When it comes to rock climbing, you might just think that there is only one kind of climbing, but would you believe there are over 6 kinds of extreme climbing?
If you’re interested in taking rock climbing up, or are you tired of always doing the same type of climbing, it might be time to try something new and challenge yourself on one of the several different climbing disciplines out there.
The climbing community has been growing rapidly, with hundreds of thousands of new people learning the ropes each year. And while climbing is becoming so popular, there’s still plenty of people out there who think that free soloing is the only type of climbing, made famous by the 2018 movie “Free Solo”.
While scaling El Capitan free solo – without a rope or any support – is definitely the extreme of extremes, it’s not how the vast majority of climbers like to spend their time. There are so many different varieties of climbing that even seasoned climbers don’t know every kind of climbing there is, and the skills needed to excel at each.
12 Types of Climbing
- Big Wall Climbing
- Ice Climbing
- Traditional Climbing
- Sport Climbing
- Free Soloing
- Bouldering
Big Wall Climbing
While most climbers stick to single or half-day climbs, the main difference with Big Wall Climbing is where climbers ascend cliffs that are thousands of feet tall, which can take days or weeks to climb. Some of the most famous big wall climb routes are in Yosemite National Park, and while most climbing routes include the use of climbing aids (such as rope and other gear) there are some elite climbers out there that take on the challenge of straight-up free climbing these mountains.
Alex Honnold, the star of Free Solo, set an unexpected speed record when climbing the “Nose”, (a well known Yosemite route), scaling approximately 3000 feet in only 1:58:07! Besides climbing, they need to carry all their gear, from climbing gear to supplies for sleeping, eating, and living on the wall. Training often takes months or years to be at the physical and mental levels needed to have a successful big wall climb.
Now that’s extreme.
Ice Climbing
Instead of rock surfaces, ice climbing is just what it sounds like – ice climbing, or ascending ice. Using specialized pieces of gear, tools, crampons, and ice screws, allowing climbers to make upward progress on slippery and freezing cold surface. Imagine being able to say to climb a waterfall – a frozen one at that!
Ice climbers are not so different from regular rock climbers, though there are some climbers whose main focus is ice climbing. For many, ice climbing is a way to stay in shape for rock climbing during the colder months of the year. For others, i but for others, it’s their preferred activity.
Traditional Climbing
Traditional climbing – essentially the original kind of climbing. Known as being part adventure, part sport, a trad climber is considered not only the original climbing method, but also the most respectful kind as well. Any equipment or gear that climbers need to climb or protect themselves is carried back down the descent with them.
Traditional climbing gear always includes items like cams (spring-loaded camming devices), nuts/chocks and hexes, which a climber places into cracks and crevices and others to protect themselves in the event of a fall. These are all removed as you proceed on your trip, leaving no litter or equipment in the rock.
The view of traditional climbing is that it’s “the ultimate” kind of climbing, as a climber cannot rely on pre-placed anchors or gear and must be completely self-sufficient on a route. This self-sufficiency is what differentiates trad climbing from other disciplines, like sport climbing, which we’ll get into below.
Sport Climbing
Unlike traditional climbing that we talked about above, the main difference between traditional and sport is that in traditional climbing, a climber must place their own protection, whereas sport climbing takes place on pre-bolted crags. In sport climbing, the focus is more on the physicality of the climb than on being self-sufficient.
Starting at the bottom of a route, a sport climber will be quipped with a rope, harness, and quickdraws to use to move up the wall. Using the gear provided to attach to fixed protection bolts already in place in the rock, sport climbing is incredibly popular since it requires less gear than traditional climbing. Being more accessible to the public makes sport climbing one of the fastest growing climbing disciplines, and is a perfect way to get new blood into the activity.
Free Soloing
Now to the extreme of extremes.
When most people think of “climbing” they often picture a climber ascending a huge cliff with nothing but their clothes and shoes – no ropes or protective gear in sight. It seems beyond impossible, even suicidal. One wrong move, a slip, a fall, means death, or at least, serious injury.
Thanks to the digital age, most people assume this is the go-to activity of rock climbers. Known as “free soloing”, it’s only practiced by a handful of elite climbers in the world, and is not nearly as common as you might think.
Bouldering
Bouldering is nearly what you think it is – instead of climbing cliffs or mountains it takes place on boulders. Many climbers believe bouldering to be the purest type of climbing, as literally anyone with shoes can do it, without the need for most climbing gear. Unlike some of the climbing disciplines above, boulders use a rope and once at the top, fall to the ground.
Relying solely on proper falling techniques and mattress-like cushions called “crash pads” to protect them from hitting the ground, this might sound completely nuts. However, bouldering is not free solo – boulder are normally no more than 22-26 feet tall and with the aid of a crash pad, the most serious injury is usually a sprained angle if your fall is not quite right.
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