Defining the Rock Climbing Craze

Rock climbing has become a nation and even worldwide craze. People are coming to the sport in droves because it offers exercise and excitement at the same time. Do you see the appeal? If not, perhaps you should take a look at exactly rock climbing actually involves. You never know, you may be lining up to be a part of the crowd in no time flat.

Those who have attempted rock climbing before will tell you that it is many things, but easy is not one of those things. Most people, on their first attempt, come away feeling defeated by the sport. What beginners soon realize, whether they try indoor climbing or outdoor climbing, is that this sport requires an incredible amount of physical and mental energy. It is perhaps the most completely demanding sport around.

There are three basic types of rock climbing you can try. The first is called top roping and is perhaps the most common. In top roping you climb with a partner. From the ground, the partner has a rope from his harness up to the top of the rock and then back down to you as you climb. The second type of rock climbing is called lead climbing. In lead climbing you are still with another person and there are still ropes and pulleys. The difference is that the rope is not at the top of the wall, but it is instead hooked into clasps.

The third type of rock climbing is completely different. It is called bouldering, and there are no ropes or harnesses. As a climber, you will likely stay closer to the ground as you climb around and across the rock more than up the rock. There will generally be a route of some sort that you can complete without much resting. In some cases, you will be required to do what rock climbers call a dyno. In a dyno, you leap off the wall and grab onto a hold that is beyond your reach. This is why many will say that bouldering is the most mentally demanding of all the types of rock climbing.

Interestingly, experienced rock climbers will tell you that it is predominantly a leg activity. About three fourths of your work should be done by your legs, and then one fourth by your arms. The key to climbing well is to have solid technique. One major technique rule that you will learn early on is to at all times have three points (each hand and each foot is a point) touching the wall. There is an enormous difference between having your weight on three points as opposed to two. A second rule of technique is to always climb with your feet. Your hands will hold you to the wall, but should never be doing the pulling, and since your legs are stronger, it is a more efficient way to climb anyway. Thirdly, it is important to remember that the closer your body is to the wall the easier it will be for you to climb. With lots of practice, you will see that it is all this thinking and strategy that has helped make rock climbing one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

When you first begin climbing, no matter how well you have been taught technique, it is a good idea to start with one of the first two types. They are easier and by forcing you to have a buddy with you are safer as well. As you develop technique and strength you will find that you can then more easily move into bouldering if that is something you desire to try.

You may feel like rock climbing seems awfully extreme for a regular Joe like you, but it is quite the workout. As you get further into the sport, learn technique, body positions, and even how to shift your weight, you will see that your mental sharpness will improve as well. If you like to get out and work, but also enjoy chess or other strategy games, you will find that rock climbing is right up your alley. It is not enough to be strong or in shape, and it is not enough to be smart, you have to be strong and sharp.

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Boulder Climbing

Boulder climbing, most commonly referred to as bouldering, is an extreme sport that has been around for a long time. Very often thought of as mountain climbing without the mountain and ropes, bouldering aficionados in Great Britain pioneered this sport some time in the late 1880s. In those days, the climbing of a boulder was considered a warm up and training activity for the more ambitious mountain climbs that the participants would engage in later on. Self proclaimed American boulder climber pioneer John Gill has made many advances in this sport that have allowed it to enter the mainstream. As opposed to traditional rock climbing, the focus in boulder climbing is on the performance of the athlete on the rock they are climbing instead of on the headway they can make on any given mountain hike, the type of equipment they may have that ensures success of some mountain climbing expeditions and failure of others, or the personal safety gear they posses.

Safety is nonetheless of great important to any boulder climber. After all, even though she or he will only be about six feet off the ground, a fall from this height will hurt and might result in severe injuries if safety precautions are not taken. Chalk is often used to allow climbers to get a good grip on the boulder they are climbing and to prevent them from slipping. Drying the hands and reducing slippage due to sweating hands, a chalk pouch is indispensable in this activity. Another important item that should be a part of your climbing gear is the choice of shoe. While particular climbing shoes are not required and may even be looked down upon by the purists on the fringe of the sport, many climbers prefer to wear specialized climbing shoes that not only protect their feet from rock cuts, splinters, and painful twists, but also help them in securing a safe footing during their climbing experience.

In competitions, crash pads will break the fall of a climber and allow for a safer landing. Fortunately, boulder climbers no longer wait until the competitions come around to use a mat to break a fall, but many climbers now carry their own collapsible mats that they use when bouldering recreationally. Many times an individual who is designated as a spotter will seek to direct the climber away from danger, or in case of a fall, will render first aid. A few boulder climbers will use top ropes to traverse a boulder, but the majority of the sports aficionados look on this safety precaution with disdain, as it distorts the actual beauty and goal of the activity itself.

Since bouldering has become a highly competitive game, judging methods have evolved over the years. At first the “B” system invented by John Gill was used. Terming boulders as problems that need to be solved, difficulty levels were assigned to different boulders. Thus, a B1 problem boulder would not be considered easy yet does not fall into the hard category either. A B2 problem boulder simply designates a boulder that is harder to traverse and master than a B1 rock. The B3 boulder climb, on the other hand, designates boulders that have been so hard to climb that they have only been successfully mastered once. As is apparent to boulder climbing enthusiasts, the “B” system only worked for a short period of time until more participants in the sports brought more differentiated skill levels to the climbs. Soon the “B” scale was replaced by the “V” grade system invented by John Sherman, another great of the sport. This scale is open ended, but at this point only designations from V0 to V16 are used. Some refer to a VB rating, which simply means “V-basic” if a boulder does not even meat a V0 designation. Sometimes a plus or minus sign is added to the V designations to even further pare down the difficulty level of a rock. The “V” scale and the “B” system are comparable at times; for example, a “B1” problem as defined by John Gill is similar to a “V5+” problem designation using the John Sherman scale. In Europe, the cradle of this sport, an entirely different grading system is used: the Fontainebleau grading. This system uses the numbers 1 through 8 and the letter designations of a through c. An “8c” rating would be similar to Sherman’s “V15” rating.

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