| Climbing
covers a range of recreational, adventurous or sporting activities
involving using one's hands and feet to move up the surface
of a steep object. Evolving from the pursuit of mountaineering,
rock climbing is the scaling of steep rocky surfaces, usually
using ropes and other climbing equipment for protection.
People have been climbing mountains recreationally
since the early 1700s. The use of a rope in mountain climbing
started in the mid-1800s in Europe. At this time the rule
was the leader (one who climbs first on the rope) - usually
a professional guide - must not fall.
This was a fairly straightforward rule as
the ropes and techniques of the day meant that a lead fall
would most likely be fatal. By the early 1900s climbers in
Saxony were using ropes in a somewhat more efficient manner
- threading them through occasional iron safety rings embedded
in the rock - in their attempts to protect dangerous leads.
Rock climbing can be subdivided into free
climbing (where ropes and gear are used strictly for safety
in the case of a fall), and aid climbing, where a passage
up a piece of rock is engineered by using equipment placed
in the rock for upward progress.
Free climbing is a style of climbing in which
the climber uses no artificial aids to make progress upwards,
but just hands, feet and other parts of the body. Equipment
is used only for protection against the consequences of a
fall. The term is used in contrast to aid climbing, in which
equipment is used directly to make progress.
Styles of free climbing include traditional
climbing, sport climbing, some forms of solo climbing and
bouldering. Free soloing is a type of free climbing where
no rope is used for protection and falls would be disastrous.
Aid climbing is a style of climbing in which
fixed or placed protection is used to make upward progress.
The term contrasts with free climbing in which
no artificial aids are used to make progress. In aid climbing,
the climber ascends by hanging on, and climbing on, his or
her equipment; in free climbing the climber ascends by holding
onto, and stepping on, natural features of the rock, using
rope and equipment only to catch them in case of a fall, and
to hang on at belay stations.
In general, aid climbing places less emphasis
on athletic fitness and physical strength but more on technical
skill, though the physical aspects of hard aid climbing should
not be underestimated. Aid techniques are most often utilized
on extremely steep and long routes, demanding great endurance
and stamina, both physical and mental. |
