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The Climbing Portal

Roof climbing lead route in Catalonia 2016

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locomotion, sporting recreation, for competition, and is also done in trades that rely on ascension, such as construction and military operations. Climbing is done indoors and outdoors, on natural surfaces (e.g. rock climbing and ice climbing), and on artificial surfaces (e.g. climbing walls and climbing gyms) (Full article...)

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Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies (2016), by Alan Kane.

Climbing guidebooks are used by mountaineers, alpinists, ice climbers, and rock climbers to locate, grade, and navigate climbing routes on mountains, climbing crags, or bouldering areas. Modern route guidebooks include detailed information on each climbing route, including topo diagrams, route beta, protection requirements, and the ethics and style that are in place for a given climbing area (i.e can sport climbing bolts be used).

Modern climbing guidebooks are increasingly available in digital format, and even as searchable smartphone apps with extensive beta and three-dimensional diagrams of routes. Extensive online 'opensource' climbing databases of routes now exist, however, the publication of 'physical guidebooks' for technical climbing routes is still ongoing given the unique demands of climbing (with many having both a physical and online edition). (Full article...)

Rock climbing

Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are chronicled in guidebooks, and on online databases, with the details of how to climb the route (called the beta), and who made the first ascent (or FA) and the coveted first free ascent (or FFA). Climbers will try to ascend a route onsight, however, a climber can spend years projecting a route before they make a redpoint ascent.

Routes range from a few metres to over a 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in height, and traverses can reach 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) in length. They include slabs, faces, cracks and overhangs/roofs. Popular rock types are granite (e.g. El Capitan), limestone (e.g. Verdon Gorge), and sandstone (e.g. Saxon Switzerland) but 43 types of climbable rock types have been identified. Artificial indoor climbing walls are popular and competition climbing — which takes place on artificial walls — became an Olympic sport in 2020.

Contemporary rock climbing is focused on free climbing where — unlike with aid climbing — no mechanical aids can be used to assist with upward momentum. Free-climbing includes the discipline of bouldering on short 5-metre (16 ft) routes, of single-pitch climbing on up to 60–70-metre (200–230 ft) routes, and of multi-pitch climbing — and big wall climbing — on routes of up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). Free-climbing can be done as free solo climbing with no climbing protection whatsoever, or as lead climbing that uses either removable temporary protection (called traditional climbing), or permanently fixed bolted protection (called sport climbing).

The evolution in technical milestones in rock climbing is tied to the development in rock-climbing equipment (e.g. rubber shoes, spring-loaded camming devices, and campus boards) and of rock-climbing technique (e.g. jamming, crimping, and smearing). The most dominant grading systems worldwide are the 'French numerical' and 'American YDS' systems for lead climbing, and the V-grade and the Font-grade for bouldering. As of October 2024, the hardest lead climbing grade is 9c (5.15d), and the hardest bouldering grade is V17 (9A).

The main types of rock climbing can trace their origins to late 19th-century Europe, with bouldering in Fontainebleau, big wall climbing in the Dolomites, and single-pitch climbing in both the Lake District and in Saxony. Climbing ethics initially focused on "fair means" and the transition from aid climbing to free climbing and latterly to clean climbing; the use of bolted protection on outdoor routes is a source of ongoing debate in climbing. The sport's profile was increased when lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing became medal events in the Summer Olympics, and with the popularity of films such as Free Solo and The Dawn Wall. (Full article...)

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Climbing sport disciplines

Lead Climbing

Martin Bergant (SLO), Innsbruck 2018

When lead climbing, the lead climber wears a harness tied to one end of a rope. The leader's partner provides the belay, paying out rope as needed, usually with the aid of a belay device, to catch the leader in the event of a fall. The lead climber ascends the route, periodically placing protection for safety in the event of a fall.

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Bouldering

Bouldering in Idyllwild, California

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls, known as boulders, without the use of ropes or harnesses.

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Speed climbing

Mariia Krasavina at the Climbing World Championships 2018 Speed Semifinals

Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed Climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles

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Ice climbing

Cascade du Grand Vallon - Modane, France

Ice climbing is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water.

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Competition climbing

Mountaineering

See also: Portal:Mountains

Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports.

Unlike most sports, mountaineering lacks widely applied formal rules, regulations, and governance; mountaineers adhere to a large variety of techniques and philosophies (including grading and guidebooks) when climbing mountains. Numerous local alpine clubs support mountaineers by hosting resources and social activities. A federation of alpine clubs, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), is the International Olympic Committee-recognized world organization for mountaineering and climbing. The consequences of mountaineering on the natural environment can be seen in terms of individual components of the environment (land relief, soil, vegetation, fauna, and landscape) and the location/zone of mountaineering activity (hiking, trekking, or climbing zone). Mountaineering impacts communities on economic, political, social and cultural levels, often leading to changes in people's worldviews influenced by globalization, specifically foreign cultures and lifestyles. (Full article...)

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Selected Mountaineering Topics

Climbing equipment

  • Climber carrying their rock climbing equipment (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Rock climber with a helmet, harness & rope, and a traditional climbing "rack" of protection devices on their harness and additional gear sling, which contains SLCDs, nuts, a tricam, and quickdraws
  • Various types of belay devices (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Various models of tubers, and a sticht plate (r-lower)
  • A hangboard (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    A hangboard
  • Comparison of rope and chord thicknesses (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Rope (two on left) and cord (two on right) thicknesses compared
  • Cross section of a dynamic rope (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Cross-section of 10.7 mm kernmantle dynamic rope
  • Specialist quickdraws used in competition (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Sport/competition climbing quickdraw with a "bent gate" at one end for easier clipping-in
  • Various types of carabiners (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Non-locking (top) and locking (bottom) carabiners
  • Climber using a bouldering mat (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Climber using a bouldering mat
  • Sets of sewn webbing slings (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Sets of sewn webbing slings
  • UIAA certified twin ropes (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    UIAA-certified twin ropes
  • Ascender attached to a rope (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Ascender attached to a rope
  • Modern rock climbing shoe (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    A modern rock climbing shoe
  • A lanyard for use on the via terrata (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Petzl's "via ferrata lanyard set" with attached "energy absorber"
  • Lying on a portaledge (from Rock-climbing equipment)
    Climber lying on a portaledge
See also: Aid climbing

Climbers

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Ghisolfi competing at the European Championships, Chamonix, 2013.

Stefano Ghisolfi (born February 18, 1993) is an Italian professional rock climber, who specializes in competition climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. In competition climbing, he completes in competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing, with lead being his strongest discipline. As a sport climber, he has redpointed sport climbing routes of grade 9b  (5.15c), onsighted routes of 8c (5.14b), and solved boulder problems at grade 8B  (V14). In December 2018, after climbing Perfecto Mundo, he became the fourth climber in history to redpoint a 9b  (5.15c) route. (Full article...)

Notable Climbers

Climbing Areas

Climbing area

See all selected climbing areas

Tree climbing

A man climbing a palmyra palm

Tree climbing is a recreational or functional activity consisting of ascending and moving around in the crowns of trees.

A rope, helmet, and harness can be used to increase the safety of the climber. Other equipment can also be used, depending on the experience and skill of the tree climber. Some tree climbers take special hammocks called "Treeboats" and Portaledges with them into canopies where they can have a picnic or sleep.

Some tree climbers employ a mixture of techniques and gear derived from rock climbing and caving. These techniques are also used to climb trees for other purposes: tree care (arborists), animal rescue, research Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine, and activism. (Full article...)

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Canyoning

Canyoning in Gitgit, Bali, Indonesia

Canyoning (canyoneering in the United States, kloofing in South Africa) is a sport that combines several outdoor sports like rock climbing, hiking, swimming, and rappelling. A canyoneer travels down canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), and swimming.

Although non-technical descents such as hiking down a canyon (canyon hiking) are often referred to as canyoneering, the terms canyoning and canyoneering are more often associated with technical descents — those that require abseils (rappels) and ropework, technical climbing or down-climbing, technical jumps, and/or technical swims.

Canyoning is frequently done in remote and rugged settings and often requires navigational, route-finding, and other wilderness travel skills. (Full article...)

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Caving

A man caving in muddy passage with helictite formations on the walls and ceiling
Caving in a muddy section of Black Chasm Cave in California

Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment.

The challenges involved in caving vary according to the cave being visited; in addition to the total absence of light beyond the entrance, negotiating pitches, squeezes, and water hazards can be difficult. Cave diving is a distinct, and more hazardous, sub-speciality undertaken by a small minority of technically proficient cavers. In an area of overlap between recreational pursuit and scientific study, the most devoted and serious-minded cavers become accomplished at the surveying and mapping of caves and the formal publication of their efforts. These are usually published freely and publicly, especially in the UK and other European countries, although in the US they are generally more private.

Although caving is sometimes categorized as an "extreme sport," cavers do not commonly use this terminology and typically dislike the term being used in reference to caving, as it implies a disregard for safety. (Full article...)

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