Types of Climbing
Traditional (trad): the most technical type of climbing that requires a lead climber and belayer. The lead climbs the first pitch and anchors a cam every 10 feet, and the belayer spots the lead and is supposed to retrieve the hardware from every last anchored cam. This type of climbing requires a lot of experience, not just with the technicalities of climbing but also knowing how to find the right route.
Sport climbing: the same idea as trad climbing, but the route is already pre-bolted. This means the climber doesn't need to practice route-finding as much, and they can just follow the pitches according to the anchored bolts.
Top roping: a type of climbing that has only one anchor with the rope already pre-hooked into the top bolt. Top roping is almost like sport climbing but without the risk of falling far down because the belayer should be tightening the slack as the lead goes up. In contrast, sport climbing adds the risk of having a far fall because if the lead doesn't clip into the next bolt, they can have a fall as far as 10 feet down the route as they fall to the last clipped-in bolt.
Bouldering: the simplest form of climbing that only requires a crashpad, climbing shoes, and chalk (if needed). It's a type of free climbing where the routes range from 5-20 feet tall (sometimes higher), and they don't require any ropes or hardware to complete a route. Bouldering is typically the type of climbing for powerful climbers. More progressive routes require strength and power to complete, so many climbers train on boulders to improve their power and overall climbing technique for difficult scenarios.
The four listed types of climbing are in descending order of equipment and experience needed. Trad climbing requires the most amount of equipment and experience because you have to be prepared for dangerous situations, and you need enough experience or familiar with the route that you do. On the other hand, bouldering requires the least amount of equipment, and most beginner climbers start bouldering or top roping before any of the other types of climbing. There are many other forms of climbing as well, but this blog will focus on these four types, especially bouldering.
Crag: the location of all the climbing routes outdoors
Problem: the route of the boulder or pitch
Vermin Scale: ranging from V0 (very easy) to V12 (very hard), and this grading scale is usually for bouldering.
Yosemite Decimal Scale (YDS): ranging from 5.6 (very easy) to 5.12 (very hard), and this grading scale is usually for trad, sport, or top roping
"send": completing a route
"flash": completing a route on the first try
Crux: the hardest section of the problem
No comments:
Post a Comment