers. In my experience that sometimes is true: I easily get a hold, she has to jump. However, Lynn Hill proved that a ...
What is your opinion: Does it make sense to train rock climbing wearying a weight vest or a small backpack carrying a small amount of weight (let's say 1-3kg or 2-6.5lb) to mimic the actual weight ...
If I'm using a natural feature such as a boulder or a lump of rock as part of an anchor by tying a static rope around it, what are the best knots to use? I'm thinking that there would be different ...
Is it still considered a 'figure 8' knot when you dress it so the loop is perpendicular to the rest of the loop?
What products and process should be used to clean a climbing rope when it gets sufficiently dirty? How would I remove as much dirt and grime as possible without negatively affecting the strength o...
I am looking for an article that was published in either Rock and Ice or Climbing Magazine around 1999. I know the area and route of the article topic as well as the author's name. I may even have ...
Like most climbers in my area, I use a rope bag to avoid having to reflake the rope after every climb. The downside of this is that the rope gradually aquires twists and after enough climbs, the r...
I am wondering what is the best way to progress from being a consistent V4 and on-sight/redpoint 5.11 climber? I seem to have hit a plateau in my progression and it is super frustrating. Indoors, ...
I'm a beginning trad leader, having done about five easy fifth class leads. I've had some formal instruction, but don't currently have access to a teacher or mentor. I'm finding that I'm extremely ...
I occasionally place slings on rock spikes as trad climbing protection. If the spike is not very tall or thick the slings can become easily dislodged as the rope passes though the quickdraw/carabin...
I have climbed indoors and outdoors for several years, both top rope and sport, and I somewhat recently took an outdoor trad climbing class. In the class, we placed protection while on top rope and...
Suppose you're leading a short pitch (20-30m) and you have two followers, or you want to double rope the route, and want to simply half your rope and tie into the centre, pulling the two halves up ...
I am trying to learn some history about rock climbing. I know initially rock climbing was purely an outdoor activity, and according to this article in the 1990s indoor climbing gyms started to spri...
I mostly climb at a rock climbing gym, and I can climb for hours until my forearms run out of gas. However, when I climb outdoors, usually the reason I have to stop is because the skin of my palm...
I was reading this question and the first thing that popped into my head is what do you use to mark the middle of the rope? I was taught not to use any kind of marker on the rope (because there's ...
If an individual walks with a pronounced duck-footed (splayed) gait, and is actively trying to correct this, is there any harm for the individual to begin rock climbing. I feel like a lot of edging...
The reason I'm asking this is, I currently have a pair which I purchased from KMart for around $30 AUD, I've been using them for a while but I found they do not have proper griping on steep and une...
I've just recently gotten into climbing and so far the ropes have always been provided for me. I'm starting to look at getting my own rope for outside climbing, and am confused by some of the termi...
I was going through the REI website for some of the products and I stumbled upon this one here. It's called Y & Y VERTICAL Classic Belay Glasses The product punchline says: Stop wrenching...
Given: - A single pitch climb - Top roping only, belayed from below - Limited number of helmets (assume only 1 for a climber/belayer pair) Is it more important for the belayer to be protected fro...
In addition to rock climbing, I also go to the gym for strength training with free weights and machines. I know some muscle groups are crucial to rock climbing, such as arms, back and core. I also ...
What are common climbing techniques for strongly overhanging walls and roofs? In order to avoid a strength oriented climbing style and focus on technique.
When climbing single pitch routes, it makes sense to carry as little as possible while actually on the route, as almost every eventuality can be easily dealt with by simply lowering back to the gro...
What is the difference between Sport Climbing and Traditional (Trad) Climbing? Is it just that Sport Climbing uses bolts?
I just recently returned from a course where we utilized a static rope to construct a top-rope anchor from a top-accessed ledge: the system was like that described in this answer - the resulting co...
When learning how to set climbing routes on artificial walls, setters are often told to set route difficulties according to a "bell curve". An example of this is mentioned on this page. What is...
Reposting this from a Facebook discussion. It's a picture taken from a retail store where they have attached a pin-tag through the rope to prevent theft; a common practice at this location. My gut...
I used to be a regular climber, and unfortunately I have put on some serious weight over the last 4 years, and I have not been able to climb as much as would have loved to. While, I am still worki...
Does anyone know the strength of an ATC when used in a multi-pitch set up? It occurred to me that the entire weight of a climber is resting on the strength of the ATC clip and not on any carabiner....