Posts tagged climbing
While there have been some accomplished climbers who have done this in the Himalayan peaks, alpine style remains relatively rare in the Himalayas. Most climbing is done in the expedition style with...
While taking the certification course for working at height, the official recommendation for moving from a cherrypicker / crane device to a tower was to completely detach your fall protective gear ...
I received an old climbing rope, whose history is unknown. I know this rope should not be used for any situations where a fall is possible since it may have already sustained one. However, can it ...
The most recent (2013) edition of Climbing Anchors, by Long and Gaines, makes some interesting statements in the preface about catastrophic failures of anchors. Long first says that: when belay anc...
Hoping to ask a couple basic Q's before my order arrives, I suspect I may've gotten insufficient gear.. 1 - Is doubling-up ropes, or hardware, ever acceptable in climbing? IE, my 8mm prusik cord ...
Being a climber one aim is to toughen up your hands (related: How to toughen up hands?). Building up callused skin is important but how do you keep it? Having dry hands especially from the climbing...
I'm going to make a bosun's chair to lift me 40 ft in the air to a tree platform (with at least a 6' clearance, so closer to 50'). Of course I would like the right type of rope with the right tensi...
There's a lot of talk in the media about Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell's free ascent of the dawn wall of El Capitan. This wall has been climbed before, but this is the first time it's been fr...
I've been watching "A Line Across the Sky" which is a short-ish movie about Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold doing the Fitz Roy traverse. During which Tommy Caldwell mentions Alex doing a 1000 and ...
I am a long time gym climber, and I climbed outdoors for a couple of times. I fail to understand why climbing outdoors is more appealing than climbing indoors. If the goal is to climb harder, whi...
I came across an interesting looking device on the Petzl website. As per the description, the mobile fall arresters follow the user automatically as he moves, whether on an inclined or vertic...
the "politicised" debate of female clothing not having pockets (it is especially about skirts and dresses) left aside, I wonder if there are any cotton climbing pants left on the market that have a...
In principle, it is known that full body harnesses are useful for situations where the center of gravity is higher - e.g. for children, or for Alpine situations involving carrying heavy loads. A fu...
Twice now I have been out winter hiking with a guide and another person and I'm trying to work out what knot they used to tie the middle person onto the rope. Let's say the guide is in front, my c...
So just questioning some advice I received once: When in guide mode when belaying a second from above, is it ok to take the locking carabineer and attach it to your belay loop? The primary benefit...
On longer climbing sessions I like to keep my cell phone close by, but most of the time I have no backpack with me. So I would like to pack the cell phone in a little case that I can put on my clim...
One of the hardest routes on El Cap, The Dawn Wall, was done by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in January 2015. What are some of the reasons to choose to climb such a hard route in winter, when ...
In the last years, there were a few occasions when companies would put out recalls on their climbing gear due to manufacturing defects. For example, Black Diamond recalled some improperly riveted c...
A guy I'm talking to about buying some rock climbing gear is getting rid of his stuff cause he hasn't used it in five to eight years. He said it wasn't used a lot, maybe 5 to 6 times, and he said n...
Some of my climber friends are pretty fast climbers with a speed of about 20s for a 10m long route. The really fast ones use auto-belaying-systems seen on speed climbing competitions. Those auto-...
If a climber completes a route without using their protection that is called sending. What is the term if one completes the route but had to depend on the rope either for a rest or for a fall? Le...
Having just completed my Boulding induction at a local rock climbing gym, what requirements should I look for in a pair of my own climbing shoes? Assume here cost is not a primary factor.
Why do climbing professional use less than 5 fingers on some holds? From https://www.lagrimpe.com/abc/le-mono-ou-bi-doigt/ I mean, why don't they put the other fingers, even if they don't quite...
When preparing for a trad climb, I usually divide my rack into separate groups where each group is connected to a single carabiner. So for example all the small nuts go into carabiner 1, middle ran...
Based on comments on this question. If the moving cam on a Gri-Gri is prevented from engaging (perhaps by a belayer firmly holding onto the device), can you still brake effectively? By "brake eff...
I'm a beginning climber and am trying to resolve conflicting instruction related to tying into my harness. During a recent outing a friend (an experienced climber, but not an instructor) was show...
Disclaimer first: The brake-hand principle (always hold the braking strand of the rope) always applies to assisted braking belay devices, including the Grigri. This question is in no way targeted a...
I've noticed when climbing and bouldering I have a tendency to get occasional flappers on my palm. A flapper being a callus or blister that has peeled back and hangs on like a flap of skin. I trim ...
The Reverso 4, ATC Guide, and others all have a keeper wire loop for carrying. However, the wire seems unnecessary -- one could simply cut it off and carry the device using the large hanging eye or...
I have been climbing for a short while and loving it. Now that I've gotten a fair bit of practice with indoor climbing I'm thinking about where this new love of mine can take me. The obvious answer...
When I'm rock climbing, I feel like I've got hand holds down as far as where to grab on and understand that the hands are mainly for balance. However, I can't seem to figure out my feet. There are ...
I'm trying to make myself a foot-loop that's connected by rope to one's handled-ascender (alongside an opposing-foot's ankle-ascender this allows rapid ascension up a single leg up of rope!) and ha...
Has anybody ever tried to use a cross-load protecting Black Diamond Gridlock carabiner with a Smart Alpine belay device? I do think the Smart Alpine does not go very well with the CRAG Smart HMS ...
What is the simplest setup for rappelling that is fully redundant? The most common system seems to be rappelling off of both strands of a rope passing through two rappel rings on separate anchors....
There are some no brainers like don't throw your climbing rope next to car batteries in the back of your car. The effect of bug sprays containing Deet seem to be controversial. I have also heard a ...
I'm using a rappel extension similar to what is shown in this video and that one. When the rappel start is a straight drop-off from a ledge and the anchor is low to the ground, I find it difficult...
Consider an ascension of a single rope with an ATC guide in locking mode and a foot loop with a friction hitch, as described in this answer: Quickest / most efficient way to ascend a hanging rope ...
There's a dispute in my climbing group whether a "large" eye of the tie-in knot can be considered dangerous. While I don't see a problem with a loop that is about 10 cm across, others argue that th...
5.10s are known to be more comfortable, softer shoes, but I've also heard they tire your feet out faster. Edging, in particular, is harder in these shoes because it's your toes' responsibility inst...
I've been climbing off and on for about 3 years now, but only started going regularly in the last 6 months. I've had the same pair of shoes for about 2 years now. My brother recently pointed out th...
I’m wondering does anyone know what this part of a Click Up is for: I’m taking about the rounded cutouts on each side of the device on the climber side. In the normal position I can’t see what t...
(to be clear, I know I can just check knot-strengths for a general end-of-line attachment, it's the inclusion of the steel thimble - I'll find a link to add to end of post - it's that inclusion tha...
I got some 1/2" steel-thimbles for my climbing-rope but sadly I'm not sure how to safely use them, I'd thought "I can just tie a knot at just the right spot so that the thimble is securely nested i...
This question asks whether the bowline knot is better with the tail inside or outside the loop. When climbing and tying in with a bowline on a bight, does it make a difference whether one starts ...
I've enjoyed climbing and cutting trees for many years. I now want to go to higher levels, but safety is a primary concern, because I am afraid of heights. I'm about to order gear for recreation...
This is a topic often discussed online, but all I could find so far was people sharing their opinions (including numbers) on what tie-in knot is the best. Here's what I've found out from different ...
According to the most comprehensive reference ever written on bowlines, the EBSB bowline (which is a variation of another variation, called the EBDB bowline, together with a sort of Yosemite finish...
Climber's life rely heavily on equipment. Having all the necessary equipment for simplest of climbs is a must. But, if at all I forget to bring the chalk powder along, what other alternatives I hav...
Having only used pure chalk without added substances so far, I wondered how the other types perform. Most of the information I could find online is either somebody ranting against a certain type, o...
Anyone had any experience getting climbing chalk though customs? I'm off to Guernsey and I don't think I'll be able to buy chalk there so I'm putting it in my hold luggage. Are customs likely to ...
