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Climbing protection is any of a variety of devices employed to reduce risk and protect others while
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 ...
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...
. It includes such items as nylon
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and metal
nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
s, cams, bolts, and pitons. Different forms of climbing draw on varying forms of protection and the systems that are created from its elements.


Types of climbing

There are a number of ways to "protect" a climb, varying according to the type of climbing:


Lead climbing

A lead climber places protection (temporary or permanent anchors) in the rock, snow, or ice establishing a climbing route. The rope is clipped through carabiners (often joined by a short length of webbing into a pair known as a
quickdraw A quickdraw (also known as an extender) is a piece of climbing equipment used by rock and ice climbers to allow the climbing rope to run freely through protection such as a bolt anchors or other traditional gear while leading. A quickdr ...
) which are in turn connected to the protection. The
belayer 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 t ...
pays out rope during the ascent, and manually arrests the climber's fall by locking the rope, typically with some form of
belay device A belay device is a mechanical piece of climbing equipment used to control a rope during belaying. It is designed to improve belay safety for the climber by allowing the belayer to manage their duties with minimal physical effort. With the right ...
.


Aid climbing

Aid climbing involves standing on or pulling oneself up via devices attached to fixed or placed protection to make upward progress. In contrast to free climbing protection, which can sustain the force of sometimes long falls, some aid protection is only designed to hold one's body weight.


Top roping

Top roping involves either placing an anchor at the top of a route before climbing or utilizing a fixed one, then running a rope through it to a belayer on the ground. Unlike in lead climbing, the belayer takes in rope as the climber advances and slack is practically eliminated from the rope, minimizing both the drop and shock load on the rope and protection system should the climber fall.


Soloing

Solo climbing involves climbing without a partner. Soloing can be done with or without protection. A solo climber may place protection and clip in with a short tether for safety during a difficult move, then remove the protection and continue the ascent. Or they may employ some form of
self-locking device Self-locking devices are devices intended to arrest the fall of solo climbers who climb without partners. This device is used for back rope solo climbing for "ground-up climbing" or "top rope self belaying". To date, several types of such self-loc ...
, such as a
Silent Partner A silent partner is one who shares in the profits and losses of a business, but is not involved in its management. Silent partner or Silent Partners may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Silent Partner'', a 2005 film starring Tara Reid ...
, in lieu of a belayer, allowing a soloist to climb without a partner. Additionally, soloing can also be done using a top rope.


Bouldering

Bouldering involves climbing routes low to the ground without rope. The chief form of protection from injury used is a
bouldering mat A bouldering mat or crash pad is a foam pad used for protection when bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While boulderi ...
, a padded foam-cell mat placed on the ground below a climber. In bouldering, one can also utilize a "spotter". A spotter is someone who stands near the bouldering mat and guides the climber to the mat in the event of a fall.


Equipment

The gear used to protect climbs includes: * Slings are loops of
nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
webbing red, blue and black auto_racing.html"_;"title="nylon_webbing_as_used_in_auto_racing">nylon_webbing_as_used_in_auto_racing_harnesses Webbing_is_a_strong_nylon_webbing_as_used_in_auto_racing_harnesses">auto_racing.html"_;"title="nylon_webbing_as ...
(also called "tape"), cord,
Dyneema Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE), it has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 3.5 and 7.5 million amu. T ...
, or
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 similar ...
. They can be tied around natural features such as rock spikes or trees, threaded through natural holes in the rock, round natural chockstones, or through artificial anchors such as metal hangers, chains, or rings. Also known as ''runners'', they are used to temporarily attach a climber's
harness A harness is a looped restraint or support. Specifically, it may refer to one of the following harness types: * Bondage harness * Child harness * Climbing harness * Dog harness * Pet harness * Five-point harness * Horse harness * Parrot harness * ...
directly to an anchor. They can also be used to extend other pieces of protection to avoid compromise due to rope drag. *
Nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
s, chocks, or simple cams are metal devices placed in constrictions in cracks and attached to carabiners with wire or nylon slings. *
Tricam A tricam is a type of climbing protection equipment. A versatile nut/cam hybrid, the Tricam was invented by Greg Lowe in 1973, and came to market in 1981. They are currently manufactured by C.A.M.P. of Premana Italy. Design The Tricam is a pass ...
s, a nut/cam hybrid that can be placed as a nut or as a passive camming device *
Spring-loaded camming device A spring-loaded camming device (also SLCD, cam or friend) is a piece of rock climbing or mountaineering protection equipment. It consists of two, three, or four cams mounted on a common axle or two adjacent axles, so that pulling on the ax ...
(SLCDs) use multiple cams in opposition, which expand in a crack as the device is weighted. These can be placed even in parallel and outward flaring cracks. * Bolts are anchors fixed in holes drilled in the rock and clipped by the climber with a carabiner. They are placed both by climbers putting up new routes, particularly in aid climbing, and as permanent fixtures on popular routes to reduce wear on rock features. * Pitons are metal spikes hammered or hand-placed in thin cracks and clipped through an eye in the piton to a carabiner. * Skyhooks are talon shaped hooks placed over very small ledges and flakes and secured to a carabiner. Usually found in aid climbing, they are occasionally utilized in free climbing as extremely marginal protection. ''Fixed protection'' usually consists of permanently anchored bolts fitted with hangers, a chain, and ring, or pitons left ''in situ''.


Standards

There are two major standards for climbing equipment safety and reliability worldwide: * UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) * CEN (European Committee for Standardization) In recent years, the CEN has become an important standards organization, mainly in Europe since any products sold in Europe must by law be third-party certified to the relevant standards. There is no such requirement in most other countries, although most manufacturers voluntarily follow UIAA or CEN standards (much like electrical equipment in the US is almost always privately certified by
Underwriters Laboratories The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions. Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded as ...
).


CEN

In
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, equipment used by climbers has to meet the requirements of the Personal and Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive. Essentially, the equipment must be manufactured using a carefully controlled process and samples must pass various tests. Equipment meeting the regulations is marked with the
CE Mark On commercial products, the letters CE (as the logo ) mean that the manufacturer or importer affirms the good's conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certificat ...
. Various standards are used to specify how equipment is to be tested: * EN 12270:1998 "Mountaineering equipment. Chocks. Safety requirements and test methods." * EN 892:1997 "Mountaineering equipment. Dynamic Mountaineering ropes. Safety requirements and test methods" * EN 12276:1999 "Mountaineering equipment. Frictional anchors. Safety requirements and test methods" (covers SLCDs) There are many more, most of them appearing in
ICS code ICS may refer to: Computing * Image Cytometry Standard, a digital multidimensional image file format used in life sciences microscopy * Industrial control system, computer systems and networks used to control industrial plants and infrastructur ...
97.220.40 and having "Mountaineering" in the title.


UIAA

The UIAA Safety Commission develops and maintains safety standards for climbing equipment. These standards are implemented world-wide by the manufacturers who also participate in annual Safety Commission meetings. The Commission works with nearly 60 manufacturers world-wide and has 1861 products certified. In the mid-nineties, CEN adopted the UIAA Safety Standards. Both commissions in CEN and UIAA share similar members.


References

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Protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
Mountaineering equipment