Rock climbing - an adventurous sport

Lizards crawl on walls and rocks since that is part of their way of life, and they are physically built for it. But, man, who is always thirsting for adventure, has found this a way to test his/her limit, and has discovered rock climbing to be a great sport.

The veteran rock climber and mountaineer, Chuck Pratt has once stated, "Writing about climbing is boring. I would rather go climbing". But, I'd choose what he considers boring, in order to enlighten you children on the dangerous, but adventurous sport of 'rock climbing'.

Rock climbing, as its name implies, is a sport where the climbers ascend steep rocks. This is a type of sport which requires strength, technique, concentration, courage and endurance.

This sport does not have a fascinating and eventful history like most other sports. This may be due to the simplicity of the sport although a lot of risk is involved in it. Rock climbing was practised in many countries of the world, as part of an effort to survive. It eventually evolved as a sport in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

Since then, over the years the sport has matured, and the climbers have found out many new techniques, and a lot of safety features have been introduced into the sport.

Types of rock climbing

You already must be having an idea that the sport is not just about climbing a steep rock face. It is actually, a sport divided into many categories. The first division is as 'Aid Climbing' and 'Free Climbing'.

Aid climbing is where artificial devices are placed on the rock faces to support the climber whereas in free climbing, the climbers use the natural cracks and spaces to support them on their way to the top of the rock. The categorisation is still not over. Free climbing can then be categorised as follows.

* Traditional lead climbing - In this type, the team starts from the bottom of the rock, and the leader goes up fixing removable supports, and the climber who follows the leader, picks them up on the way up, which makes this type the cleanest type of rock climbing.

* Sport lead climbing - Pre-placed bolts and supports are used in this method which frees the leader from carrying all of them as in the above type. But, this may be quite risky since these fixed bolts may decay over time, and give way when any weight is put on them, leading to injury or even death.

* Top rope climbing - In this type, a rope is suspended on the top of the rock. The partner on top or at the bottom holds it and provides safety for the climber.

* Free solo climbing - This is quite a dangerous type of rock climbing where no rope or protective gear is used at all.

* Indoor climbing - This form of rock climbing has an artificial climbing environment where surfaces similar to rocks are made indoors and it is considered a good choice for beginners.

Rock climbing equipment

The sport may look simple, but, when you have a look at the list of equipment used in it, there's nothing simple about it. A range of components spanning from the size of a few centimetres up to lengths of rope are used to ensure the climber's safety.

Ropes used in climbing can be either elastic or normal. The elastic ropes or 'dynamic ropes' are used to support the climber during a fall so that it would make less impact, and the non-elastic or 'static ropes' are used to attach equipment.

Apart from this, harnesses are used to attach the climber to the rope which may be worn around the waist, chest or whole body. Belay devices are also used to grip the rope with little effort, and control the speed of a descent, and also help ascenders go up the rope.

Also, a number of protection devices such as tricams, nuts and hexcentrics are used. Helmets and specially designed shoes with increased grip have become important today as well. Apart from these, some twenty or more pieces of equipment are used in the sport.

Aravinda Dassanayake