What Is Rock Climbing?
Rock climbing is a physically-draining and mentally-demanding sport. Participants scale vertical space of natural rock formations or man-made rock walls thousands of feet high. This sport is quite dangerous so proper climbing techniques and the use of specialized rock climbing gears and equipment are necessary. Learning how to use and properly place the equipment is already half of the sport. This is one of those sports that people get themselves into for their own personal satisfaction.
Different Forms of Rock Climbing
Rock climbing comes in several different forms. Traditional rock climbing involves placing of wedges, nuts and other forms of protection from a pair of climbers' racks into cracks in the rock as they go up. Climbers are connected by a rope, and the rope is hooked to those pieces of protection so that, if a climber falls, the rope catches them. Sport climbing is the same in most aspects with traditional rock climbing except that the protective pieces are permanently bolted into the rock. Free soloing is rock climbing without the use of rope or any protection system. If a climber falls, he dies. With indoor climbing, a climber scales indoor climbing structures made of plywood or concrete and hold onto artificial handholds/footholds bolted onto the structure. Bouldering is climbing on boulders or sides of chimneys and buildings rather than on cliffs and rags. Another form of rock climbing is ice climbing, where climbers scale an ice formation instead of a rock, and use specialized equipment for protection that can screw into the ice.
When you rock climb, make sure you go with an experienced friend or guide your first time. You may even want to get some practice first by visiting an indoor rock climbing gym. A rock gym, as they are commonly called, contains climbing walls, which have multiple pegs scattered up the wall for climbing. In a rock gym, "bouldering" is only climbing to a certain point around the walls without the use of ropes, while "top-roping" is climbing to the top of the walls using proper belay techniques that ensure safety.
"Belay" is a method of climbing and a form of communication between one or more climbers. The belayer, the person who anchors climbers by controlling how much rope is fed to them, speaks the words "on belay," literally meaning "to have or hold," after which the climber below will respond by saying "belay on".
This system of belay is also used when climbing outdoors. Other rock climbing techniques include gear such as a belay device, rope, and rock climbing chalk, used on the hands to help secure your grip to the rock. Also, specialized rock climbing shoes are used to promote the grip of your feet on the rock. These shoes are light weight and usually made of leather on the part which covers the tops of the feet. For the outsoles, specialized kinds of rubber are used, which maximize grip on slabs of rock or in cracks and pockets.
There are several different grading systems to measure the difficulty of a climb depending on in which part of the world you're climbing. The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) has established the Yosemite Decimal System as the official rating system in America. This classification is based on roman numerals and is as follows: Class I (hiking trail), Class II (steep, rough trail), Class III (easy scramble using hand and foot holds), Class IV (easy climbing, beginning to use rope), Class V (actual rock climbing, rope is necessary), Class VI (using additional materials, mountaineering).
Most rock climbs are considered official at 5.0 and follow a scale that determines difficulty from 5.0 to 5.14, which between active rock climbers is spoken as "five 0" and "five fourteen".
