Posts tagged rock-climbing
Subtag of climbing
There is a local shop that sells small brand name gear for pretty good prices. I am looking at their harnesses and quickdraws and would like to know: 1) Whether the equipment is safe - say compar...
If I'm using two prusik's to climb a rope (one as a foot loop and one attached to harness directly) What's the minimum diameter of cord I should be looking for to remain safe?
I've been climbing for a few months and my gym sells old rental shoes at a discounted rate. I bought some as a cheap way to get started. I always wear socks when I climb but I've noticed the majori...
I carry a cheap folding knife with me while climbing, particularly if I know there is a chance of stuck ropes, grubby anchors, or we are in the backcountry. The knife is held shut with a loop of co...
I got a Whillans Harness for Christmas. As it does not have a belay loop (see picture), how do I connect it to the Autobelay's carabiner?
Is sandpapering your finger tips an effective way to improve anything about your rock climbing? On occasion, I will see climbers in YouTube videos or people at the local crag using sandpaper on th...
We have several used gear shops locally, which also sell climbing shoes. I'm looking to start climbing and I am considering buying used shoes to save cost. Is it ever safe to buy used shoes, and ...
The more common way of belaying is called PBUS which stands for Pull, Under, Brake, Slide. What is the correct way to do this (including illustrations)?
This is possibly a little of a generalisation but, why are indoor grades easier than outdoor grades? Having climbed at many many indoor walls (all over the uk) and done multiple outdoor climbs (b...
What re the differences between these 4 styles of rock climbing? Bouldering Aid Climbing Free Climbing Free solo climbing
This blog has a discussion of the slip-slap-slide and PBUS techniques for taking in rope when belaying. Here is a video demonstrating PBUS. Slip-slap-slide is illustrated on p. 161 of Freedom of th...
I saw mention of a 'dish' hold, and cannot figure out what this means exactly from Google searches. There are many sites selling dish holds like this one, but I don't understand what 'dish' means f...
So I am moving to Colorado in a little more than three weeks and super-pumped to elevate my experiences with the endless outdoor adventures! At this point in my life, I have six pair of shoes; thre...
I am looking for a book or digital database of rock climbing pictures from before 1950. I tried to search online, but, except for a few pictures, I didn't have much luck. Also, the name of the ph...
I am searching for a limestone multi-pitch sport route in France, in the Briançon area, that is nicely bolted, up to 5c (French grade) difficult and that has at least 7 pitches. I am searching onl...
Somewhat motivated by How to progress in rock climbing after grades v4 / 5.11+? I am curious if anyone has tried to document if there are particular grades that climbers plateau on and need more ti...
I would say I'm a fairly experienced hiker, and would love to begin climbing some more challenging mountains, i.e. mountains that require actual climbing, rather than just hiking. I have next to no...
I had a "discussion" with someone on Facebook recently. It came about over a photo shared in a group I'm a member of (I can't share the photo as it's not my property). The photo showed two people ...
I mostly boulder and I don't like to jump down from the top of the route, because my ankles/knees/back feels weird when landing. However, when I climb down sometimes my arms feel even more tired th...
Last night I was walking the dog near area where I climb a lot. Above the quarry where most of the climbing happens there is a really nice natural short crag. Looking at this crag I thought there w...
I recently read this answer about rope thickness, and it mentions a tragic incident where a rope was severed during a lead fall due to the rope being dragged across rock edge whilst under tension. ...
At the gym today, a climber referred to "back-stepping" for a move that I would have referred to as a layback. I said, "I would have called that a layback," and he said, "Yeah, the difference is ki...
This is a question that has bugged me for some time. Some very hard sport routes are very, very long. Some examples: Chilam Balam: 80 m (260 ft) - Video (Adam Ondra) Jumbo Love: 75 m (250 ft) - V...
There is a notorious kind of crack called offwidths. Several friends of mine stated, that they were pretty devastated at first when they were not able to do 5.8 offwidths in the valley. Later they ...
So I climb. It keeps my hands pretty rough, but for my day job I am a desk jockey now. I was wondering, are there exercises can I do to keep my hands rough so they don't get torn to shreds when I d...
I'm fairly new to climbing, I've been climbing just over a year. This is my first pair of shoes. I've worn the soles down, and wondering whether this kind of wear can be repaired or not, or if I s...
I've been bouldering in rock climbing gyms for a while and am able to send V2~V3s. I've never bouldered outdoors before and I wonder what are the differences, and are there any outdoor specific tec...
If someone "flashes" a climb what does this mean?
It is quite well known that goats are into free solo rock climbing. Is there any evidence (even if anecdotal) of the highest grades they are able to climb?
Say I'm leading on a single-pitch climb, or the first pitch of a multi-pitch. The maximum fall factor I could theoretically have without hitting the deck is 1, but that's with a static rope, which ...
I'm looking into buying a rope for rock climbing, and I know that I need a dynamic rope for lead climbing. However, trying to find information on the elongation percentages of ropes is proving tric...
I just got a sample of Petzl's new assisted braking device, the Grigri+. I must admit I look at it with a lot of disdain, mostly because It's bulkier than the Grigri 2; It's heavier than the Grig...
If climbing shoes are resoled, will they fit differently afterward? If so, in what way does it change (narrower, shorter, tighter, looser, etc..)?
How can I choose the right climbing shoes especially for toe and heel hooking? More specifically: I have been using very comfortable beginner shoes for the last two years. When I started to advanc...
Why are climbing shoes a slightly tighter than the regular mountaineering shoes?
I've been using the same Evolv shoes for bouldering that I bought for top-roping. It seems like they're worn enough to start considering a new pair of shoes. Since I'm doing bouldering almost exclu...
I was going through anchoring techniques and I came across this well-received question: Anchor without cordelette? How should one decide when to go for a Cordelette or an Equalette?
There is a story I have heard about climbers who confused "take" and "safe" and I am wondering if it has actually happened. The story goes like this, The climber is out of sight of the belayer an...
Climbing ropes are UIAA rated for so many falls of an 80kg weight. After that number of falls–or a specific period of time based on amount of use–you are supposed to retire the rope. But what if ...
I have a belay device that looks like: which I used when I am belaying someone who is top roping or leading. However, my rope only goes through one of those slots. What is the purpose of the oth...
I am learning to rock climb, and I have heard that I will need to belay climbers, so if they fall, my belay will stop the fall and prevent an injury. What do I need to do to properly belay my clim...
When doing a multi-pitch and you reach a belay station (the top of a pitch) you can choose between belaying the lead climber from the body (like you do e.g. indoors where you aren't doing multi-pit...
I've learned several points in rock climbing where one must perform checks, but none that come with a checklist. And there is a serious difference. I passed an indoor belay test roughly as follows...
When rappeling I understand the need for a backup--whether an autoblock below the belay device, or a second person providing a fireman belay. My understanding is that using an autoblock incorrectl...
After learning to climb indoors on top rope and learning to lead sport climbs outdoors I will be progressing into Trad climbing by taking an instruction course as well as climbing with other experi...
In (probably) most of northern Europe, it is somewhat cold and wet outside. Despite this fact, I'm trying to get as much outdoor climbing done as I can. A backup plan for somewhat cold weather (i...
So I was watching this video, and got to the part where this guy and girl are discussing and demonstrating whose method of peeing off the portaledge is scariest. Then I of course thought to myself,...
I am looking for sustainable alternatives for carrying out human waste. WAG bags, though convenient, sadly have to end up in land-fills. I am looking for a system where the non-biodegrading compone...
A recent question made me wonder how a running belay is really done. Suppose you are climbing an alpine route, maybe of difficulty UIAA 5. You encounter a stretch of 100m of UIAA 1 terrain with n...
The Kenow fire ripped through the Rockies near where I live. Flames were reported to be hundreds of meters high coming off the tops of some trees. Some of those flames licked the crags I most frequ...
