Rock climbing is one of the most dangerous of the extreme sports. You must climb to the top of a very tall cliff, with the only thing holding you up being your own hands and feet, and a bit of rope attached to a harness. The rope is attached to the cliff face with Spring Loaded Camming Devices (SLCD). One small mistake in equipment placing or usage could be dangerous, or even fatal for the climber. The tremendous heights, and small margin for error can make for one of the biggest rushes you could ever experience in an extreme sport.
Equipment
Rock climbing is a pretty cool activity as long as you have the proper equipment, here is a list of the equipment.
Shoes - rock climbing
requires wearing a good pair of shoes. Shoes with grip will help your
feet grip the rock wall and provide less of a chance of you slipping and
injuring yourself.
Rope - the rope is attached to the rock wall via SLCDs and attached
to the climber’s harness via carabiners. The rope ensures safety
should the climber slip and fall. The rope is only tight and allows the
climber to only fall a couple of inches, without the safety rope, the
climber could fall to serious injury or even death.
Carabiners - small clips with a nut-and-bolt-like locking mechanism
to ensure safety
Harness - like a belt. Attached to the belt are loops to go around
the legs of the climber and on the front of the belt is a smaller loop
to attach the rope via carabiner.
Belay Devices - if the climber has a partner, they can use belaying
equipment. Belaying equipment allows the person on the ground to control
the slack of the rope.
SLCDs (Spring Loaded Camming Device) - small, self-fastening
clips, that can be pushed into cracks in the rock face and will hold the
rope. SLCDs are very easy and quick to place, but they must be placed
correctly to ensure the safety of the climber.
Html by Geoff
Text by Aaron L
Graphic by Aaron L Eric
B and Geoff D