Munter Hitch
The Munter hitch, also known as the Italian hitch, mezzo barcaiolo or the crossing hitch, is a simple adjustable knot, commonly used by climbers, cavers, and rescuers to control friction in a life-lining or belay system. To climbers, this hitch is also known as HMS, the abbreviation for the German term ''Halbmastwurfsicherung'', meaning ''half clove hitch belay''. This technique can be used with a special "pear-shaped" HMS locking carabiner, or any locking carabiner wide enough to take two turns of the rope. In the late 1950s, three Italian climbers, Mario Bisaccia, Franco Garda and Pietro Gilardoni developed a new belay technique called the "Mezzo Barcaiolo (MB) meaning; "a half of the knot, which is used by the sailors to secure a boat to a bollard in a harbor." The "MB" came to be known as the Munter hitch after Werner Munter, a Swiss mountain guide popularized its use in mountaineering in the 1970s. This hitch was studied and then promoted for its use in the mountains (bein ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Half Hitch
The half hitch is a simple overhand knot, where the working end of a line is brought over and under the standing part. Insecure on its own, it is a valuable component of a wide variety of useful and reliable hitches, bends, and knots. Two successive half hitches tied around an object makes up the common clove hitch. Two successive half hitches tied around the standing part of a rope is known as two half-hitches or double half hitch. One instance where a half hitch stands on its own without additional embellishment is when added to a timber hitch to help stabilize a load in the direction of pull. A timber hitch is tied on the far end of the load to bind it securely and a half hitch made at the forward end to serve as a guide for the rope. In this instance, the half hitch combined with a timber hitch is known as a killick hitch or kelleg hitch. The knot is attractive to the eye and so is used decoratively for French whipping which is also known as ''half hitch whipping''. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belay
Belaying is a variety of techniques climbers use to create friction within a climbing system, particularly on a climbing rope, so that a falling climber does not fall very far. A climbing partner typically applies tension at the other end of the rope whenever the climber is not moving, and removes the tension from the rope whenever the climber needs more rope to continue climbing. The term "belay" also means the place where the belayer is anchored; this is typically the ground or a ledge, but may be a ''hanging belay'', where the belayer themself is suspended from an anchor in the rock. How it works Belaying is a critical part of the climbing system. A correct belaying method lets the belayer hold the entire weight of the climber with relatively little force, and easily arrest even a long fall. In its simplest form, a belay consists of merely a rope that runs from a climber to another person (the belayer) who can stop the climber's fall. In the modern day, most climbers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Knot
A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ''bend'' fastens two ends of a rope to each another; a ''loop knot'' is any knot creating a loop; and ''splice'' denotes any multi-strand knot, including bends and loops. A knot may also refer, in the strictest sense, to a stopper or knob at the end of a rope to keep that end from slipping through a grommet or eye. Knots have excited interest since ancient times for their practical uses, as well as their topological intricacy, studied in the area of mathematics known as knot theory. History Knots and knotting have been used and studied throughout history. For example, Chinese knotting is a decorative handicraft art that began as a form of Chinese folk art in the Tang and Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) in China, later popularized in t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done for locomotion, sporting recreation, and for competition, and is also done in trades that rely on ascension; such as emergency rescue and military operations. Climbing is done indoors and outdoors and on natural (e.g. rock and ice) and artificial surfaces. Professional mountain guides or rock climbing guides (e.g. the UIAGM), were a significant element in developing the popularity of the sport in the natural environment, and remain so today. Since the 1980s, the development of competition climbing and the availability of artificial climbing walls have dramatically increased the popularity of rock climbing as a sport and led to the emergence of professional rock climbers, such as Wolfgang Güllich, Chris Sharma, Lynn Hill and Catherine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Caving
Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment.Caving in New Zealand (from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Accessed 2012-11.) The challenges involved in caving vary according to the cave being visited; in addition to the total absence of light beyond the entrance, negotiating pitches, squeezes, [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rescue
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue horses, helicopters, the "jaws of life", and other hydraulic cutting and spreading tools used to extricate individuals from wrecked vehicles. Rescue operations are sometimes supported by rescue vehicles operated by rescue squads. Rescue is a potent theme in human psychology, both from mortal perils and moral perils, and is often treated in fiction, with the rescue of a damsel in distress being a notable trope. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud introduced the concept of "rescue fantasies" by men pursuing "fallen women" in his 1910 work "A Special Type of Choice of Object Made by Men"; Freud's insight into this aspect of male psychology might retain merit, though his proposed Oedipus complex used to frame this concept is no longer in vogue. Withi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belay
Belaying is a variety of techniques climbers use to create friction within a climbing system, particularly on a climbing rope, so that a falling climber does not fall very far. A climbing partner typically applies tension at the other end of the rope whenever the climber is not moving, and removes the tension from the rope whenever the climber needs more rope to continue climbing. The term "belay" also means the place where the belayer is anchored; this is typically the ground or a ledge, but may be a ''hanging belay'', where the belayer themself is suspended from an anchor in the rock. How it works Belaying is a critical part of the climbing system. A correct belaying method lets the belayer hold the entire weight of the climber with relatively little force, and easily arrest even a long fall. In its simplest form, a belay consists of merely a rope that runs from a climber to another person (the belayer) who can stop the climber's fall. In the modern day, most climbers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clove Hitch
The clove hitch is a type of knot. Along with the bowline and the sheet bend, it is often considered one of the most important knots. A clove hitch is two successive half-hitches around an object. It is most effectively used as a crossing knot. It can be used as a binding knot, but is not particularly secure in that role. A clove hitch made around the rope's own standing part is known as either two half-hitches or buntline hitch, depending on whether the turns of the clove hitch progress away from or towards the hitched object. Usage This knot is particularly useful where the length of the running end needs to be adjustable, since feeding in rope from either direction will loosen the knot to be tightened at a new position. With certain types of cord, the clove hitch can slip when loaded. In modern climbing rope, the clove hitch will slip to a point, and then stop slipping. When tied around a carabiner, the load should pull on the end closest to its spine. With smaller ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carabiner
A carabiner or karabiner () is a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to quickly and reversibly connect components, most notably in safety-critical systems. The word is a shortened form of ''Karabinerhaken'' (or also short ''Karabiner''), a German phrase for a "spring hook" used by a carbine rifleman, or carabinier, to attach his carabin to a belt or bandolier. Use Carabiners are widely used in rope-intensive activities such as climbing, fall arrest systems, arboriculture, caving, sailing, hot air ballooning, rope rescue, construction, industrial rope work, window cleaning, whitewater rescue, and acrobatics. They are predominantly made from both steel and aluminium. Those used in sports tend to be of a lighter weight than those used in commercial applications and rope rescue. Often referred to as carabiner-style or as mini-biners, carabiner keyrings and other light-use clips of similar style and design have also become popular. Most ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Werner Munter
Werner Munter (born 1941 in Lohnstorf, Switzerland) is a mountain guide, author and safety-expert for Alpine climbing. Life Munter, who lives in Vernamiège near Sion, Switzerland, introduced the 'Halbmastwurf' as a belay hitch for climbing. English-speaking climbers know this knot as the Munter hitch. Munter became especially well known during the 1990s by his books on avalanches. These led to a shift of paradigm in the practical assessment of avalanches. The so-called '3 × 3 Filter- und Reduktionsmethode' is a probabilistic strategy of decision for winter mountaineers (especially skiing mountaineers) for the assessment of avalanche risks in unprotected alpine areas. Munter's works triggered intensive discussions among mountaineers and mountain guides. Meanwhile, his 'Reduktionsmethode' (method of reduction) or similar decision strategies (Engler, DAV: Snowcard, Larcher/OeAV: Stop or Go) are now routinely taught by the Alpine Clubs (Alpenvereine). , Munter is employed at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mountain Guide
A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or lead individuals or small groups who require this advanced expertise. This professional class of guides arose in the middle of the 19th century when Alpine climbing became recognized as a sport.A short introduction to the history of mountain guiding SummitPost.org Attributes Skills A mountain guide's skills include: * *[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly constructed cord, string, and twine. Construction Rope may be constructed of any long, stringy, fibrous material, but generally is constructed of certain natural or synthetic fibres. Synthetic fibre ropes are significantly stronger than their natural fibre counterparts, they have a higher tensile strength, they are more resistant to rotting than ropes created from natural fibres, and they can be made to float on water. But synthetic ropes also possess certain disadvantages, including slipperiness, and some can be damaged more easily by UV light. Common natural fibres for rope are Manila hemp, hemp, linen, cotton, coir, jute, straw, and sisal. Synthetic fibres in use for rope-making include polypropylene, nylon, polyesters (e.g. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |