Information On Sport Climbing
And Sport Climbing Gear
In sport climbing, the ascension is based on the safety of
permanent anchor points (usually bolts). The distance between two
bolts is not long and if a fall happens, it will be small. The only
thing a climber has to do for his safety is to put the quickdraws on
the bolts and the rope in the carabiners. So he can concentrate on
the difficulty of the route and climb fearlessly using the maximum
of his capabilities. That's the reason why sport climbing routes are
relatively difficult.
Sport climbing accidents
The most serious accidents in sport climbing happen
because of mistakes which are made before you start climbing. Before
starting your attempt to climb the route always check the following
things: Is the strap on the harness of the belayer correctly placed?
Is the knot of the rope on the leader's harness correct? Is the rope
put in the belay device the right way? Is the device fastened on the
belayer's harness with a locking carabiner? Is the gate of the
locking carabiner locked? Is the rope long enough to bring the
follower down like a bucket if needed?
Common sport climbing problems
A problem you may face when sport climbing is the
bolts which are not placed right. These are bolts which are placed
way out of the route's line or after a difficult passage and you
can't reach them. You can do the difficult movement and then put the
quickdraw on the bolt or try to put it while you are on the limit.
In both cases you are risking a big fall.
Every safety point is important, even the first one.
The most important safety point is the second one particularly in
low rocks. In case the second safety point is high a fall may end on
the ground if it occurs while the climber is trying to place the
quickdraw on it. Such accidents have happened and now at sport
climbing fields certain attention is paid to the placement of safety
points. A solution to sparsely permanent safety points is to use
nuts and/or cams between them. However the placement of nuts needs
experience and often the rock isn't suitable for them, especially in
some difficult sport climbing routes.
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Sport climbing - Aid climbing - Bouldering -
Trad climbing
Top rope climbing-
Rock climbing equipment-
Rock climbing terms
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