Posts tagged climbing
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...
Last night I had a nightmare that I was 5 pitches off the ground and it started to pour rain. When I woke up I realized I have no idea how to deal with this. Asking around, everyone says two thing...
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 was reflecting on how different disciplines of climbing help you become a stronger climber in other disciplines. Like how bouldering makes you a better sport climber, because it teaches you beta ...
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...
It is imperative that climbing ropes are in excellent shape so they don't split while someone is climbing. How do I properly inspect the rope when I'm about to start a climb?
Monkeys are funny, as well as dangerous. I have already asked a question about how one should go about camping where there are monkeys around: Camping and Monkeys. The best advice would be to avo...
While trying to answer Why static rope rather than webbing for toprope anchors? I immediately thought about splices in long pieces of webbing. For example, REI says that spools of Blue Water webbin...
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...
If you're on a multi pitch route and you decide to abandon the climb and retreat(say the weather has turned unexpectedly). What is the minimum amount of gear you should leave behind as a rope ancho...
One complaint about using the Munter hitch for belaying is that it twists and kinks the rope. After doing a full rope length rappel with a Munter hitch down a slightly overhanging face to the base ...
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...
When you're following a pitch on a trad climb, what is a good method for racking and handling the nut tool? My goals are to be efficient but not to drop the tool. My current system, which I'm not ...
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...
We have discussed a lot and at length about how to climb and other climbing techniques. I haven't come across a single post that talks about Spotting techniques. What are the duties of a Spotter?...
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...
While rock climbing, when crimping a hold, I always use my index finger (and whatever other fingers fit) since I can stack my thumb on top. For two finger pockets is it better to use your index and...
When tying into a harness with a figure eight follow through knot, does it matter if the running end comes up through the tie in points or goes down through them? From the figure it is hard to s...
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...
I'm planning a rock climbing trip this summer and I've been considering the Red River Gorge as a possible stop. I've been there before in the late fall and it was absolutely awesome in terms of spo...
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?
If I'm out on the rock and I come across a pair of hangers, how can I tell the difference between rap hangers (the kind you can directly thread rope through to rappel) and regular hangers (the kind...
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...
Different countries and rock climbing disiplines have different grading systems, for example the the British trad grade system (e.g. grade HVS 5(a)) and the US point grading system (e.g. 5.9) If ...
What do people do with their cams after they've reached the top of the rock? Is there some special way of getting them down again? Seeing the prices of around 50 € per piece they can hardly just le...
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?
I recently made a toprope anchor extending from a tree about 15' over the edge of the cliff using 1" webbing. The webbing was looped around the tree using a figure 8 follow-through, with sufficient...
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 ...
Rock climbing topos have various standardized symbols, such as xx for a bolt anchor, or a dashed line for face climbing. In keys of symbols, I've sometimes seen SB defined as a "sling belay." What ...
I had never been a gifted kind of a climber being more fascinated by Backpacking than Rock Climbing. Its been almost 2 years that I did some genuine climbing. And, I am planning to resume it very s...
I am a regular climber and a hiker. Having an experience of more than 600 hikes and around 30 technical climbs, I have realized that during rock-climbing, the climbers are bound to face Honeybees w...
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?
I built a spreader using steel double lock snaps from a NIB fall restraint lanyard and a 27 kn 50" webbing loop. I ran a bowline with blight to each double snap and one to where my steel 50 kn auto...
The situation is, that you started a high route with fixed protection (bolts) and misjudged its length, so before reaching the belay the middle mark of the rope passes the belayer. What can you do...
I am working on a very fun problem with an overhung roof that induces serious rope drag (Goat Rock Roof @ Castle Rock if you know it). I am very nervous about training this beta intensive problem g...
Backstory: A few months ago, I experienced the following situation: We (two people) were climbing the last pitch of a multi-pitch route. Near the end, there was a cave-like chimney. Basically a ch...
I was recently doing a scramble route in North Wales. We needed to get past a large rock spike, though easy climbing, it was quite exposed and not a good place to take a fall. As a safety backup I ...
Being in control of your body and making controlled movements is a skill I can't seem to get down. Are there any good ways to practice this or any workouts that can contribute to helping me build u...
I dabble a little at leading trad, but have never led a sport route. If I do a sport lead, I want to make sure I don't make some stupid mistake when I get to the top. For example, I don't want to...