Teen Wellness - Rock Climbing

The practice of rock climbing began years ago in the Alps for Victorian Mountaineering purposes. It is generally thought that the sport of rock climbing emerged later in England. By the 1930’s there were over 200 small climbing clubs in Europe. Over the years both climbing techniques and the equipment climbers use to advance the sport have evolved in a steady fashion. Many participants regard rock climbing as more a lifestyle than merely an athletic pursuit.

In traditional climbing, the climbers usually work in pairs, with one climbing and the other belaying. The belayer feeds rope to the lead climber through a belay device. The leader climbs up, places protection, climbs higher and places more protection until the top is reached. The belayer controls the rope and is ready to lock off the rope if the leader falls.

Both climbers attach the rope to their climbing harness, usually tying into their harness with a figure eight knot or a double bowline knot. In traditional rock climbing, the leader places a nut or spring loaded camming device into the cracks in the rock. In ice climbing, the protection is usually ice screws that are hammered or screwed into the rock by the leader and removed by the second.

The leader connects the rope to the protection with carabiners, which are strong, metal clips that can be locked into place. If the leader should fall, the belayer will stop the rope from running by increasing the friction of the rope using a belay device.

There are many types of climbing that can be enjoyed. Free climbing requires that the climber use only natural features of the rock as hand and footholds. Other forms of free climbing are: traditional lead climbing, sport lead climbing, top rope climbing, bouldering and indoor climbing.

Evergreen Junior High was visited by Morgan Miller of Vertical World, an indoor rock climbing facility in Redmond. He explained how to use your body most effectively for climbing and also showed the classes some essential pieces of equipment including a harness, helmet, carabiners and belay devices. Indoor climbing gyms are a great place to be introduced to the sport safely by knowledgeable instructors. Indoor climbing can include bouldering, top roping and leading using wood or plastic holds. For more information on how you can get started with this exciting sport, clink on the link to the Vertical World website below:

http://www.verticalworld.com/Gyms/Redmond/MapsDirections/tabid/858/Default.aspx

Information taken in part from Wikipedia