Hot answers tagged rock-climbing
11
The following references from a few major rope manufacturers cover rope care thoroughly. Please see the bottom of this answer for a summary.
From Bluewater Ropes:
Avoid stepping on your rope. Beside the potential of cutting, stepping on a rope will grind dirt into the core and increase the possibility of internal abrasion.
Protect your rope from ...
9
Disclaimer - I should mention that my answer only applies in the context of the original question. I'm discussing my experience rappeling in a rock climbing context, using a dynamic single or half rope, a "stich-plate" or tubular belay device, and an autoblock backup (not a prussik). I can't speak to rappeling in caving (where the gear would be different) ...
9
You have a few options:
Don't worry about the lease and accept the fact that you may lose your security deposit. You can take the board down before you move out, spackle over the holes, and hope the landlord doesn't notice. I live in the US, and that seems to be the preferred option here. Everyone I know who has a hangboard has done this, and they seem ...
8
It all depends on how you want to mount your rock rings. I mounted mine like this from a door-jam pull-up bar:
Though you could mount them like monkey bars, or any other way:
The idea, from a training perspective, is that if the rock rings are hanging from rope you have to expend more effort with your core to keep your body from swinging. And building ...
7
I wish I was still in Yosemite for this one. I used to climb with some fairly well known climbers back in the day, "Big Wall Pete" Takeda, the Parker Brothers, even happened on Peter Croft after he taught a class and we climbed for about 45 minutes. Big Wall used to work for "Climbing" and did a number of photo shoots, I know how they get the pictures from ...
7
The Ethic
So, the ethic among experienced climbers is to not toprope on the base of a popular multipitch route. In addition to the safety issues you point out, its just not fair to the people who invested the time to learn to lead. Especially not a destination place like Yosemite Valley where people may have traveled a long way to get there. You say this ...
6
First of all, DO NOT buy a rope or ANYTHING for that matter that you will trust your life to, purely based on what a single salesperson says, or what I say. Find a few experienced climbers (at least 5+ years of experience each), preferably certified guides and ask them their opinions. Now on to your question:
There is ambiguity in this because apparently ...
6
I am only familiar with a couple but I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more for certain injuries or specific applications (e.g. ankle taping for off-widths).
Crack climbing
For crack climbing "tape gloves" are very helpful in keeping the thin skin on the backs of your hands and knuckles from getting torn up. There are several slightly different ...
6
I don't know this particular brand, but there are two basic things I'd want to check:
Has the product been certified by the UIAA? You can look here to see. It looks like several Skylotec products have a UIAA certification.
For a harness, will the gear shop let you try a harness on, and hang in it (in the store) before you buy it? I'd want to know how ...
6
Safe? Yes. As in your life usually doesn't depend on them. Safe, as in a safe buy? Also yes.
When looking at used climbing shoes it really helps if you take someone along who knows what to look for and/or knows the shoes themselves. If you know what they look like new then you know what they should look like.
Specifically, check the seams and make sure ...
6
Failure by cutting is a primary concern.
In terms of safety (rather than e.g. rope life) laboratory (UIAA) fall testing may not be the most important concern. Even a new, thick rope can be cut in a single fall across a sharp edge. This also applies to so-called "edge resistant" (defunct UIAA 108 standard) ropes. See this Yellow Spur fatality report.
...
6
The best ways I found to improve foot work are the following:
Climb routes which are less than vertical (slabs are great)
I know this sounds obvious, but seriously, just climb slabs and low angle for a few weeks (or months). Focus on your feet, don't use your hands if possible.
Practice stepping up only, don't pull on holds
Play a game with your ...
6
First, prevention is going to give you the best bang for your buck. Make sure your shoes dry properly between uses by hanging them out, and not keeping them in a bag/trunk/confined space. During your climbing session, it's a good idea to take your shoes off between climbs, or at least once in a while to let them dry out some.
For odor control, I find that ...
5
Not really. Not the answer you want, but your body is telling you something, you need to listen to it.
It's a lot of fun, but you need to take it slow to ease your body into it. Otherwise the fun is going to come to an end.
I've heard a lot of stories from people that buy things like these: http://shop.nicros.com/index.php/warrior-boardtm.html then go ...
5
What Rory Alsop posted is great info that is "internet safe" and a great rule of thumb. Many companies, however, will rate their ropes down to 9mm as single rope safe. In areas where rope protectors are often used, climbers safely go down to 8mm.
I regularly climb with a Mammut Infinity 9.5mm. Compare that to Petzl Xion 10.1mm
Mammut ...
5
Aggressive Climbing shoes are often also referred to as Cambered. The Arch of the foot and/or the toe point downward. Non-aggressive shoes have a flat bottom. Images compliments of rei.com.
Some people will use the term aggressive to mean tighter as well, but I have seen that to be less common. You want your shoes to be crazy tight, regardless of their ...
5
Entire books and multi-day training classes are built around thus topic. Climbers spend months either following a more experienced leader, or taking risks and learning stuff the hard way. Lead rock climbing is a complex skill, and I feel like reducing it to a simple Q&A would give people a false sense security.
If you want to help your friend become a ...
5
I know I am answering a slightly different, more general question, but
I think it is quite crucial to learn how to unjam a rappel device without relying on anybody else's help before embarking on any kind of outdoor-rappelling adventures.
I have gotten my ATC stuck more times than I'd like to admit. ATCs don't just like to eat poorly assembled autoblock ...
4
You shouldn't buy used safety equipment (ropes, harnesses, carabiners, etc) because you don't know if the previous owner handled them properly (maybe they splashed bleach on the rope?). But shoes aren't really considered "safety related" - if the shoes did fail in a climb, it would be no different than having your foot pop off because of bad footwork. ...
4
My philosophy has always been that if I'm going to trust my life to it, I don't want any doubts in my mind. I'm sure they make decent equipment, and as DavidR pointed out their harnesses are certified by the UIAA.
That said, personally I would rather stick with a well-known company that has a proven track record than to save a few bucks.
4
Disclaimer: I have never rappelled in the rain.
Basic requirement
As with any rappel problem a basic requirement is to have enough friction in the system, and preferably a way to go hands-free. As always this should be tested and not simply assumed. I don't think that anyone can tell you exactly what will produce the proper amount of friction without ...
4
You are apparently confusing static and dynamic elongation. You must use rope that is UIAA-101 / EN-892 certified for the task at hand. You will be buying a Single type rope unless you specifically know otherwise.
Quoting Beal Ropes:
Dynamic elongation:
This is the stretch of the rope during the first UIAA test fall. It must be less than 40%.
...
4
It doesn't really go away with time. At least not for me - when I'm on a hard gym route I tend to ignore any holds that are "off" for that route, and every now and then I'll hit one with an elbow or knee. Also outside, while you want to emphasize using your feet, ever now and then you'll find yourself needing to place a knee on a hold. Working on ...
4
Unfortunately nail polish would probably gunk up the locking mechanism. I wouldn't put nail polish on any moving piece of a carabiner.
You can use nail polish to mark your gear so you know that it's yours (and not your partner's). You may be able to find a multi-color scheme that indicates the carabiner's date, but generally that's not an issue (if it ...
4
The method by which carabiners in any color are coated (either gate or body) is anodizing, which is going to be nearly impossible to sufficiently replicate with anything practical and cost-effective at home. With anodizing, the coating essentially becomes part of the aluminum itself. So anything you put on the gate will wear off relatively quickly and ...
4
Generally speaking, the main differences between bouldering and top roping (unless you are an expert) is that you are likely to find yourself trying more extreme positions when bouldering.
Huge generalisation, I know, but when top roping you usually look to conserve energy, assess the pitch, and make vertical gains.
As a boulderer, you will be crabbing, ...
4
The most obvious thing is an emergency blanket. It will add a lot of extra insulation per gram. It'a good to have one in you bag on any trip.
However, a mere blanket is definitely not enough for all seasons, elevations and weather conditions. When planning at home, you should ask yourself a question: "What will happen to me if I have to be on the route ...
3
Generally, a more controlled and precise technique should reduce undesired knee scraping and banging... But I find that the ability to achieve this precision is, at least to some degree, dependent on your strength reserves, and decreases during a session. Often, several hours into a climbing session I find myself making bigger and less precise moves, and ...
3
Good footwork is the foundation to good climbing. Most climbers think their footwork is better than it actually is, and could be better climbers simply by improving their footwork. Here are some drills and tips to improve it:
Quiet feet: By far the best drill you can do is called quiet feet. It involves climbing while focusing your attention on your ...
3
I have always found much help from people at outdoor outfitters that specialize in equipment (REI is my favorite, and i recommend the store if there is one near you)
Also I like this site at REI on choosing a climbing rope and I consult it for the different purposes ropes have. It will help you determine what you need for your specific plans (Top roping, ...
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