Questions tagged [rock-climbing]
This tag should be used for all questions about the activity rock climbing, books, gear and accessories used or necessary to do rock climbing. The term Rock Climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls.
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How to make it easier to untie a figure-8 knot after finishing a climb?
If you tie a figure-8 knot while rock climbing and fall a few times (especially if they're dynamic lead falls), the knots will become so difficult to untie that you sometimes have to use a carabiner ...
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Are there GriGri-like devices that support auto belay rather than assisted belay?
An answer to a related post mentions that:
It's worth pointing out that these are assisted and not auto belay devices, you can't just not pay attention and expect them to work.
Does this mean that ...
- 2,837
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What’s the main appeal for climbing outdoors?
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, while ...
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What counts as on- or off-route while outdoor climbing?
I did a few sport climbs this week, and on two, it seemed that the area between bolts was just blank, and if I went to the side it was easier. I could still reach the bolts, but I was afraid I was "...
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Would top-roping in this limestone quarry be reasonable?
So there's this limestone quarry that looks like a beautiful place to rock climb. It's about 40 feet high, and the top is easily accessible and has many trees that look like they'd make fine top-rope ...
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Transferable skills between rock and ice climbing
I would like to understand if skills/experience gained in rock climbing are going to be useful in climbing steep ice/hard-snow. Of course the gear as well as techniques involved in either are ...
- 1,797
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Jelly Knees while climbing
I have been climbing for more than 10 months now. I had been climbing regularly for 6 months before, unfortunately, I had a 2-3 months break from climbing. When I have gotten back to it now, I find ...
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Guide mode ATC with locker to belay loop
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 is ...
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Why does my hand skin continue to crack and peel for days after rock climbing?
I've been having a problem where my hand skin starts to crack and peel on extended climbing trips and I can't get it heal, even by taking several rest days in a row. Instead, it just gets worse and ...
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How to descend a few exposed scrambling moves with minimal equipment?
I plan to visit a summit which involves a few hours of easy scrambling, with a slightly more technical part at the end, which is very short (2-3 m) but exposed. I expect no problems on the way up but ...
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Cotton climbing pants with a zipper pocket (outdoor rock climbing use for small female climbers) [closed]
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 ...
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How hard is the East Buttress route on El Capitan
I am relatively new to climbing, and so far I have only done bouldering climbing. The hardest route I have climbed is a V5, and I am a solid V4 climber. My question was, to anyone who has climbed East ...
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Is belaying with a hip belay unsafe?
It has been suggested to me in a comment, about an answer of mine that suggests using a hip belay, that:
There's a reason ATCs, plates, GriGris, etc got popular: they're safer.
I know I stopped ...
- 10.7k
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When clipping into quickdraws, is it dangerous to pass a finger through the gate?
When learning to sport climb, I was taught not to pass any of my fingers through the gate of the carabiner when clipping into a quickdraw. Lest any of my fingers get stuck and degloved in the case of ...
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Do sharpies or markers damage soft rock climbing gear?
I have been writing my initials onto the dogbones (webbing connecting biners) of my quickdraws with a sharpie (permanent marker) so I can tell them apart from everyone else's. Recently, one of my ...
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How is an attempt defined in sport climbing?
I started to track my finished routes and I cannot find anywhere a definiton of an attempt. Of course if I try to send the route, give up in falf, go down, have a snack and then go again and finish it ...
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Why don't climbing professional use all their fingers on small holds?
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 fit, ...
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Is there a utility / method to organize trad gear so that each piece is immediately accessible?
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 range ...
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Cycle of actions and voice signals on a multipitch climb
When climbing multipitch, what is the cycle of things you do when climbing each pitch, and what are the associated voice signals?
user2169
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Can a Gri-Gri work if the cam is prevented from engaging?
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 ...
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Does a Mammut Smart Alpine belay device go well with a Black Diamond Gridlock carabiner? Any other recommendations?
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 ...
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Tradeoffs between different stopper knots
Because a number of accidents have occurred when a climber was lowered or rappelled off the end of a rope, it is wise to tie a stopper knot in the end(s) of the rope. My question is what stopper knot ...
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Transition from ascending to descending a rope
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 ...
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Why is it bad to use your whole foot in rock climbing
I was reading:
“The larger the foot-holds, the more beginners tend to put as much of their shoes onto them. Instead, also when the foot-hold offers more space, we must still use only the forefoot ...
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Use of a personal anchor system to rappel (abseil) off a cliff with anchors by the edge and at foot level
Definitely not a duplicated question to this one... Rather a much more specific question...
The situation arises when there are bolted anchors at foot level on the edge of the cliff:
The issue is ...
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Sensible primary and secondary device combination for toprope soloing
I have been trying to find the "canonical" post on this topic without success - each post has its own take on the issue. And I understand that opinions and preferences abound - but I'm ...
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How to heal a flapper quickly
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 ...
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What is wrong with this belay setup?
This is a follow on from my answer here. I took this photo of my belay and shared it on Facebook, where I friend of mine (A qualified climbing instructor) pulled me up on it as I'd made one or two ...
user2766
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What are the four climbing knots used by Jim Bridwell?
Long & Gaines Climbing Anchors says:
Jim Bridwell, one of the most experienced climbers in the
history of the sport, uses only four knots for any and all climbing situations. Better
to ...
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What is this white substance some climbers smear on their legs?
In Dean Potters and Sean Leary's 2010 attempt to take the speed record of The Nose at El Capitan in Yosemite, Dean Potter has something white on his legs (and arms?):
What could this be, and which ...
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Why would you climb hard bigwall projects in Yosemite in winter?
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 the ...
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What needs to be clipped to the climbing harness, and how to carry all additional gear?
I have been piling up carabiners, cordelette loops, webbing, ATC devices, Gri-Gri, etc., and it is all now hanging from my harness. This adds a considerable amount of weight and becomes a bit unwieldy....
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Can an overhand loop be used to shorten nylon webbing as a personal anchor?
Is it safe to girth-hitch nylon webbing through my harness tie-in points and then shorten the webbing via an overhand loop (assume it is too long) and clipping the non-bight part to the bolt in the ...
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Is it safe to use a nylon climbing runner/webbing that has a small fray?
I have a 120cm nylon runner that I want to use to tether me to an anchor bolt while cleaning the anchor. The runner has a small fray (pictures below). Is it safe to use?
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What to do when one point in a climbing anchor breaks?
Climbing anchors usually have 2-3 redundant protection points, which distribute weight. So if one point breaks, this will not be a catastrophic failure.
However, what should I do in practice if this ...
- 4,486
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Using hiking boots for amateur rock-climbing
What are the practical aspects of using good quality hiking boots (e.g. ones shown below) for climbing?
Arguably, an outdoor enthusiast might be involved in various sorts of activities from hiking ...
- 1,797
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Train climbing with additional weight?
What is your opinion: Does it make sense to train rock climbing wearying a weight vest or a small backpack carrying a small amount of weight (let's say 1-3kg or 2-6.5lb) to mimic the actual weight you ...
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Figure-8 Followthrough Question
Is it still considered a 'figure 8' knot when you dress it so the loop is perpendicular to the rest of the loop?
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When making an anchor with static rope around a boulder, what knot should I use
If I'm using a natural feature such as a boulder or a lump of rock as part of an anchor by tying a static rope around it, what are the best knots to use? I'm thinking that there would be different ...
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Dealing with twists in a rope while belaying
Like most climbers in my area, I use a rope bag to avoid having to reflake the rope after every climb. The downside of this is that the rope gradually aquires twists and after enough climbs, the rope ...
- 1,280
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Is there a good way to be kept up-to-date with climbing gear recalls?
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 ...
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How use a nylon cordelette as an adjustable tether for rock climbing?
Sometimes when clipping in people who are rappelling, or setting up anchors in some places from above or showing people how to get onto a fixed line, I need an adjustable tether.
I often carry a ...
- 69.2k
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What is the best way to place a sling on a rock spike so that it's prevented from lifting off?
I occasionally place slings on rock spikes as trad climbing protection. If the spike is not very tall or thick the slings can become easily dislodged as the rope passes though the quickdraw/carabiner. ...
user2766
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When did indoor climbing gyms start to become popular?
I am trying to learn some history about rock climbing. I know initially rock climbing was purely an outdoor activity, and according to this article in the 1990s indoor climbing gyms started to spring ...
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Climbing outdoors makes the skin of my palm red and sensitive
I mostly climb at a rock climbing gym, and I can climb for hours until my forearms run out of gas.
However, when I climb outdoors, usually the reason I have to stop is because the skin of my palms ...
- 575
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Is it okay for a duck/splay footed individual to rock climb?
If an individual walks with a pronounced duck-footed (splayed) gait, and is actively trying to correct this, is there any harm for the individual to begin rock climbing. I feel like a lot of edging ...
- 10.7k
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Shoes for hiking and minor rock climbing in Australia?
The reason I'm asking this is, I currently have a pair which I purchased from KMart for around $30 AUD, I've been using them for a while but I found they do not have proper griping on steep and uneven ...
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What is the point of belay glasses?
I was going through the REI website for some of the products and I stumbled upon this one here.
It's called Y & Y VERTICAL Classic Belay Glasses
The product punchline says:
Stop wrenching ...
- 31.7k
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Is a helmet more important for a belayer or a climber?
Given:
- A single pitch climb
- Top roping only, belayed from below
- Limited number of helmets (assume only 1 for a climber/belayer pair)
Is it more important for the belayer to be protected from ...
- 2,530
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What extra gear to take up a multipitch climb?
When climbing single pitch routes, it makes sense to carry as little as possible while actually on the route, as almost every eventuality can be easily dealt with by simply lowering back to the ground ...
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