New answers tagged rock-climbing
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Earliest in the year one could deep water solo in Majorca?
Well it is safe to say that the month of March is somewhat too cold.
People in Mallorca go swimming in October. But then the water temperature has been rising all summer long and it is warmer than March, which has been getting colder all winter long.
Sea swimming in October.
It should stil ...
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I’ve experimented with this a bit. We tried pulling the knot really tight or leaving it really loose. It turned out that pulling it relatively tight (but not too tight) works best.
It also makes a huge difference how you start untying. Start with wiggling/folding the parallel loops where the end of the rope comes out. Once you get a tiny bit of room you can ...
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To me it's not a question of climbing outdoors is "cooler".
There is a reason that there is such a rich collection of books, magazines and other literature on the subject of mountaineering and rock climbing outdoors.
I can look back on many experiences I have of climbing on local crags and in the Alps over many years. I can almost relive those experiences ...
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One key aspect that has not been mentioned: routefinding indors is almost trivial, outdoors it becomes a real challenge and makes climbing a much more creative experience.
In the gym, hold color (or tape) tells you exactly what features "exist" that you could use to proceed, and the number you can reach at a given point is usually small, half a dozen at ...
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The views
I'm predominantly a gym climber who dabbles with some outdoor sport climbing occasionally
More often than not climbing crags are in wilderness areas, be they remote or little pockets nestled into urban setting. These area in themselves are often quite tranquil and pretty. Get to the top of a climb, clip in and lookout, the views are often ...
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This is what a marlin spike is for. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlinspike
It's not special purpose just for figure 8 knots, but is a general tool for tight knots.
Dates back to the age of sail, when natural cordage would get pulled tight then got wet and would swell.
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The figure-8 knot is characteristically hard to untie after falls. What many climbers do is, once the knot is done, to come back with the end of the rope inside the last bight - this is a sort of Yosemite finish. It makes the knot easier to untie, since after removing the extra strand, a lot of room is left for the rope to be untied (picture here). Andy ...
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Gym climbing will never be more than just exercise. Outdoor climbing can be a religious experience.
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I've been climbing off an on now for over 25 years, although I've never been particularly great. I climb mostly in the gym but have been on a few outdoor trips here and there. I am frequently outdoors, but can scramble most of the things I want to do without equipment.
While there's some great answers here, there's one point that none of them touch on ...
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