Posts tagged climbing
Avalanche shovels come equipped with holes in the blades for use as rescue sleds and making anchors. I've got plenty of my own ideas, but I'm looking for any documentation provided by manufacturers...
I've recently retired a rope (dynamic) and a harness. They're both in very good shape, but just over 8 years old. Common sense dictates I throw them away, but I wonder if there are other uses I can...
Both my fiancee and myself bought some climbing gear recently and we're planning our first trip to an indoor rock gym this weekend. We decided to practice our knots and belay technique before we we...
Ferrata harnesses (FH) can be probably safely used also for climbing, as stated in another post. However, I am not sure how to use the reverso with FH. This is because in a usual FH, the belay ...
On a multi-pitch route when all climbers have reached the belay point, what is the best way/what considerations need to be made, in order to swap lead? Obviously the leader will need to be tied int...
In climbing, a double fisherman's knot is used to tie together two separate pieces of rope. How would I tie such a knot?
Or may be it is an ascending device... There are two movable part, both on one axis. I tried searching about various descending devices, but I find mostly descriptions of Petzl things. This ma...
The guy who taught me to lead sport in the gym suggested that when I'm going for a clip, I position my body so that the clip is somewhere between my hips and my chest. He claimed it was a bad thing...
I started setting routes in the small bouldering gym of our climbing club. I'm basically learning by doing this, so my approach is basically to try to think of some interesting moves, put up the ho...
I am eager to go mountain climbing but cannot carry heavy backpacks because of my light weight. I want to know if there is any scientific equation to help me know how much weight is safe for me to ...
What gear do I need to climb buildings? Can I use a suction cup lifters? Or is it a safety risk, since this piece of equipment was clearly not developed to climb buildings?
I want to screw a board in my house to mount indoor climbing holds, like an indoor wall. so a piece of board with evenly spaced screw holes in it that accept the standard screw mounts for climbing ...
Is there any method for making the initial stages of an abseil smoother when the anchor in use is at foot level and the ledge drops off abruptly. I have had a big swing before when trying to do thi...
When climbing a multi-pitch route, suppose I am belaying the second climber, using Reverso or a similar device. It lets me arrange the rope in such a way that when the climber falls, the rope auto...
There is a video here. Basically I won't say I'm planning to do the same thing but would like to find out more behind how he did it. Someone told me the suction cups were intended for construct...
How safe is it to use a chest harness without a sit harness? I ask this question because of an experience I had while on holiday. A couple of years ago I was in China and hiked/climbed HuaShan (se...
When setting up belay there are many ways to connect the anchors. One way is called equalette and is supposed to adapt to a certain extent to the direction of pull. How is such an equalette constr...
I was just looking at an article about an expedition on Eiger. I came across this picture. Is this setup right? For more info on the expedition: http://www.markseaton.com/stories/eiger.htm Ku...
I took some kids out climbing last night at a small crag popular for top roping, but I wasn't too impressed with their choice of anchor placements, or lack of additional hardware considering their ...
Is there a technical term that refers to a knot untying under load because the tail was too short?
There are three types of ropes according to the UIAA/EN norm for climbing ropes: Single, half and twin. While the distinction between single ropes and the other two is rather obvious (one strand ve...
It's been a while since I went rock climbing but I'd like to get back into it. What are some hand exercises that will help with climbing?
I'm having some trouble with my Gri-gri. It seems to keep "jamming" when feeding out rope. It's causing me so much trouble I've basically stopped using it and gone back to a good old fashined belay...
So you know how when you're belaying you clip in to the belaying loop, and when your climbing you tie in to the two loops the belay loop is stiched through... When you're climbing, what part would ...
How do you bypass the overhang, mid-rappel? --. <-- Start of rappel | | __| <-- Overhang | | Do you go to your knees and then step one foot over at a time trying not to squash yo...
I bought my first set of cams and I've been curious about what happens when the slings start to wear out. Are they user-replaceable? The ones I purchased seem to be very un-user-replaceable: How...
I'm thinking of a single rope that it's safe to take long lead falls, but also light to carry around. I weight 75 kg and I might climb with heavier partners (80-90 kg)
When looking at buying climbing ropes, they are rated to a number of "UIAA falls". What does that mean?
When we rappel after a multi-pitch climb, we usually take up the rope (or both ropes when we use half ropes) so that we end up with one or two nicely lap-coiled ropes. Throwing the coiled ropes q...
There is already the question Please Explain Rock Climbing Grades however I would like to know about aiding grades. StrongBad's answer to an aid/trad question mentions A0 and C1 grades. Are these t...
Recently I saw an arborist climbing up a single rope with an unbelievable speed, as if it was just a ladder. Of course he was using all kinds of specialized gear including foot/chest ascenders and ...
I'm just curious how feasible it is to install a rock climbing wall on the side of a regular, balloon framed house (modern standard in the U.S. and Canada). Would something like that require constr...
What are the risks of climbing a via ferrata alone? Would going through very easy via ferratas still pose high risks? Are well visited and easy climbing via ferratas necessarily a great danger? I...
I have been watching this climbing video of Alex Honnold. In this video his friend goes ahead of him and cleans the wall of any debris or slippery rocks. What are these people who clean the walls...
I have an all natural bug spray that uses distilled water and a combination of four essential oils, and NOT containing DEET. If I spray it on my body and clothing before climbing will these essenti...
I've recently started making my alpine (or "trad") draws by girth hitching one end of a sling to the gear side carabiner and then clipping and passing the rope side through as usual. The girth hitc...
Lets assume I am abseiling multiple pitches with some tuber device and at some point at a belay I dropped the device. How do I improvise something that does the braking while descending? I still ha...
Usually when I climb I take plenty of rest between attempts however, yesterday I decided that I wanted to test myself and climb 25 problems at my local gym. I chose problems that were below my leve...
Not only, but mainly while bouldering you are likely to push hard moves and strain your body onesided. As a consequence you can pain your muscles, ribbons or tendons. But... How do I know if the ...
I was spurred to post this after reading Which fingers to use in a 2 finger pocket when rock climbing? Last year I injured myself training on a shallow three finger pocket with an open hand grip...
Last year, I learned that you could thread the wire of stoppers/rocks/hexentrics through tunnels in the rock if threading cord or a sling through them would be too difficult. As a reference, see th...
I see people doing this a lot: My question is: Why? When is it necessary to double up locking carabiners? Ever? Doubling up non-locking carabiners with opposite and opposing gates was, and sti...
What are the advantages / disadvantages of a rock climbing hat made from hard plastic to one made out of carbon fibre? I have done a Google search already, but wanted some pointers with people who...
I've heard that I can take glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate supplements to prevent damage to my fingers when I'm climbing. Is it true, or is just an old wives' tale?
I've heard that I can take glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate supplements to prevent damage to my fingers when I'm climbing. Is it true, or is just an old wives' tale?
I have been practicing trad climbing and I've run into some difficulty managing and handling the gear. Specifically, I'm awkwardly taking cams off my gear loops, fiddling with them, and finally pla...
Everyone knows an undercammed piece is bad. Does any data exist on how bad it gets? In other words, how does the strength of a cam placement change with the retraction angle?
How do you modify Cam slings with a straw as described here for easier removal?
How free climbing compares to other styles of climbing is well explained in the question Bouldering vs aid climbing vs free climbing vs free solo climbing and more specifics are given in What does ...
How would someone grade a bouldering problem they've created? What would one have to look out for when grading? When bouldering, does a highball mean a more difficult grading?
