Salim Mohamed , H00255093 , CIK
Climbing
Climbing as an activity
When people are climbing as
an activity, they take it as recreational, and there are no competitions.
Actually, they are guided by special personnel who hone their skills and make
it more fun and adventurous. Climbing activity can be exercised for various
reasons, apart from recreational perspective (Whipplesnaith, 2007). For
instance, an organization can plan for climbing in order to create awareness to
the public regarding a certain subject such as environmental conservation,
protection of women and drug abuse in the society. The funds collected by the
participants of the climbing activity can be channeled towards these projects. In
this way, as people have fun in climbing, they also participate in community
development projects (Stiehl & Ramsey, 2005).
Climbing
as an activity is seen as the best way of uniting people for a certain course. In
most cases, it is not professionalized. The routes of climbing activity are not
preplanned, and therefore, there is need for a professional guide to help the
climbers over the place. Climbing is more oriented towards the destination
rather than routes. Since climbers are advised on being careful when climbing
so that they do not fall, at times, wearing climbing gear may be ignored
(Mclntosh, 2004). There is no much recognition on the art of climbing in
climbing activity, but recognition can be done on the purpose of climbing. The
most common type of climbing as an activity is mountaineering (Whipplesnaith,
2007).
Sport climbing
Sport
climbing is recognized as the most growing form of climbing in the United
States. The reason why it is preferred to other types of climbing is that it is
more accessible and safer. The competitive environment makes it more fun and
livelier. Sport climbing can be termed to be like a marathon (Watts, Newbury &
Sulentic, 1996). It regards placing difficult measures for climbing with
high intensity, especially on shorter routes. The most common characters of
sport climbing that are not present in other forms of climbing include
establishment of preplanned routes, having more attention on physical aspect of
climbing instead of the destination establishing fixed anchors (Phillips,
Sassaman, & Smoliga, 2012).
When a climber opts for sport
climbing, he or she is expected to fall repeatedly because of the hurry
involved, and wits of calculating the difficult moves that distinguish the
competitors. Climbers tend to take more risky moves in their bid to reach the
destination promptly. This is different from recreational climbing where there
is a guide who makes sure that climbers make the right step in order not to
fall (National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (U.S.), 2009). A
climber is focused more on the journey rather than the destination, since it is
already predetermined. Those who reach the destination first are rewarded and
recognized (Watts, Newbury & Sulentic, 1996).
Due
to the fact that there is competition involved in sport climbing, sport
climbers always make sure that they engage use of different tactics that will
differentiate them with other climbers, and that will make them reach their
destination in less time. Competitions are always oriented towards calculating
the speed of the climbers, the success of various moves when climbing and use
of routes that require more strenuous efforts in order to yield more points for
the climbers (Sheel, 2004). For this reason, climbers have
predesigned climbing tactics that help them achieve such objectives as
enhancing speed, being able to use strenuous routes, and scoring more points at
the end of the competition. Therefore, sport climbing has its own terms that
describe the climbing practices (Mclntosh, 2004).
An example of a commonly used
word is on-sight flash. This term is used to describe the most difficult and
preferred route that a climber should use in order to earn recognition as the
best climber. This route has more risks, and requires a skilled climber. The
term shows that the climber has finished the whole route on his or her initial
attempt without falling or tripping on the rope (Phillips, Sassaman, &
Smoliga, 2012). Flash is also another term that is used to describe the
act of climbing a route on the initial attempt without making any tripping or
falling. However, it is different from on-sight flash in that the climber using
flash has prior knowledge on how to climb whereas a climber using the former
does not have any information on how to climb. Redpoint is used to refer to the
successful climbing of a route after a climber makes a lot of practices on the
same. The climber is first allowed to rehearse until he or she is confident
that he cannot fall, hang, or rest on the rope (REI, 2014).
Sport
climbers are also expected to equip themselves with climbing gear that will
protect them from any potential fall or danger, as well as, increase their
efficiency and speed of climbing. Such climbing gear includes padded harnesses.
These harnesses are lightweight and streamlined in a way that they protect the
climber from making falls during climbing (Sanchez, et.
Al, 2012). The pads on the harnesses are also meant to protect the
climber in case a fall is experienced. Rock slippers and shoes are also another
type of climbing gear. They are worn in the feet in order to protect the
climbers from injuring their feet when climbing on the rocks and other rough
surfaces (Watts, Newbury & Sulentic, 1996).
While
some climbers struggle to become professionals, the same climbers are caught in
debates of the ethics of the distinct climbing practices. Sport climbing has
been commercialized a lot. Unlike climbing as an activity, which may be carried
out for a certain course, sport climbing is taken as any other extreme sport (Sanchez, et. Al, 2012). Therefore, a question
can be asked whether the climbers use the advantage of commercialism to their
best interests. The prevalence of sport climbing is becoming increasingly
noticeable, unlike climbing activity. It is now attracting the interests of
global media companies where they may cover the whole events (Ellis, 2003).
There are more sponsors in sport climbing when compared to recreational
climbing. This can be related to the fact that these companies and individuals
will build a positive image in the society when the media covers such a sport. For
this reason, sport climbing has continuously been acknowledged in the society
today.
References
Ellis, D. (2003). You want to
study what?!: A guide to some of the more unusual degree courses in higher education. Richmond: Trotman.
Mclntosh, F. (2004). Table
Mountain: Activity guide. London: Struik Publishers.
National Intramural-Recreational
Sports Association (U.S.). (2009). Campus recreational sports facilities: Planning, design, and construction
guidelines. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Phillips, K. C., Sassaman, J. M., & Smoliga, J. M. (2012).
Optimizing rock climbing performance
through sport-specific strength and conditioning. Strength &
Conditioning Journal, 34(3), 1-18.
REI. (2014). Sport Climbing Basics.
REI. Retrieved from: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert- advice/sport-climbing-basics.html
Sanchez, X., Lambert, P., Jones, G., & Llewellyn, D. J. (2012).
Efficacy of pre‐ascent climbing route visual inspection in indoor sport climbing. Scandinavian
journal of medicine & science in
sports, 22(1), 67-72.
Sheel, A. W. (2004). Physiology of sport rock climbing. British
Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(3),
355-359.
Stiehl, J., & Ramsey, T. B.
(2005). Climbing walls: A complete guide. Champaign (IL: Human Kinetics.
Watts, P., Newbury, V., & Sulentic, J. (1996). Acute changes in
handgrip strength, endurance, and
blood lactate with sustained sport rock climbing. The Journal of sports
medicine and physical fitness, 36(4),
255-260.
Whipplesnaith. (2007). The night
climbers of Cambridge. Cambridge [U.K.: Oleander Press.
