Climbing
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up or across natural rock formations or man-made rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route. Rock climbing is similar to scrambling, but climbing is generally differentiated because of the use of hands to support the climber's weight as well as to provide balance.
Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility, and balance along with his or her mental control. It can be a dangerous sport and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and usage of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes. Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the world rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines.
The main types of climbing are: Sport Climbing and Traditional Climbing, or even bouldering if you would like to define it as a sort of climbing.
Rock Climbing Equipment
Rock climbing involves quite a lot of equipment, to start with, a rope, or a pair of ropes. And the for one to be able to second/climb indoor top ropes, one will need to have a pair of rock shoes, a harness, a HMS karabiner, a belay device and a sling. It is also essential to have a helmet on when climbing outdoors for one's safety from falling rocks or objects, or even protecting the climbers head during a fall.
To lead climb in traditional climbing, one would also need on top of the above: nuts, hexes, cams, screwgate karabiners, snapgate/wiregate karabiners, quickdraws and more slings. The choice of equipment is different in every climber, and every climber would have different opinions and preferences on what gear to use and get. If you're hoping to start to lead it is very useful to speak to one of the lead climbers in the club as they can give advise from their experience.
Rope
There are mainly 3 different types of ropes: Single ropes, Half ropes and Twin ropes.
Single ropes are to be used alone, clipped into every protection.
Half ropes are used in pairs, normally each rope is in a different colour, and the ropes are clipped into alternate protections.
Twin ropes are also to be used in pairs, but not like half ropes, twin ropes are to be clipped into every piece of protection.
There are pros and cons between using different types of ropes.
Rock shoes
They're what you climb in! Guessing the name is fairly self-explanatory. But there are many different types of rock shoes that all perform in a slightly different way. Some are flat and soft, whilst some are bent like banannas and really stiff. Lace up, velcro or slipper? Hard or stiff? Flat or curved? It's all down to what you do and what you like to wear. Best to try them on before buying any!
Helmet
It's your own safety! A helmet is essential for outdoor climbing since it protects your precious head from objects falling from above you, or when you fall and get flipped upside down. You wouldn't have imagined before how easy is it for a rock to come loose and fall off the rock face! A good helmet is supposed to fit your head snuggly but not tight, also if you're planning on using it in winter, allow some space for your beanie!
Harness
A vital piece of climbing gear that connects the climber to the rope, and the other climber!
Belay Device
Belay devices are mechanical pieces of climbing equipment used to control a rope during belaying. They are designed to improve belay safety for the climber by allowing the belayer to manage their duties with minimal physical effort. With the right belay device, a small, weak climber can easily arrest the fall of a much heavier partner. Belay devices act as a friction brake, so that when a climber falls with any slack in the rope, the fall is brought to a stop. A belay device attaches to a harness via a karabiner, and they can also be used in abseils.
Karabiners
Karabiners are extensively used in climbing, quickdraws, belays, just for organising etc... A karabiner is what attaches you between a rope and your placed protection, or whatever you hang off whilst climbing. There are 2 main types, locking and non-locking. Locking ones are generally stronger and safer to use to set up belays, whilst non-locking ones are lighter and tend to be used on quickdraws or protections.
Rock Protection
There are various types of rock protection, most commonly seen are passive ones like nuts and hexes, and active ones like cams. They have to be correctly placed in order to protect the climber. Different types of protection work slightly (or drastically) different and are suited for various environments.
Slings
Slings can have various uses, in indoor climbing it can allow a person to belay someone a lot heavier than himself by anchoring the belayer to the ground via a karabiner and his harness. Outdoors it could be used to set up belays, used as rock protection, extenders, etc. A very useful piece of gear!
The club owns a selection of gear that members are allowed to borrow for use on club trips. For more information please contact the gear sec, or any other members of the committee.