Rationale for variation 's famous 2017 free solo of the big wall route,
Freerider (5.13a, 7c+), on
El Capitan|alt=Alex Honnold during his 2017 free solo of El Capitan Rock climbing includes a wide range of types and disciplines that vary with the style being adopted on the specific
climbing route, the length and number of
pitches of the route, the level and type of
climbing protection that will be employed on the route, and whether the climb is in a
competition climbing format. A climb can involve a combination of several types depending on the skill and risk appetite of the climber(s). The broad range of types is also helpful in giving novice climbers alternative paths into the sport. Once, the main pathway was starting as a 'belayer' to an outdoor lead climber on a natural climbing route. However, many modern newcomers now begin with the safest form, which is bouldering, and some never progress beyond it. While outdoor climbing and mountaineering clubs once played a key role in instruction, many climbers today start by taking lessons at indoor climbing gyms, either in bouldering or lead climbing. Some eventually join competition climbing teams and never really engage with the outdoor climbing scene. The wide range of types has helped more people access the sport in the way that best suits them.
Depending on style on the
FFA of
Spectrum ,
Red Rocks, Nevada.|alt=Johnathan Siegrist on the first free ascent of a climbing route in Red Rocks Nevada In rock climbing, the term "style" principally refers to whether the climber used any artificial aid to help them to ascend the climbing route, which is called
aid climbing, or whether they used no aid whatsoever, which is called
free climbing. As a further refinement, some have argued that when free climbing a specific single-pitch route, 'highball bouldering' is a better "style" than 'traditional climbing', which is itself a better "style" than 'sport climbing'. A further refinement of "style" is a free climb by a climber who had never seen the route beforehand, and had never been told about its challenges and how to overcome them (called the
beta). If such a climber completes the route on their first attempt it is called an
onsight. Where the climber had never seen the route beforehand but had been given beta on it, it is called a
flash. A free climb where the climber attempts the route many times before finally ascending it is called a
redpoint; most
major new FFAs in rock climbing are done as redpoints. In 2021, German climber
Alexander Megos expanded that "style" in rock climbing should include a detailed understanding of the conditions in which an ascent was made, saying "It seems like the climbing community is not differentiating at all and rarely mentioning HOW things are climbed". He felt this is a particular concern in bouldering where using
knee pads and whether the climb was commenced as a full
sit start (and from what point), can affect the technical difficulty of the climb, and needed to be recorded alongside the ascent of the route. Typically these are actual boulders (e.g.
Dreamtime or
Midnight Lightning) but any short route can be called "bouldering" (e.g. the crux of
Hubble).
Highball bouldering routes are up to circa in height and therefore any fall can be more serious; the climber is now getting into the realm of free soloing; notable highballs include ''Livin' Large
and The Process''. •
Single-pitch climbing. These routes are above bouldering height and extend to the length of a climbing rope in height — which is about circa — so that they can be climbed as one '
pitch'. In practice, the average single-pitch route tends to be in height, and is the most common form of rock climbing in
lead climbing. Important new grade milestones in free climbing are mostly set on single-pitch climbs and have included notable routes such as
Action Directe,
Realization,
Jumbo Love and
Silence. A further distinction is made for very sheer routes over in length where the climber(s) are continually "hanging" from the face, which is called
big wall climbing and includes some of rock climbing's most notable routes such as
The Nose. The mountaineering discipline of
alpine climbing, which is climbing long multi-pitch routes on mountain faces such as the
Great north faces of the Alps, can involve multi-pitch rock climbing.
Depending on protection The type of
climbing protection employed also materially influences the type of rock climbing techniques used on a climbing route, regardless of whether it is single-pitch or multi-pitch (or big wall); protection doesn't apply to bouldering as none is used. The following broad distinctions are made in rock climbing types, which have been split into whether the climber is free climbing. :*
Deep-water soloing. A sub-class of free solo climbing done on single-pitch routes that are above water. In theory, any fall should be less serious as the climber will land in the water, fatalities have happened. The sport came to international attention
Chris Sharma's ascent of the dramatic sea-arch of
Es Pontàs in 2006, whose grade ranked it as one of the world's hardest rock climbs of any type at that time. •
Lead climbing. This involves climbing in pairs with a 'lead climber', who does the climbing, and a 'belayer' (or 'second'), who holds the rope. :*
Traditional climbing. Originally all leading was traditional where the 'lead climber' inserts temporary (or removable) protection as they ascend. There are many types of temporary protection including passive (e.g. nuts and hexes), and active (e.g. SLCDs). Traditional climbing is much riskier and more physically demanding than sport climbing as finding places in which to insert the protection — while simultaneously ascending — drains energy, and poor placements can lead to protection failing in the event of a fall. :*
Sport climbing. Here, the climbing protection has been pre-drilled into the rock in the form of
bolts. The 'lead climber' clips their rope into these bolts using
quickdraws as they ascend. Sport climbing developed in the 1980s when French climbers wanted to climb "blank" rock faces that had no cracks into which to insert the temporary protection used in traditional climbing and they called it 'sport climbing' as it was much safer. •
Rope solo climbing. Where a 'lead climber' climbs alone but with protection; the 'belayer' is replaced with a
progress capture device (PCD) that locks the rope — in the manner of a 'belayer' — in any fall. It is an advanced technique and difficult to master, and which carries significantly greater risk as PCDs can fail to lock, and it requires much greater energy as the climber needs to ascend every pitch twice. •
Simul climbing. Where both of the 'lead climbing pair' move together and dispense with the traditional set-up of a 'lead climber' doing the climbing while the 'belayer' stays in one place to control the rope. A simul-climbing pair will insert points of climbing protection as they progress — as in normal lead climbing — but will add PCDs at some of these points to lock the rope in case one or both of them fall. It is an advanced and a dangerous technique.
In other climbing |alt=An aid climber hanging from the rock face •
Aid climbing. Modern aid climbing is typically used on big-wall and on alpine-climbing routes where the level of difficulty is not uniform, and a given pitch might require aid techniques to overcome its challenges. For example,
The Nose on El Capitan which can be climbed by strong big wall climbers using aid techniques on some pitches, but only a handful of the world's leading climbers have completely free climbed all pitches. •
Top rope climbing. This is done in pairs but the rope runs from the belayer through a fixed
anchor at the top of the route, and back down to the climber. If the climber falls, the belayer locks the rope and the climber just hangs from the rope at the point of the fall. The technique allows the belayer to give the climber aid by holding some or all of their weight while they climb, and is thus not strictly free-climbing. •
Top rope solo climbing. This is a solo-climbing variant of top roping where the climber uses a
progress capture device (PCD) that automatically locks the rope if the climber falls (like a belayer). Unlike top-rope climbing, top-rope solo climbing is an advanced type of climbing, and there have been fatalities where the PCD did not automatically lock and the climber fell to the ground; it is also used in big wall climbing.
Competition climbing |alt=The indoor climbing wall of the 2018 World Championships With the development of the safer form of
sport climbing in the 1980s, lead climbing competitions on bolted artificial climbing walls became popular. In 1988, the
Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) created rules and created the (ICCC) to regulate
competition climbing, and in 1998, the ICCC added bouldering and
speed climbing as new events. •
Competition lead climbing. Competitors start at the bottom of a pre-bolted artificial sport-climbing route and lead-climb to touch or secure the highest
climbing hold possible within a set time limit on a single attempt, making sure to clip the rope into pre-placed
quickdraws while ascending; they are belayed by an official. •
Competition bouldering. Competitors climb a series of short bouldering problems without a rope but protected by
crashpads, with an emphasis on the number of problems completed, and the attempts necessary to do so. The problems tend to be technically harder than in competition lead climbing and involve very dynamic moves. •
Competition speed climbing. Competitors race-off in pairs on a standardized 'speed climbing wall' using a
top rope with an
auto belay for protection, in the shortest time possible. As the speed climbing wall is standardized, time records are chronicled (e.g. such as world record and women's record times). •
Competition combined climbing. In some competitions, a "combined" event is offered, which in some cases is simply the addition of the scores from leading, bouldering, and/or speed climbing (as per the first Olympics), but in other cases is a separate event where the winners of the lead and bouldering events enter into a separate joint event on both formats (as per the IFSC World Championships). ==Equipment==