Questions tagged [climbing]
Questions relating to climbing can include any activity that requires the use of your hands and feet to move vertically up an object, obstruction or terrain. This varies from trees to boulders to cliff faces and everything in-between.
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Is climbing with static rope and shock absorber as safe as with dynamic rope?
Climbing uses specific elastic ropes that absorb the shock from the fall.
I wonder if using static ropes + shock absorber (tear webbing) would achieve the same safety?
P.S.
There are other problems on ...
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What is this no-harness rappel called?
I found an old police service magazine from 1969 and it has an article named "a day out with the police mountaineering section"
In there I saw the picture below of a guy rappelling with ...
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how is a slackline elasticity in percent specified?
I tried to do some load and oscillations calculations based on these equations and I have a question on how manufacturers specify elasticity.
It is often stated in % elongation E as a function of ...
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Can the Edelrid Pinch open accidentally during belay?
The Pinch is a recently released brake-assisted belay device. What differentiates it from other Grigri-style devices, is the ability to directly clip this into the harness. Edelrid is marketing this ...
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Why is it safe to check in climbing gear onto a flight?
In the manual that comes with my rock climbing rope I bought (black diamond) there's a picture with a death sign when the temperature goes below -62 Celsius. Temperatures outside of planes reach well ...
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Why is it acceptable to belay from above with a grigri but not using the same movement from below?
A common practice is to belay a follower from above by connecting a grigri to the anchor and pulling down on the brake strand to take up slack.
However, if you were to do this while belaying from ...
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At what elevation do 50% or higher percentages of mountaineers report symptoms of altitude sickness?
I've read somewhere that above 2500 meters (8,202 ft) 20% of climbers report having had altitude sickness. IIRC they also wrote that 40% of climbers report altitude sickness above 3500 meters (11,500 ...
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Was Alison Hargreaves the second person to summit Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen and without support?
I am reading Savage Summit by Jennifer Jordan (William Morrow, 2005), the Savage Summit being K2. Jordan also recounts the attempts on Everest by Allison Hargreaves, which culminated in her ...
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Can anyone ID this hitch?
This is something I use around the house, camping, tying down misc truck loads, etc. It’s a quick way to attach a carabiner to a bight, it can take load on the working, standing or both ends, it doesn’...
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LOWA renegade insole is sliding
I used my Lowa renegade for 10 years and I bought a new pair. On the first 7km the insoles are sliding back. I tried again, same problem... I just realised even with hands I can slide the insoles up ...
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How can I prevent back-feeding while rope soloing?
When lead rope soloing, back-feeding (or auto-feeding) is when the weight of the rope between the anchor and soloist (the live rope) pulls extra rope through the soloist's belay device, causing a ...
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Protect hand skin while belaying
Besides of using adequate gloves, I would like to have some safe options to decrease skin abrasion while belaying, due to the friction of the rope to lower the climber, mainly. I've come up with some, ...
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How do I tell if this single climbing rope is still safe for use?
I've lent my friend a five year old single climbing rope for a garden project. It was in meticulous condition until then.
Instead of a weekend it took him more like six weeks to complete his project ...
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How are different terrains, defined by their angle, called in climbing?
I started climbing 6 months ago and finally need to understand the climbing nomenclature when it comes to terrain angles. So, I would like to ask the climbers how the following angles would be called. ...
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What knot should I use to tie the middle of a smaller rope to a large rope?
I have a spool of smaller 3mm rope that has its end attached to a ball. My intention is to use this smaller line as a throwline that gets thrown over a tree branch which is then used to drag a ...
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Would this kind of rope ascension system work?
Can i use a petzl ascender, regular Black diamond ATC (NOTE: not guide ATC), footloop and a prusik attached with a biner to my harness to ascend a fixed rope attached to a tree? I don't have a grigri ...
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Using running shoes to hike Mt St Helens
I am hiking/climbing Mt St Helens in 8 days, and I haven't found a pair of hiking boots that I like. My feet are very particular, and I am very concerned that even should I find a pair of boots that ...
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Belaying with a figure 8 plate and weird mode
Warning, this question is about an unproven method. Do not follow these instruction to learn how to belay.
I am finding hard to find any good information about this topic. I know it is possible (but ...
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Can a climber who has lost most or all of his/her toes climb at a level roughly commensurate with his original level?
This question is prompted by my recent rereading of Maurice Herzog's Annapurna, his account of the first climb of an eight-thousander in 1950. Herzog lost all his toes to frostbite and substantial ...
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When did it become commonplace to rely on Sherpas' technical skills in climbing?
I am rereading Annapurna by Maurice Herzog, the account of the first successful ascent of an eight-thousander, which took place in 1950.
In Chapter VII, the following dialog takes place:
[Lachenal, ...
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Belaying and anchoring on multipitch ice walls
While doing multipitch climbing on rockfaces, the lead climber usually finds a small ledge or something like that to anchor themselves, and pause and top belay the other climber.
How does this process ...
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What body type/shape is ideal for rock climbing?
I have been looking through footage of some of the top rock climbers in the world today (male & female) and what surprised me is how most of them don't physically look that strong and some even ...
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How realistic is a ceiling crawl/cling, can it actually be done?
I have very little experience with climbing and so I would like to get an idea of how realistic a ceiling crawl or just a cling actually is with the existing gear available. For clarity:
This is a ...
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Climbing attached to a carabiner rather than tying in
I've just started rock climbing at an indoor climbing gym with a few friends.
I noticed on the auto-belay walls, the was a carabiner you clip to your harness (I assume in the belay loop).
Is it safe ...
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Is this harness defective for having the belay loop around the belt webbing instead of the tie-in loop?
I am a beginner to climbing and bought this ClimbX harness from Go Outdoors in the UK.
Someone at the gym today told me it is defective because the belay loop passes through the thin piece of webbing ...
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Why is there so much emphasis on in-person professional instruction in outdoor sports?
In the month of June I am looking to take my lead climbing from indoors into the outdoors. To bridge the gap between my gym skills and whats required in the "wild", I've decided to go on ...
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Must you always have something in the master point of a belay?
When building a belay with a sling, and tying an overhand knot to create a master point, I’ve seen it stated that you must always have something in all the master point loops. I assume this is to stop ...
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Climbing rope diversion, different scenarios
I'm just getting into climbing, and I have to say I still find it hard to trust the equipment, bolts etc sometimes (even though I know accidents with that are really rare.). Anyway, I try to ...
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How to rig a haul bag so I can move it up/down while midair?
I have a fixed vertical line that can be ascended/descended. I need a bag (a bucket with tools, actually) when I'm hanging mid-air, and need to move it up/down. The bag is over 20 lbs / 10 kg so I ...
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Ascending/descending single climbing rope without any other gear [duplicate]
I am interested in emergency ascending/descending a climbing rope, where there is no other gear and time is of the essence.
Basically, I wonder if anyone has had success with a swiss seat from a bight ...
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