1.
Free solo climbing
–
Unlike in bouldering, free soloists typically climb above safe heights, where a fall would always result in serious injury or death. In ordinary free climbing, safety gear is used to protect from falls, other reasons given are the intense concentration required and, for some, the adrenaline rush. The practice is confined to routes familiar to the climber. However, inherent risks such as rocks or sudden change in weather are always present. The sport has produced a number of practitioners, made famous by photos of a climber totally alone. Two of the most famous free soloists, Alain Robert, and Dan Goodwin, have also scaled dozens of skyscrapers around the world — a sport known as buildering —, there are few climbers who have free solo climbed in the 5.14 range. This list does not include highball boulder ascents because the climbers here did not use any padding or spotters, there is some debate on the blurred line between highball bouldering and short free solo climbs. 5. 14b - Darwin Dixit - Margalef, Spain - Dave MacLeod,5. 14a - Kommunist - Tyrol, Austria - Alexander Huber,2004. Paul Preuss died during an attempt to make the first ascent of the North Ridge of the Mandlkogel free solo, tobin Sorenson died from a fall during a solo attempt of the Mount Albertas North Face. Jimmy Jewell fell to his death from Poor Mans Peuterey at Tremadog, ironically, he was using the route as a shortcut from a local pub to his climbing club hut, the route was well below his usual grade and capability. Derek Hersey died in an accident while soloing the Steck-Salathé Route free solo, dwight Bishop fell climbing alone and unroped, Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, The Grand Traverse. Jimmy Ray Forester fell while free-soloing in El Potrero Chico, Mexico, Forester, an experienced, talented climber, failed to return to camp after setting out on The Scariest Ride in the Park, a 40-pitch 5.9 ridge route known for loose rock. He was found the day at the base of the wall. George Gardner fell to his death while free soloing in Grand Teton National Park, John Bachar died in a free solo accident at Dike Wall near Mammoth Lakes, California. Akihira Tawara died while free climbing the Directissima 5.8 route on Yamnuska. Michael Ybarra died climbing solo on The Matterhorn Peak in Californias Sierra Nevada Mountains, brad Parker fell about 300 feet to his death while attempting to climb Matthes Crest Traverse in Yosemite, CA. Andrew Barnes died falling 50 ft free solo climbing in New Yorks Shawangunk Mountains. Angus Moloney died falling 100 ft free-solo climbing from the Fifth Pinnacle above the Gregory Canyon Trail, Boulders Open Space, alternatives to free soloing include, Free climbing with the use of ropes to prevent a fall. Bouldering, climbing at heights low enough that a fall would normally be safe, deep water soloing, climbing over a body of water
2.
Climbing
–
Climbing is the activity of using ones hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep object. It is done recreationally, competitively, in trades that rely on it and it is done indoors and out, on natural and manmade structures. Climbing activities include, Bouldering, Ascending boulders or small outcrops, often with climbing shoes, canyoneering, Climbing along canyons for sport or recreation. Chalk climbing, Ascending chalk cliffs uses some of the techniques as ice climbing. Competition Climbing, A formal, competitive sport of recent origins, competition Climbing has three major disciplines, Lead, Bouldering and Speed. Ice climbing, Ascending ice or hard snow formations using special equipment, usually ice axes, techniques of protecting the climber are similar to those of rock climbing, with protective devices adapted to frozen conditions. Indoor climbing, Top roping, lead climbing, and bouldering artificial walls with bolted holds in a climbing gym, mountaineering, Ascending mountains for sport or recreation. It often involves rock and/or ice climbing, pole climbing, Climbing poles and masts without equipment. Lumberjack tree-trimming and competitive tree-trunk or pole climbing for speed using spikes, rock climbing, Ascending rock formations, often using climbing shoes and a chalk bag. Equipment such as ropes, bolts, nuts, hexes and camming devices are normally employed, rope access, Industrial climbing, usually abseiling, as an alternative to scaffolding for short works on exposed structures. Rope climbing, Climbing a short, thick rope for speed, not to be confused with roped climbing, as in rock or ice climbing. Scrambling which includes rock climbing, and is considered part of hillwalking. Sport climbing is a form of climbing that relies on permanent anchors fixed to the rock. Top roping, Ascending a rock climbing route protected by a rope anchored at the top and protected by a belayer below Traditional climbing is a form of climbing without fixed anchors and bolts. Climbers place removable protection such as camming devices, nuts, free solo climbing, Climbing without ropes or protection. Tree climbing, Recreationally ascending trees using ropes and other protective equipment, a tower climber is a professional who climbs broadcasting or telecommunication towers or masts for maintenance or repair. Rock, ice and tree climbing all usually use ropes for safety or aid, pole climbing and rope climbing were among the first exercises to be included in the origins of modern gymnastics in the late 18th century and early 19th century
3.
Aid climbing
–
Aid climbing is a style of climbing in which standing on or pulling oneself up via devices attached to fixed or placed protection is used to make upward progress. In general, aid techniques are reserved for pitches where free climbing is difficult to impossible, while aid climbing places less emphasis on athletic fitness and raw strength than free climbing, the physical demands of hard aid climbing should not be underestimated. Aid climbing has its own ranking system, using a scale from A0 through A5. Just as in climbing, the usual aid technique involves two climbers, a leader and a belayer. The leader is connected by a rope to the belayer, who remains at the station while the leader moves up. As the leader advances, the rope is let out by the belayer, if the leader falls, the belayer locks off the rope and, assuming the protection doesnt pull out, catches the leaders fall on the rope. When the leader, moving up, reaches the end of the rope, or a convenient stopping point, he or she builds an anchor, hangs on it and this then becomes the next belay station. The belayer then ascends the rope using mechanical ascenders, retrieving the protection that was placed by the leader. Many variations on this technique are possible, including solo aid climbing and climbing with a team of three or more. Until the 1940s protection was provided by the piton, driven into a crack in the rock with a hammer, today, aid climbing uses a considerably larger array of hardware than the pitons used by the first climbers although the primary technique of ascension has not much evolved. The typical gear of an aid climber includes pitons, hooks, copperheads, nuts, camming devices, ascenders, hauling pulleys, aiders, daisy chains, the hardest aid routes are poorly protected requiring the climber to make long sequences of moves using hooks or tenuous placements. On these routes, a climber may have to commit to moving up onto the most marginal of placements risking long and sometimes dangerous falls. By contrast, the vast majority of aid ascents are done on popular free climbs which are too difficult for the aid party to free, but offer excellent gear placements. Since aid climbing is extremely slow compared to climbing, this can lead to some conflicts between aid climbers and free climbers waiting to climb a route. There is additional tension caused by the damage that aid climbing often does to routes, hooks frequently break or otherwise damage holds that human hands and feet do not. Until the 1960s or so, aid climbing was normal practice in most climbing areas, reinhold Messner wrote, Rock faces are no longer overcome by climbing skill, but are humbled, pitch by pitch, by methodical manual labour … Who has polluted the pure spring of mountaineering. Free climbing is now the mainstream of climbing, the solution is often a compromise in which an absolute minimum of bolts is added to allow safe protection for free climbers, while not totally destroying the challenge of the route as an aid climb. However, as with most compromises, this is not a solution that satisfies everyone, the A grading scale incorporates difficulty of placing protection, and the danger associated with falling
4.
Bouldering
–
Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed without the use of ropes or harnesses. While it can be done without any equipment whatsoever, most climbers use climbing shoes to help secure footholds, chalk to keep their hands dry, unlike free solo climbing, which is also performed without ropes, bouldering problems are usually less than 6 meters tall. Artificial climbing walls allow boulderers to train indoors in areas without natural boulders, Bouldering competitions, which employ a variety of formats, take place in both indoor and outdoor settings. The sport originated as a method of training for roped climbs, Bouldering enabled climbers to practice specific moves at a safe distance from the ground. Additionally, the served to build stamina and increase finger strength. Throughout the 1900s, bouldering evolved into a separate discipline, individual problems are assigned ratings based on their difficulty. There have been many different rating systems used throughout the history of the sport, the growing popularity of the sport has caused several environmental concerns, including soil erosion and trampled vegetation as climbers hike off-trail to reach bouldering sites. This has caused some landowners to access or prohibit bouldering altogether. Unlike top rope climbing and lead climbing, no ropes are used to protect or aid the climber, Bouldering routes or problems require the climber to reach the top of a boulder, usually from a specified start position. Some boulder problems, known as traverses, require the climber to climb horizontally from one position to another, the characteristics of boulder problems depend largely on the type of rock being climbed. Granite, for example, often features long cracks and slabs, sandstone rocks are known for their steep overhangs and frequent horizontal breaks. Other common bouldering rocks include limestone and volcanic rock, there are many prominent bouldering areas throughout the United States, including Hueco Tanks in Texas, Mount Evans in Colorado, and The Buttermilks in Bishop, California. Squamish, British Columbia is one of the most popular bouldering areas in Canada, Europe also hosts a number of bouldering sites, such as Fontainebleau in France, Albarracín in Spain, and various mountains throughout Switzerland. Artificial climbing walls are used to simulate boulder problems in an indoor environment and these walls are constructed with wooden panels, polymer cement panels, concrete shells, or precast molds of actual rock walls. Holds, usually made of plastic, are bolted onto the wall to create problems. The walls often feature steep overhanging surfaces, forcing the climber to employ highly technical movements while supporting much of their weight with their body strength. Climbing gyms often feature multiple problems within the section of wall. Across much of the rest of the problems and grades are usually designated by using a set color of plastic hold to indicate a particular problem
5.
Climbing wall
–
A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, recently, manufactured steel and aluminum have also been used. The wall may have places to attach belay ropes, but may also be used to lead climbing or bouldering. Each hole contains a specially formed t-nut to allow modular climbing holds to be screwed onto the wall, with manufactured steel or aluminum walls, an engineered industrial fastener is used to secure climbing holds. The face of the multiplex board climbing surface is covered with textured products including concrete, in addition to the textured surface and hand holds, the wall may contain surface structures such as indentions and protrusions, or take the form of an overhang, underhang or crack. Some grips are formed to mimic the conditions of outdoor rock, including some that are oversized, the earliest artificial climbing walls were typically small concrete faces with protrusions made of medium-sized rocks for hand holds. Schurman Rock in Seattle, WA is believed to be the first artificial climbing structure in the United States, the modern artificial climbing wall began in the UK. The first wall was created in 1964 by Don Robinson, a lecturer in Physical Education by inserting pieces of rock into a corridor wall, the first commercial wall was built in Sheffield, traditionally Englands centre for climbing due to its proximity to the Peak District. The first indoor climbing gym in the U. S. was established by Vertical World in Seattle, the simplest type of wall is of plywood construction, known colloquially in the climbing community as a woody, with a combination of either bolt-on holds or screw on holds. Bolt-on holds are fixed to a wall with iron bolts which are inserted through the hold, which will have specific bolt points, screw-on holds are, by contrast, usually much smaller, owing to the nature of their fixing. These holds are connected to the wall by screws which may be fastened anywhere on the walls surface, holds come in different colours, those of the same colour often being used to denote a route, allowing routes of different difficulty levels to be overlaid on one another. Coloured tape placed under climbing holds is another way that is used to mark different climbing routes. The grade of the route is usually a decision between the setter of the route and the first few people who climb the route. Many indoor climbing walls have people who are assigned to set these different climbing routes and these people are called route setters or course setters. As indoor climbing walls are used to check the development of climbers ability. Climbing Indoor climbing UK Climbing Wall Manufacturers Association Climbing Wall Association, a US non-profit, industry trade association
6.
Mountaineering
–
The term mountaineering describes the sport of mountain climbing, including ski mountaineering. Hiking in the mountains can also be a form of mountaineering when it involves scrambling, or short stretches of the more basic grades of rock climbing. All require experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge to maintain safety, mountaineering is often called Alpinism, especially in European languages, which implies climbing with difficulty such high and often snow and ice-covered mountains as the Alps. A mountaineer with such great skill is called an Alpinist, historically, many cultures have harbored superstitions about mountains, which they often regarded as sacred due to their proximity with heaven, such as Mount Olympus for the Ancient Greeks. In 1492 Antoine de Ville, lord of Domjulien and Beaupré, was the first to ascend the Mont Aiguille, in France, with a team, using ladders. It appears to be the first recorded climb of any technical difficulty, in 1573 Francesco De Marchi and Francesco Di Domenico ascended Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. During the Enlightenment, as a product of the new spirit of curiosity for the natural world, in 1741 Richard Pococke and William Windham made a historic visit to Chamonix. By the early 19th century many of the peaks were reached, including the Grossglockner in 1800, the Ortler in 1804, the Jungfrau in 1811, the Finsteraarhorn in 1812. In 1808 Marie Paradis became the first female to climb Mont Blanc and this inaugurated what became known as the Golden age of alpinism, with the first mountaineering club - the Alpine Club - being founded in 1857. Well-known guides of the era include Christian Almer, Jakob Anderegg, Melchior Anderegg, J. J. Bennen, Michel Croz, in the early years of the golden age, scientific pursuits were intermixed with the sport, such as by the physicist John Tyndall. In the later years, it shifted to a more competitive orientation as pure sportsmen came to dominate the London-based Alpine Club and this ascent is generally regarded as marking the end of the mountaineering golden age. By this point the sport of mountaineering had largely reached its modern form, with a body of professional guides, equipment, mountaineering in the Americas became popular in the 1800s. In North America, Pikes Peak in the Colorado Rockies was first climbed by Edwin James, though lower than Pikes Peak, the heavily glaciated Fremont Peak in Wyoming was thought to be the tallest mountain in the Rockies when it was first climbed by John C. Frémont and two others in 1842, pico de Orizaba, the tallest peak in Mexico and third tallest in North America, was first climbed by U. S. military personnel which included William F. Raynolds and a half dozen other climbers in 1848. Heavily glaciated and more technical climbs in North American were not achieved until the late 19th, in 1897 Mount Saint Elias on the Alaska-Yukon border was summitted by the Duke of the Abruzzi and party. But it was not until 1913 that Mount Mckinley, the tallest peak in North America was successfully climbed by Hudson Stuck, Mount Logan, the tallest peak in Canada was first summitted by a half dozen climbers in 1925 in an expedition that took more than two months. In 1879-1880 the exploration of the highest Andes in South America began when English mountaineer Edward Whymper climbed Chimborazo, the summit of Aconcagua was finally reached on January 14,1897 by Swiss mountaineer Matthias Zurbriggen during an expedition led by Edward FitzGerald that began in December 1896. The Andes of Bolivia were first explored by Sir William Martin Conway in 1898 and it took until the late 19th century for European explorers to penetrate Africa
7.
Rock climbing
–
Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Due to the length and extended endurance required and because accidents are likely to happen on descent than ascent. It is very rare for a climber to downclimb, especially on the larger multiple pitches, professional Rock climbing competitions have the objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route. Scrambling, another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations, is similar to rock climbing, however, rock climbing is generally differentiated by its sustained use of hands to support the climbers weight as well as to provide balance. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climbers strength, endurance, agility and it can be a dangerous activity and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and usage of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes. Because of the range and variety of rock formations around the world. Paintings dating from 200 BC show Chinese men rock climbing China woop woop, in early America, the cliff-dwelling Anasazi in the 12th century were thought to be excellent climbers. Early European climbers used rock climbing techniques as a required to reach the summit in their mountaineering exploits. In the 1880s, European rock climbing become an independent pursuit outside of mountain climbing, Rock climbing evolved gradually from an alpine necessity to a distinct athletic activity. However, climbing techniques, equipment and ethical considerations have evolved steadily, today, free climbing, climbing using holds made entirely of natural rock while using gear solely for protection and not for upward movement, is the most popular form of the sport. Free climbing has since divided into several sub-styles of climbing dependent on belay configuration. Over time, grading systems have also created in order to compare more accurately the relative difficulties of the rock climbs. In How to Rock Climb, John Long notes that for moderately skilled climbers simply getting to the top of a route is not enough, in rock climbing, style refers to the method of ascending the cliff. There are three styles of climbing, on-sight, flash, and redpoint. To on-sight a route is to ascend the wall without aid or any foreknowledge and it is considered the way to climb with the most style. Flashing is similar to on-sighting, except that the climber has previous information about the route including talking about the beta with other climbers, redpointing means to make a free ascent of the route after having first tried it. Free climbing is typically divided into styles that differ from one another depending on the choice of equipment used
8.
Traditional climbing
–
Traditional climbing, or trad climbing, is a style of rock climbing in which a climber or group of climbers place all gear required to protect against falls, and removes it when a passage is complete. Traditional bolted face climbing means the bolts were placed on lead and/or with hand drills, the bolts tend to be much farther apart than sport climbs. For example, a trad bolted routes may have bolts from 15–75 feet apart, a sport route may have bolts from 3–10 feet apart, similar to a rock climbing gym. The term seems to be coined by Tom Higgins in the piece Tricksters, a trad climber is called a traditionalist. Characterizing climbing as traditional distinguishes it from bolted climbing-either trad bolted or sport climbing, in trad climbing, a leader ascends a section of rock placing his or her own protective devices while climbing. John Longs 1989 technique manual How to Rock Climb used the sport climbing repeatedly in reference to what is now considered traditional climbing. This evolution in climbing ethics has been attributed to the efforts of Yvon Chouinard and many others, the term gear in climbing generally refers to equipment used during climbs. Gear or protection are mechanical devices that provide safety, either by allowing greater stability in making a move or by dampening force, the suitability of individual types of gear depends on the surface and formation of the rock face. The phrase placing gear denotes the act of setting a piece of gear into the rock face, in the event of a fall, the gear acts as a catch-point for the rope, thus preventing the climber from hurtling to the ground. Being run out refers to the situation where the distance from the position to the last piece of gear is far enough that the climber will receive little, if any. Nuts started being developed in the 1950s in the UK, with the pieces being made from discarded machine nuts with slings threaded through them. These gradually developed into purpose built nuts, prior to about 1970 in the United States, climbing relied mainly on pitons, other types of gear such as nuts, Hexcentrics, Tricams and spring-loaded cams were largely unknown or did not exist. As other variants of climbing were not nominally in existence as well, all climbing was in effect trad climbing until the early 1980s when sport climbing emerged in Europe, since the 1970s, developments in protective gear have made climbing much safer and more dynamic. Modern traditional climbs only occasionally have fixed gear, except in the case where cracks are lacking to place adequate removable gear and it is also considered bad style to install new protection bolts or pitons on existing climbs that can be completed without them. Many of the existing pitons, pegs and bolts from the first ascents of routes done many years ago, are now considered to be in bad condition having suffered from the weathering. This is especially present on sea cliffs where the nature of the air has sped up the oxidisation to create rust. A number of knots are required for climbing, to create anchors, to tie in the climbers. Water knot is used for connecting two pieces of webbing together, double bowline is used for tying in, or anchoring around a fixed object
9.
Rock-climbing equipment
–
A wide range of equipment is used during rock or any other type of climbing. The most popular types of climbing equipment are briefly described in this article, the article on protecting a climb describes equipment commonly used to protect a climber against the consequences of a fall. See also the Glossary of climbing terms for more equipment descriptions, climbing ropes are typically of kernmantle construction, consisting of a core of long twisted fibres and an outer sheath of woven coloured fibres. The core provides about 80% of the strength, while the sheath is a durable layer that protects the core. Ropes used for climbing can be divided into two classes, dynamic ropes and low elongation ropes, dynamic ropes are designed to absorb the energy of a falling climber, and are usually used as Belaying ropes. When a climber falls, the rope stretches, reducing the force experienced by the climber, their belayer. Low elongation ropes stretch much less, and are used in anchoring systems. They are also used for abseiling and as fixed ropes climbed with ascenders, modern webbing or tape is made of nylon or Spectra/Dyneema, or a combination of the two. Climbing-specific nylon webbing is generally tubular webbing, that is, it is a tube of nylon pressed flat and it is very strong, generally rated in excess of 9 kN, or about 2,020 pounds of force. Dyneema is even stronger, often rated above 20 kN and as high as 27 kN, in 2010, UK-based DMM performed fall factor 1 and 2 tests on various Dyneema and Nylon webbings, showing Dyneema slings can fail even under 60 cm falls. Tying knots in Dyneema webbing was proven to have reduced the amount of supported force by as much as half. When webbing is sewn or tied together at the ends, it becomes a sling or runner and these loops are made one of two ways—sewn or tied. Both ways of forming runners have advantages and drawbacks, and it is for the climber to choose which to use. Generally speaking, most climbers carry a few of both types and it is also important to note that only nylon can be safely knotted into a runner, Dyneema is always sewn because the fibers are too slippery to hold a knot under weight. Webbing has many such as, Extending the distance between protection and a tie-in point. An anchor around a tree or rock, protecting a rope that hangs over a sharp edge. Carabiners are metal loops with spring-loaded gates, used as connectors, once made primarily from steel, almost all carabiners for recreational climbing are now made from a light weight aluminum alloy. Steel carabiners are much heavier, but harder wearing, and therefore are used by instructors when working with groups
10.
Glossary of climbing terms
–
This page describes terms and jargon related to climbing and mountaineering. Abalakov thread A type of abseiling point used especially in winter, ablation zone The area of a glacier where yearly melting meets or exceeds the annual snow fall. Abseil The process by which a climber can descend a fixed rope, ACR An anchor method similar to a cordelette but that is dynamically equalizing. It employs a cord and a rappel ring, adze A thin blade mounted perpendicular to the handle on an ice axe that can be used for chopping footholds. Aid climbing A style of climbing in which standing on or pulling oneself up via devices attached to fixed or placed protection is used to make upward progress, Alpine climbing, Generally climbing in the mountains. Probably includes a mixture of ice climbing and dry-tooling, Alpine style generally means carrying all gear in a backpack even for multi day climbs. Alpine knee To use your knee as a way to ground on a climb. Alpine start To make an efficient start on a climb by packing all your gear the previous evening and starting early in the morning. Altitude sickness A medical condition that is observed at high altitudes. Also known as Acute mountain sickness, or AMS and this creates a triangular shape in the webbing or cord, which places massively multiplied inward forces on the protection, making it a dangerous, ineffective anchor. Anchor An arrangement of one or more pieces of set up to support the weight of a belay or top rope. Approach The path or route to the start of a technical climb, although this is generally a walk or, at most, a scramble it is occasionally as hazardous as the climb itself. Arm bar Jamming an arm into a crack and locking it into place, in this position typically the first set of knuckles are hyperextended and the second have a sharp angle of about 90 degrees. This combines muscular effort with soft tissue tensions in order to apply the load, when used often, this position has been known to over-stress the tendons in fingers and lead to injuries. Ascend To climb a rope using aid device, ascender A device for ascending on a rope. Aspect The direction in which a slope faces, ATC A proprietary belay device manufactured by Black Diamond. Has become common term for any tubular belay devices, ATC originally stood for Air Traffic Controller. Automatic belay A fast method for setting up a two-point anchor in sport climbing, using the rope to attach to the anchor points
11.
Abseiling
–
An abseil, also called a rappel after its French name, is a controlled descent of a vertical drop, such as a rock face, using a rope. Climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection, many climbers use this technique to protect established anchors from damage. Rope access technicians also use this as a method to access difficult-to-reach areas from above for various applications like maintenance, construction, inspection. Rescue teams are known for using this method as a way to access injured or stranded victims. The origin of the abseil is attributed to Jean Charlet-Straton, a Chamonix guide who lived from 1840–1925, Charlet originally devised the technique of the abseil method of roping down during a failed solo attempt of Petit Dru in 1876. After many attempts, some of them solo, he managed to reach the summit of the Petit Dru in 1879 in the company of two other Chamonix guides, Prosper Payot and Frédéric Folliguet, whom he hired, during that ascent, Charlet perfected the abseil. Ropes, Climbers often simply use their climbing ropes for abseiling, for many other applications, low-stretch rope called static rope is used to reduce bouncing and to allow easier ascending of the rope. Anchors for abseiling are sometimes made with trees or boulders, using webbing and cordellete, or also with rock climbing equipment, such as nuts, hexes, some climbing areas have fixed anchors such as bolts or pitons for rappelling off of without having to leave other gear behind. A descender or rappel device is a device or friction hitch that allows rope to be payed out in a controlled fashion, under load. The speed at which the abseiler descends is controlled by applying greater or lesser force on the rope below the device or altering the angle at which the rope exits the device, descenders can be task-designed or improvised from other equipment. Mechanical descenders include braking bars, the eight, the abseil rack, the bobbin, the gold tail. Some improvised descenders include the Munter hitch, a wrap, the basic crossed-carabiner brake. There is an older, more uncomfortable, method of wrapping the rope around ones body for friction instead of using a descender, a climbing harness is often used around the waist to secure the descender. A comfortable climbing harness is important for descents that may take many hours. A prusik, Klemheist knot, or autoblock knot may be used as safety back-up, commonly referred to as an autoblock, and is used as a back-up in the case of the abseiler losing control of the abseil. One of these friction hitches is wrapped around the rope below the device, using a short loop of smaller diameter cord or webbing. The prusik loop is attached to the belay loop or leg loop of the harness. Helmets may be worn to protect the head from bumps and falling rocks, a light source may be mounted on the helmet in order to keep the hands free in unlit areas
.jpg)