Rock Climbing?

[Badger711]

I've been recently looking into rock climbing/rappelling, and was wondering if anyone in the BP.net community actively climbs as well. So, anyone climb?

[gardenfiend138]

Only at indoor facilities so far. I really enjoy bouldering more than top roping, but top ropes are fun because after the climb you get to semi-rappel down! We're you thinking more outdoor climbers?

[kitedemon]

When I was younger and slimmer () I used to climb a fair bit indoors mostly as I work with my hands and real rocks are very hard on them. I loved it although I loved the gear as much as the activity I think.

[RetiredJedi]

I did some climbing when I went to mountaineering school in the Army some years back. I'll post some photos in a bit. I loved doing it. I would have liked to have kept at it.

[RetiredJedi]

Sorry if the pictures are crappy but I took a picture of a picture.

Here's lane "F" from mountaineering school (not very hard, had lots of hand holds):

Don't know why this one is sideways^^^^^

Here's a two party climb. You can see the two Soldiers closest to you on the rocks are roped in together:


This is me doing a body rappel on a glacier. It wasn't steep because we were being tested on technique right here:


This is me (at the bottom) instructing a Soldier on how to prusik climb. That is a hole I'm standing in and the Soldier is hanging from a rope and using a type of knot called a prusik knot to climb up:

[RetiredJedi]

Sorry if the pictures are crappy but I took a picture of a picture.

Here's lane "F" from mountaineering school (not very hard, had lots of hand holds):

Don't know why this one is sideways^^^^^

Ok, it's really weird that the picture isn't sideways any more. did someone fix it?

[Badger711]

That's awesome. I know some basic knots (like the prusik, double fishermans, munter hitch, etc) and have been learning. Rigged myself a swiss seat and "rappelled" down a branch 8 feet off the ground with a munter hitch. I know it's hard to put into words, but do you remember how the prssik is used to climb? I'm assuming you use the loop as a foothold and slide either knot higher on the rope while alternating which loop your weight is on? Still reading on anchors and such, there's a lot of terminology that is completely unfamiliar to me lol

[RetiredJedi]

That's awesome. I know some basic knots (like the prusik, double fishermans, munter hitch, etc) and have been learning. Rigged myself a swiss seat and "rappelled" down a branch 8 feet off the ground with a munter hitch. I know it's hard to put into words, but do you remember how the prssik is used to climb? I'm assuming you use the loop as a foothold and slide either knot higher on the rope while alternating which loop your weight is on? Still reading on anchors and such, there's a lot of terminology that is completely unfamiliar to me lol

Yep, you explained the prusik climb really well. It's a long process but it works! I haven't messed with knots for a long time but we not only had to tie them we also had to know the different check points of the knot so that we could make sure it was tied correctly. I loved that school!!! There were two phases that lasted 6 weeks each and included a little survival, glacier training, and skiing too. Of course we ahd to be careful on the glacier because we wore crampons that could cut those kernmantle and laid ropes (see what I did there, I threw in some of my rope terminology...hehehe).

[CaGirl5]

Tons of fun especially on a beautiful day! http://i.imgur.com/asW76Zv.jpg

[RetiredJedi]

Tons of fun especially on a beautiful day! http://i.imgur.com/asW76Zv.jpg

AWESOME!!!! Seems much better than the military version.