The climbing system is a general term for the techniques and equipment used by roped climbers to protect themselves against injury or death if they fall. It is the answer to the question sometimes asked by non-climbers, "How do they get the rope up there?" Climbers on Valkyrie at the Roaches. ...

It is usual to work in pairs, with one climbing and the other belaying (holding the rope, ready to lock off the rope with a belay device if the climber falls). Long climbs are divided into shorter sections called pitches. As a nautical term, belaying refers to making a line fast to a cleat, pin or other fixed object. ... For other uses, see Pitch A pitch is a significant underground vertical space in mining terminology. ...

Both climbers attach the rope to their climbing harness, usually tying into their harness with a figure eight or bowline knot. The leader climbs first, and either places protection or clips into protection already placed in the rock. In traditional climbing the protection is gear that is temporarily placed, usually in the form of nuts or spring loaded camming devices in cracks in the rock. In sport climbing the protection is usually bolted hangers placed in holes drilled by another climber who has equipped the route. In ice climbing the protection is usually with tubular ice-screws or similar devices hammered or screwed into the ice by the leader and removed by the second. A climbing harness is a piece of equipment used in certain types of climbing. ... The Figure-of-eight follow through loop is a type of knot. ... Bowline Canonical Name: Bowline (pronounced bow -lin or bow -line) Variant name(s): Death knot, Rescue knot, French bowline, Boland knot. ... Traditional climbing, abbreviated to trad, is a style of rock climbing in which routes are climbed from the bottom up, without using permanent fixed artificial aids (i. ... A selection of nuts and a nut removal tool. ... A three-cam SLCD manufactured by Metolius. ... Sport climbing is a style of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors fixed to the rock, especially bolts, for protection. ... Ice climbing is the recreational activity of climbing ice formations such as icefalls, and frozen waterfalls. ...

The leader connects each anchor to a carabiner and clips the carabiner to the rope. If the leader falls off, the leader will fall twice the length of the rope out, plus rope stretch (typically 5 to 8% of the rope out), plus slack. If any of the gear breaks or pulls out of the rock or if the belayer fails to lock off the belay device immediately, the fall will be significantly longer. This is an article about climbing and safety hardware. ...

If the leader falls, the belayer arrests the rope. This is achieved by running the rope through a belay device attached to the belayer's harness. The belay device runs the rope through a series of sharp curves that, when operated properly, greatly increase the friction and stop the rope running. This page describes terms and jargon related to climbing and mountaineering. ...

At the top of the pitch, the leader sets up a secure anchor or belay. Now the leader belays while the person who had belayed the leader up (now called the second) climbs and removes the gear from the rock (traditional climbing) or removes the carabiner from the bolted hanger (sport climbing). Both climbers are now at the top of the pitch with all their equipment. Note that the second is protected from above while climbing, but the leader is not, so being the leader is the more challenging and dangerous of the roles.