Climbing protection

Climbing protection

To make climbing as safe as possible, most climbers use protection, a term used to describe the equipment used to prevent injury to themselves and others.[1]

Contents

Types of climbing

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

Lead climbing

Lead climbing is the climbing system in which the lead climber places protection (temporary or permanent anchors) in the rock establishing the climbing route. The rope is clipped through carabiners (often made especially for lead climbing called quick draws) which are in turn connected to the protection. The belayer pays out rope during the ascent, and manually arrests the climber's fall by locking the rope.

Top roping

Instead of leading the climb, when top roping, the climber arranges anchors for a rope at the top of the route before attempting the climb. The rope runs from the belayer, on the ground, through the anchor at the top of the route, and back down to the climber. There will be almost no slack in the rope should the climber fall.

Bouldering

Bouldering is climbing routes that are generally horizontal in nature, without rope. As these routes are low to the ground, other types of safety equipment are appropriate:

  • Bouldering mat. A bouldering mat or crash pad is a padded foam-cell mat placed on the ground below a climber. This reduces the chance of injury from a fall.
  • Spotting. The spotter stands below the climber and attempts to direct a potential fall. Generally, the aim is to stop the climber from landing badly, and especially to stop the climber's head from hitting the ground.

Soloing

Although free solo climbing is done without any protective gear, solo climbers do sometimes use protection. A climber may place a piece of protection and clip into it with a short tether for safety during a difficult move, then remove the protection and continue the ascent. There are also pieces of equipment such as a Silent Partner which fill the role of a belayer, allowing a lead climber to climb without a partner.

Equipment

A climbing anchor, incorporating a hex, and two cams, linked and equalized with slings and carabiners.

The gear used to protect climbs varies:

  • Slings are loops of nylon webbing (also called "tape"), or rope, or some other material. They can be tied around rock spikes or trees, threaded; through natural holes in the rock, round natural chockstones in cracks, or through artificial anchors such as metal hangers, chains, or rings.
  • Metal nuts or chocks can be placed in constrictions in cracks and attached to carabiners with wire or nylon slings.
  • Spring-loaded camming device (SLCDs) are devices that use a spiral shaped cam that expands into a crack as it is weighted. These can be placed even in parallel and outward flaring cracks.
  • Bolts can be pre-placed in pre-drilled holes in the rock and then clipped by the climber with a carabiner. Bolts are usually found in situ. It is very unusual to place bolts as one climbs, as it involves drilling and gluing, but it is sometimes necessary on exploratory routes and particularly when aid climbing on new routes.
  • Pitons can be hammered (or hand-placed if loose enough) into thin cracks and clipped (through an "eye" in the piton) to a carabiner.
  • Skyhooks are talon shaped pieces of strong metal that can be hooked over very small ledges and flakes in the rock and secured to a carabiner. Usually found more in aid climbing they are occasionally used in free climbing, as extremely marginal protection.

In-situ protection usually consists of bolts (along with a metal hanger, chain, or ring) or fixed pitons. Sometimes there are in-situ slings, or nuts/SLCDs that have been irretrievably jammed in the rock. Anything else that is left in-situ has a tendency to get 'cleaned' (collected) by climbers.

Standards

There are two major standards for climbing equipment safety and reliability worldwide:

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.[citation needed] 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).

CEN

In Europe, 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 meet various tests. Equipment meeting the regulations is marked with the CE Mark. Various standards are used when specifying how equipment should 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 97.220.40 and having "Mountaineering" in the title.

UIAA

Safety is a very important area of work for the UIAA, as it is for all climbers and mountaineers. In response to the need for safety, the UIAA has developed the UIAA Safety Label. In the mid-nineties, CEN adopted the UIAA Safety Standards. Both commissions in CEN and UIAA share similar members. However, since a CE mark is mandatory in Europe, CEN label has grown to become popular amongst the manufacturers of mountaineering and climbing equipment. However, many climbers do not use protection in their climbing activities. This is highly risky, as falling off could result in serious injury or death. Although some critics claim climbing protection dulls the sensation of climbing, it prevents serious injury or death. Europe still holds more than 50% of the equipment market thus keeping the manufacturers interested in CE.

The UIAA Safety Label currently is owned by over 50 equipment manufacturers with over 1600 labels. REI, the largest outdoor equipment retailer from US became a UIAA Safety Label Holder. REI mandatorily requires all manufacturers to pass UIAA standards for equipment to be sold in its vast network of stores across the United States.

The UIAA Label is truly the only worldwide label for safety on mountain equipment as it brings together manufacturers from all over the world to have a say in the future standards for climbing equipment. The latest Safety Commission meeting was held in September 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic. Many benefits of the UIAA Safety Label over CEN:


a. UIAA made the first standards which were then adopted by CEN
b. Worldwide acceptance of Standards, especially in the US market,
c. Quick implementation of new standards for products to be brought out in the market
d. Participation in annual commission meetings open to stakeholders who are associated safety - including test labs, individuals and prospective label holders

Finally, UIAA Safety Label is "Designed for climbers, by climbers".

References

  1. ^ Cox, Steven M. and Kris Fulsaas, ed., ed (2003-09). Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (7 ed.). Seattle: The Mountaineers. ISBN 0898868289. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Climbing style — Rock climbing History Styles Technique Equipment and protection Grades (difficulty of climb) Terminology Belaying Abseiling …   Wikipedia

  • Climbing formwork — on a future residential skyscraper in Takapuna, New Zealand the whole white upperstructure is actually formwork and associated working facilities. Climbing formwork is a special type of formwork for vertical concrete structures that rises with… …   Wikipedia

  • Climbing styles — Rock climbing may be divided into two broad categories: free climbing and aid climbing. * Free climbing requires the climber use only his/her bodily strength for upward progress. Commonly confused with free soloing which means to climb without a… …   Wikipedia

  • Climbing equipment — A wide range of equipment is used during rock 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… …   Wikipedia

  • Protection (climbing) — To make climbing as safe as possible, most climbers use protection to prevent injury to themselves and others. Types of climbingThere are a number of ways to protect a climb, varying according to the type of climbing:Lead climbingLead climbing is …   Wikipedia

  • Climbing command — A climbing command is a short standard phrase used in climbing to ensure the smooth operation of the climbing system. Standard commands make it possible for climbers to work safely with each other, and for commands to be unambiguously understood… …   Wikipedia

  • Protection — The word protection refers to anything that helps ward off some threat; the preservation from injury or harm; money paid for a guarantee against threatened violence.Protection may also refer to:* Protection (album), a 1994 album by Massive Attack …   Wikipedia

  • protection — noun Date: 14th century 1. the act of protecting ; the state of being protected 2. a. one that protects b. supervision or support of one that is smaller and weaker c. a contraceptive device (as a condom) 3. the freeing of the producers of a… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Glossary of climbing terms — This page describes terms and jargon related to climbing and mountaineering. Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A …   Wikipedia

  • Nut (climbing) — For other uses, see Nut (disambiguation). A set of nuts and a nut removal tool. In rock climbing, a nut (or chock or chockstone) is a metal wedge threaded on a wire, used for protection by wedging it into a crack in the rock. Quickdraws are… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”