Posts tagged climbing
After using tape gloves for crack climbing, I always have some tape gunk left over on my skin. While it doesn't hurt and goes away a few days of rigorous scrubbing, it doesn't look super great at t...
I have been told that climbing cracks is very much a methodical procedure. Especially in places like Yosemite and Indian creek, where the cracks can be the only feature of the rock that can be used...
My daughter does crack climbing and wanted me to see if I could find some latex free tape. Her hands are sensitive to the latex. Are there any latex free climbing tapes?
I've been climbing off and on since I was a teenager, but one thing I've never done much of is taping my hands. As I gained more experience, it's value is now apparent. What are some good techniq...
The other day I used some mysterious, ultra-sticky climbing-tape at my local gym, which got me thinking: How much should I be paying for my tape? Prices for climbing-specific tape seem to be somew...
I bought a sport harness and a rescue harness. I'm just wondering if i can use them interchangeably.
I was inspired by the question "What should one do when climbing if someone above you yells ROCK?" to ask what the equivalents are around the world. So, what would I shout to warn someone below me...
In this answer about mountaineering on a glacier, @StrongBad mentioned 4th and 5th class belays. I have never heard of belays being classified into such classes. In what context are these classes u...
How to grade a route when cumulating grades for multiple sections? Is it based on the overall feeling of difficulty or is there some cumulative formula to apply which yields a more or less accurate...
It seems that the majority of professional arborists favor friction hitches that are tied with a free cord rather than a loop: Blake's Hitch Schwabisch Distel Valdotain Tresse This is often tie...
In rock climbing a carabiner can get nose-hooked and it is a very dangerous situation. What exactly is a nose-hooked carabiner and why is it dangerous?
I'm a beginner climber. There are many climbers all over my area (doing cliffs). Would it be polite, impolite, or neutral, to approach groups and ask them if I could join them? Maybe this is 'ob...
At the moment I have a sport harness which is not ideal for trad climbing. I might buy a trad harness for outdoor climbing only, however I for the moment, I've been focused on Grivel Lynx and have ...
I am trying to decipher a text from this page on rope solo leading: The other way you can tie in is to create a higher tie in point between your harness and chest harness, meaning you have less...
I am regularly using the Click-Up belay device from Climbing Technologies together with a 40-meters rope from Edelrid I bought recently. Now, after using the two only about 10 times together (alwa...
From what I understand of the history, Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) grades came about when class 5 in the preexisting system was subdivided into 5.0 through 5.9. This was done by Chuck Wilts, Roya...
Some I've noticed: V0 – hanging by one's arms; shifting weight for balance; pushing with one's legs V1 – pinching, edging V2 – laybacking, pockets, backstepping, flagging V3 – 'more strength'? ...
Does anyone know the origin of the word "Sendtember"? I'm trying to figure out what it means and Google isn't being helpful. I think it has something to do with temperatures in the month of Septemb...
The other night I went to the climbing gym, intending to look for a climbing partner once I got there. (My usual gym climbing partner isn't available to climb as often as I want to.) The gym provid...
I, an experienced climber who knows how to rappel, would like to take some people on a scramble route that requires rappelling into a notch. The other people on the trip have standard top rope clim...
I am most interested in setting up a top rope anchor on 2 bolts side by side. I feel like in this case you almost have to be more careful using bolts for a top rope than sport climbing because in s...
Simple question, which has been prompted from this answer. What is a bloquers? I'm guessing it's some kind of prussik and it's a French term. But I'm not familiar with it. A quick google search ...
I've been climbing 1-2 times / week (usually once) for about a month. After each time I climb, I feel joint pain in my elbows. From my understanding, this is likely Tennis Elbow. Slowly but surely...
My boyfriend and I do top rope climbing quite regularly in our indoor climbing centre. On attempting a harder route, he slipped and fell, reaching the ground. I am trying to understand what went ...
I've been climbing for about 7 years starting when I was 31 years old. Initially I made rapid progress as I learned the various techniques etc, but after about a year I plateaued and I haven't rea...
I've been wanting to get into rock climbing for a while but I live in a very flat area with no climbing gyms around. I'm planning on moving to the Pacific Northwest soon and I wanted to know what t...
I had to turn around on a long (5000ft) glacier route last week because one of my ankles had really begun to hurt. The ankle was so fatigued after 1000ft that I doubted my ability to safely finish ...
My late husband died 7 years ago & I still have his gear. I'm not comfortable leading (and I've lost half my shoulder tendons anyway), so I won't use it. I think the ropes, etriers, etc shoul...
The comment on a previous question I posted here: I am not sure whether this biner was aluminum, but it could be, so a warning (please excuse me if the biner is steel): Aluminum biners are ...
In the past I saw climbers climb alone on multi-pitch routes only by themselves (but not free solo). What's a correct technique to do this? I know how to do it with two ropes, rope ascenders and o...
The following is a scene I have always been perplexed about. I’ve seen it many times. A mountain climber has no one above him as he descends and is trailing rope behind him that he is using to stab...
Reading the description for a clove hitch on animated knots by Grog (the go to bible of knots IMO) I was surprised to read: Caution: The Clove Hitch was, originally, included here with the in...
I'm reading the UIAA standard for climbing ropes, which is supplemented by the EN 892 norm (which I can't provide a link to, since this would be piracy). I'm sort of confused about the fact that, e...
I was watching a video this am where a guy tied a clove hitch and passed it though a carabiner one handed. This seemed a very handy technique to know. I usually use both hands to tie this, make a ...
If I made a noose with this knot and lifted a heavy object by putting it inside the noose / knot: the knot should slip and hold the object tightly automatically it should be difficult to untie th...
A little grim this but I was discussing free soloing with a non-climber in work and I said "Well once you get over a certain height you're not going to survive a fall anyway so anything over ...
Commercial slackline solutions seem bulky, heavy, overpriced, and a little too industrial for my liking. I have 6 carabiners and 50m of tubular webbing. What knots do you recommend for building, an...
What are the differences between a shock absorber as it is used in professional rope access and a via ferrata set? As I found out that in my country shock absorbers have to fulfill EN 355 and via ...
I was backpacking in Coyote Gulch, Utah this past week and ran into an issue with my 70 liter backpack. The entrance to the gulch through "Crack in the Wall" was a narrow "slot" entry, so the backp...
I have read some posts here regarding the expiration dates of climbing material, especially trad gear. Friends and nuts (as all climbing equipment) have a lifespan of 10 years according to all manu...
Close to my home, there is only a bouldering gym, but no climbing gym that offers roped climbing. But my real goal in climbing is leading harder/longer routes. The bouldering really improves my str...
We know left-footed football players, we know right-handed and left-handed batmen and bowlers, we know left-handed or right-handed tennis players, and so on.. I know being a right handed guy I co...
In sport and trad climbing, a sit harness is widely used (except for children). However, I wondered if there is the possibility to fall out of it? One situation where I could see this happen is in...
I have just watched the docudrama "Touching the void" for the umpteenth time. I am a climber and mountaineer and have a great deal of respect for Simon Yates and his efforts to save Joe Simpson and...
A friend would like to start climbing but he can only use one arm. I've read about a few people climbing with one arm, but I haven't found advice on which gear to use. We are only at the beginning...
In an English climbing guidebook about a French region, I read the term spit anchor in the general description of the equipment of the (multi-pitch) routes of some crags. I never heard that term b...
In climbing competitions there are usually the familiar competitor categories of beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Sometimes there are categories for youth or older climbers too. At bigger comp...
If I were a couple of decades younger, I would seriously consider trying climbing in a climbing gym, but I doubt I have enough flexibility, and I would feel horribly out of place. The thing that a...
