Posts tagged climbing
I have a friend who climbs with another group. She recently had her first couple of experiences as lead climber (sport climbing). I'm concerned that she doesn't have the required theory for lead c...
What is a "top cap" on a climber's haul bag and how does it work? In Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (and also at neilhopkins.us/mountaineering-guide-2/aid-climbing-equipment) is A to...
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 am fairly new to lead climbing. Yesterday, while I was attempting to lead one of my project routes at the gym, I look a fall while clipping the 3rd clip (in the danger zone). The fall scared me q...
I'm signed up for an AMGA single-pitch instructor course (to learn how to teach other people single-pitch climbing). One of the pieces of gear we're supposed to bring is a 30 meter static rope "for...
I buy my rock climbing hardware in America and it all comes labeled with UIAA ratings. These ratings make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My gear has met mythological engineering standards. T...
I have experience in climbing limestone and sandstone. These rocks feel rough - you get much traction (especially with sandstone) and can use it to your advantage when climbing. I think the feelin...
I'm planning on doing some Grade III scrambling/low grade multi-pitch climbing this weekend. Normally just me and my girlfriend would do this kind of thing, I'll lead she'd second. But I'm thinking...
I'm about 150ish lbs and my partner is 100ish lbs. I've read somewhere that a 2/3 weight ratio between belayer and climber is ok for lead climb, but I don't remember exactly where. Can someone co...
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 ...
Authorities have recently banned climbing in my favorite site "for safety reasons". This is, in my opinion, unfair, and was done for unknown political reasons. What can I do to hopefully change th...
I picked up a couple fingerboards from the pro shop, and hung them on the rafters in our basement. However, I have no idea what the ropes are for, unless someone might tie the boards to a tree. Wha...
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 have recently taken up bouldering/rock climbing to learn some rock climbing techniques and learn rope skills. In my research, I have come across two types of climbing: static and dynamic. Altho...
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...
One of my dream climbs is to climb Snake Dike on Half Dome at night with a full moon. Are there any special considerations for rock climbing at night beyond bringing headlamps and extra batteries...
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...
I've been using an AustriAlpin autolock carabiner with my Gri Gri 2 for around 9 months, a few times a week (1 to 3 times). It's a very solid, robust and big carabiner, which means that's not too s...
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...
I recently bought a 70 meter climbing rope from REI because it was a great price on the outlet. Last weekend I used it for the first time in the Texas hill country, where 99% of routes need a rope ...
In an answer given to this question: Micro-Fractures in Climbing Equipments, it's stated that dropping gear causing micro fractures is a persistent myth, quoting Black Diamond's statement: Q. I...
I recently visited a new climbing gym and was instructed to belay directly off a ground anchor without any attachment to my harness. I've been to other gyms that belay with ground anchors but with ...
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...
I've seen a few of these comparisons around but I've always struggled to make sense of them. At the moment I do quite a lot of Alpine style routes (lowish grade (HS), long multi pitch routes, typ...
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...
V-threads, or Abalakov threads (after the inventor Vitaly Abalakov), can be tricky to make (especially left handed in the dark...), but when you miss the mark on your first attempt, or second attem...
I have the John Long book on climbing anchors and also a couple of others that describe the subject more briefly (Pesterfield, Traditional Lead Climbing, and Freedom of the Hills). When it comes to...
I have climbed for a long time, but I want to switch to cordelette anchors for speed on multipitch. My main concern is in redundancy with the cordelette. I mentally check the anchor for any proble...
I'm going to the crag with some friends in a few days and I plan to lead the first route, clip into a quickdraw on one of the anchor bolts and build a top rope anchor on the bolts. I've been practi...
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...
The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides demonstrate Fixed-Point belay systems in this video. Fixed-point belay systems as demonstrated make no effort to equalise the loading on the two anchor...
Sometimes when I'm trad climbing it seems really tough to avoid an awkward belay, and a common type of awkwardness is when the belay device ends up too low. Below is a drawing of a situation I was ...
Everyone knows redundancy is chief when building climbing anchors. However, I have seen several types of anchors that don't appear to be fully redundant due to a single ring providing the master po...
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 ...
I've been learning to build basic TR anchors; a sling clipped to two bolts with a master point in the loop of a figure-eight on a bight. While learning this I struggled to get a tidy figure-eight ...
What Z x W would you recommend for spotting a rock climbing route (up to about 30,40 meters high - standing in front of it)? Checking for cracks f.x., to estimate what cams you need to take with yo...
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 ...
What is a good emergency-overnight-sleeping-setup when every ounce counts, like on long technical routes (grade V or VI) where the goal is to do it in one day (without hauling), but one wants to pr...
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...
Probably common question, but: What slings do you use to build anchors for belaying the 2nd in rock climbing? Dyneema or nylon? I had discussed this problem with my friend and he said that Dyneema...
Rock climbing cams often have integrated slings. Like all webbing, these slings can be degraded by UV and wear out much sooner than the cam themselves. There are numerous companies that will "profe...
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...
What are the advantages/disadvantages of climbing helmet design (foam or hardshell)? Foam Hardshell PS: I do not intend to compare them by how much they cost.
