Sport climbing

Sport climbing is a style of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors fixed to the rock, especially bolts, for protection. Sport climbing places an emphasis on gymnastic ability, strength and endurance, while virtually eliminating the need to place protection while climbing.

Sport Climbing Basics

A route suitable for sport climbing has pre-placed bolts following a line up a rock face. Sport climbs are typically between 20 and 120 feet in length, and have eight to twelve bolts (some routes may have as few as three bolts, and some routes may have twenty five or more).

Sport climbing can be undertaken with relatively little equipment. Equipment required for sport climbing includes:

• A dynamic rope
• Quickdraws
• A belay device
• Climbing harnesses for belayer and climber
• A few runners
• A helmet is recommended
• Climbing Shoes and chalk bag are also recommended, although not technically necessary

To lead a sport climb is to ascend a route with a rope tied to the climber's harness, and with the loose end of the rope handled by a belayer. Sport climbers typically use a figure-eight follow-through knot to attach the rope to their harness, although some climbers prefer the double bowline. As each bolt is reached along the route, the climber attaches a quickdraw to the bolt, and then clips the rope through the hanging end of the draw. This bolt is now protecting the climber in the event of a fall. At the top of sport routes, there is typically a two-bolt anchor that can be used to return the climber to the ground or previous rappel point.

Because sport routes do not require placing protection, the climber can concentrate on the difficulty of the moves rather than placing protection or the consequences of a fall.

Sport climbing differs from traditional climbing with respect to the type and placement of protection; traditional climbing does not utilize pre-placed, permanent anchors. Sport climbing also typically involves shorter, single pitch routes, whereas traditional climbing often focuses on longer, multi-pitch ascents. There are some exceptions to this, such as areas like El Potrero Chico, but longer routes generally lack pre-placed anchors due to economical, logistical or ethical reasons.

Rock types that produce good sport climbs include limestone, granite and quartzite, though sport climbs can be found on almost all rock types.

Ratings

Sport climbs are assigned subjective ratings to indicate difficulty. The type of rating depends on the geographic location of the route, since different countries and climbing communities use different rating systems.

The Ewbank rating system, used in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, is a numerical open-ended system, starting from 1, which you can (at least in theory) walk up, up to 34 (as of 2004).

The French rating system considers the overall difficulty of the climb, taking into account the difficulty of the moves and the length of climb. This differs from most grading systems where one rates a climbing route according to the most difficult section (or single move). Grades are numerical, starting at 1 (very easy) and the system is open-ended. Each numerical grade can be subdivided by adding a letter (a, b or c). Examples: 2, 4, 4b, 6a, 7c. An optional + (no -) may be used to further differentiate difficulty. Many countries in Europe use a system with similar grades but not necessarily matching difficulties. Sport climbing in Britain and Ireland uses the French grading system, often prefixed with the letter "F".

In the United States, the Yosemite Decimal System is used to rate sport climbs. Current grades for sport routes vary between 5.0 (very, very easy) to 5.15 (ridiculously hard), although the system is open-ended. Past 5.10, letter grades between a and d are used for further subdivision (e.g. 5.11a or 5.10d).

Terminology

Sport climbing has some specific terminology. For example, sport climbers have terms to categorize a successful climb based on the number of attempts and pre-existing knowledge of a given route:

• An ascent is considered an onsight if climbed the first try, without falls and without prior knowledge of the route.
• An ascent is considered a flash if climbed the first try, without falls but with some prior knowledge such as, but not limited to, watching another person climb it or discussing it with another climber.
• An ascent is considered a red point once a climber has attempted a given route and failed to climb it on the first attempt, but succeeded on a subsequent attempt while placing quickdraws.
• An ascent is considered a pink point once a climber has attempted a given route and failed to climb it on the first attempt, but succeeded on a subsequent attempt while climbing on pre-placed quickdraws. In some climbing communities, a pink point is considered to be a red point. In other climbing communities, this term has been abandoned entirely.

Routes that are at or above the individual climber's skill level often require working to red point (e.g. "We spent the summer working Ro Sham Po at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky."). A climber may return to a climb between two and hundreds of times to work out the moves, memorize the movements, and develop the strength and stamina required to complete the route. It is not uncommon for climbers to have routes they work for months or years.

Any route that is being worked is considered that climber's project. Upon success, a climber may claim to have sent a given route. (e.g. "Pete was working Ro Sham Po all summer, and in October he sent it.") The term can also be used in the present tense as send. (e.g. "We were all yelling at Pete, 'send it!'")

Prior knowledge of a route passed between climbers is often refered to as beta. Beta can be information about difficult moves, specific sequences, or any other information that aids in ascent. In particular, a climber may be interested in getting beta for the crux of a route. A crux is considered to be the most difficult section of a route. (e.g. "Pete got a bunch of beta for the crux moves on Ro Sham Po from Bill, who sent the route last year.")

The terminology described above has been adopted by other forms of climbing, such as bouldering and traditional climbing, although it originated in the sport climbing movement.

Bouldering

Bouldering is a type of rockclimbing undertaken without a rope and is normally limited in respect to the height the climber ascends the route so that any fall will not risk significant injury. This variation of climbing can be practiced on large boulders, at the base of larger rock faces/climbing routes, in indoor climbing centres, or even on manmade structures (see buildering). Its documented origins may be found in the United Kingdom and France in the last quarter of the 19th century [1]. The British coined the word bouldering at that time. For many years, bouldering was usually practiced as training for climbers, although, in the 1930s and late 1940s, Pierre Allain and his companions enjoyed bouldering for its own sake in Fontainebleau . However, the first climber to actually make bouldering his primary specialty (in the mid 1950s) and to advocate its acceptance as a legitimate sport not restricted to a particular area was John Gill, an amateur gymnast who found the challenge & movement of bouldering enjoyable. (See his article, The Art of Bouldering, in The Journal of the American Alpine Club, 1969)

Typically bouldering is a more high impact sport focusing on individual moves rather than the endurance required in traditional climbing or sport climbing. Boulder routes are most commonly referred to as problems (another British appellation), because the nature of the climb is often short, curious, and much like problem solving. Sometimes these problems are "eliminates", meaning certain artificial restrictions are imposed. As in other types of climbing there are entire grading systems for bouldering alone. The most commonly used grading systems are the John Sherman V-grade system, beginning at V0 and increasing by integers to a current achievement of V16 (The Wheel of Life by Dai Koyamada in the Grampians, Australia [1]), and the Fontainebleau system which ranges from 1 to 8c+. Both scales are open-ended at the top, and thus the upper grade of these systems increases as boulderers ascend more difficult problems.

To reduce the risk of injury after a fall, climbers rarely go higher than a few meters above the ground (anything over 7 meters is generally considered to be free-soloing although such climbs might also be termed high-ball bouldering problems). They may also put a crash pad/bouldering mat on the ground to break their fall and/or assign a spotter, a person standing on the ground to prevent the climber from landing badly. The spotter generally works to direct the climber's body toward the crashpad during a fall, while protecting the climber's head from hazards.

The region around Fontainebleau near Paris is particularly famous for its beautiful and concentrated bouldering sites. Well known areas include Stanage (UK), Hueco Tanks (Texas), Castle Hill (New Zealand), Bishop (California), and Horse Pens 40 (Alabama) amongst others.

Bouldering is continually gaining in popularity, partly as evidenced by the growth of bouldering areas in indoor climbing gyms and even entire climbing gyms dedicated to bouldering. Children are joining the sport now as well as adults. In fact, studies have found that young climbers develop better skills as adults from their experience with youthful disadvantages such as height and strength.

Gear

Chalk

Boulderers use loose, powdered chalk on their hands as a drying agent while climbing. The chalk is stored in a small hand-sized pouch worn on the climber's lower back called a chalk bag. Climbers may, on occasion, mix their chalk with cleaning alcohol, benzine etc. This is to ensure that the climbers hands are not only dry, but that any grease or other impediments to good grip will dissolve in the alcohol and evaporate. However, continued use of this mixture can have adverse effects on the climber's skin. It is therefore not a recommended technique and should only be applied before extremely difficult climbs if at all. John Gill introduced the use of chalk into climbing in the 1950s, in America.

Pads

Boulderers commonly carry a mattress-like object called a crash pad. These are generally 50" x 40" x 3" foam pads with a heavy-duty fabric shell. Crash pads are made to be either rolled or folded in half and worn like a backpack. They are opened and placed at the based of a boulder to cover irregularities in the landing and provide some cushion if the climber falls. Often a group of climbers will boulder together, each carrying his or her own crash pad. When using many crash pads together, the landing zones are larger and safer. A crash pad is not a substitute for a human spotter to protect a climber in a fall, and crash pads cannot eliminate all risk of injury. The first commercial pads, designed by Greg Kinnaloa and others, appeared in the early 1990s.

Ropes

Ropes are generally not used in bouldering these days. However, top-ropes were used prior to the introduction of bouldering pads on particularly high or dangerous boulder problems, and are still occasionally used to practice such moves; however, many boulderers now consider this to be poor form.

Shoes

While shoes designed for technical climbing are not required to participate in bouldering, they can offer the climber a distinct advantage. A large variety of climbing shoes are now available from climbing shops and online. All such shoes incorporate "sticky" rubber soles - first produced by Boreal in the 1970s. Prior to that time, normal black rubber had been used for many years.

Accessories

Often, a toothbrush is carried while bouldering. This can be used to "dust" off any grime that is on the rock. The toothbrush comes in handy on very crimpy small holds. Wet holds can be easily dried up with the use of chalk and a toothbrush. However, in many regions, boulderers have come into conflict with other climbers and with conservationists due to problems with over-use of chalk, which leaves white marks and changes the acidity of the rock; and with over-brushing, which can lead to serious erosion of certain rock types in particular.

White sports tape is useful for covering cuts or blisters, as repeated attempts on a particularly sharp problem can injure the climber's hands in the same places.

Climbing

Walls Climbers often build small climbing walls to practice their technique. Bouldering can also be practiced at the base of full scale climbing walls; and short structures designed specifically for bouldering can be found in many commercial climbing gyms.