Climbing simply put is the sport of manual ascent and has now taken the form of a fully fledged sport. But, climbing should not be taken lightly. It is an advanced skill and training is a must to practice and participate in this sport. The risks involved are high on account of the nature of sport, i.e. climbing heights, and hence use of safety gear is considered essential. Climbing as a sport invariably involves dangers – but these can be minimized with correct preparation and training. Its popularity is due to the passion of people who go for it for individual satisfaction. There are various types of climbing.
“Climbing” is used synonymously with mountaineering or rock climbing and has a range of variations based on the place and structure that is climbed and the equipment used. Climbing can be either indoor on artificial climbing structures or outdoors on natural formations. It can also be classified on whether any safety gear is used or not.
Rock climbing in its most traditional form involves climbing from the bottom of a huge rock or a mountain with the aim of reaching the top. In view of the dangers involved the safety gear used here is usually a simple rope that is fastened to the climber and connected to special wedges placed on the climber’s path upwards. In case of a fall the rope hooked to the wedges and nuts placed in the cracks of the rock prevents the climber from injury. Sport climbing is a faster and safer type as the climber makes use of the wedges and protective pieces put up on the rock on a permanent basis and need not carry them with him. Free solo climbing uses no safety gear at all and is performed only by professionals as a fall most definitely could lead to death or very severe injury. Bouldering is another type of climbing where the climber ascends on boulders and as the boulder height is usually limited to 15 feet no equipment is used. Ice climbing is just the same as traditional rock climbing except that the climber scales an ice formation such as a glacier instead of a rock and needs special gear for holding on to ice. Top rope climbing is where a rope is suspended from an anchor situated at the top of a not so high climb and the climber is protected by his partner who holds the rope at one end. Tree climbing is the oldest form of climbing and it is often said that this sport arrived as early as the existence of trees. The sport is simply explained as climbing trees efficiently and does not demand high physical strength as other forms of climbing. Tip-offs are usually given by experts to master the tree climbing art.
Everything apart, climbing is a sport meant for those who are excited by heights and are fascinated by the thought of scaling them. If you have a passion for heights and are physically fit and mentally strong then climbing should be a good choice.
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Tags: ascent, climb, climbing, mountain
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