Pete Hill - Sport Climbing: Techniques for climbing bolted routes

As always, Im indebted to friends, acquaintances and others who have eased the passage of this project through their unselfish help and support. Samantha Hill took the climbing photo on page 4, and Giles Stone is responsible for the one on page 65. For the Selected Sport-climbing Venues section, Jonathan Preston, Allen Fyffe and Rob Johnson kindly let me use some of their climbing photographs of Italy, the USA and Spain respectively, and Scott Muir endured my leaning over his shoulder to take photographs during a bolting expedition to crag x; my thanks to all of them. The topos in the guidebook section are taken with permission from the excellent Lescalade dans les Alpes-Maritimes , and I am grateful to Jean-Claude Raibaud and those involved in Alticoop for letting me do so. Giles and Fran Stone provided a base in the south of France for my climbing trips in the sun, loosely disguised as research; thanks are due to them for their hospitality and seemingly inexhaustible supplies of red wine. Equipment support was generously supplied by a number of companies, with particular thanks to Frank Bennett at Lyon Equipment (www.lyon.co.uk), Beal for the ropes and software (www.bealplanet.com), Petzl for the hardware used in photographs (www.petzl.com) and Faders for the excellent SUM (www.faders.es).

Finally, Paula Griffin once again burnt the midnight oil trying to make sense of my often illegible scratchings and for that as well as being the perfect climbing partner I am eternally grateful.

Climbing Paracouerte, 4+, Bernard Gobbi, France

Sport climbing has become phenomenally popular over recent years. From its early days when those drilling rock were castigated by traditional climbers, most now accept that sport climbing has its place alongside crags where leader-placed protection is the norm. The increase in personal leisure time and the explosion in low-cost air travel have done much to encourage the growth of the sport. Travel to some of the hottest cragging spots in the world is now possible at a fraction of the cost, in real terms, of 10 years ago.

Sport climbing differs from traditional climbing in that, generally, the protection used to safeguard the leader is already in place, in the form of bolts and rings drilled into the cliff. Unfettered by a large rack of wires, chocks and camming devices, the climber carries little more than a few extenders, and is free to climb fast and hard, pausing only briefly to clip the gear as he passes by. Climbers often find that they can climb far harder than their usual traditional leading grade, as the security of a well-bolted and user-friendly crag induces a relaxed atmosphere and thus an improvement in performance.

This style of climbing is often seen as having a minimalist approach, where extra kit often only comprises shorts, T-shirt and sunglasses. Although bolted routes are found the world over, it is this sunny aspect of many sport-climbing venues that is a great attraction to many. To be able to combine a climbing trip or holiday with some well-bolted sport routes somewhere with stable and predictable weather makes for an excellent change to what may otherwise be a mundane, workaday routine.

This book sets out the variety of skills needed to complete a bolted route safely. At many levels the skills base is low, and simply being able to belay and clip in an extender correctly, allied with the knowledge of how to organise a lower-off, will give a great day out. However, as grades and length of routes increase in particular when dealing with multi-pitch climbs it is essential to have more technical knowledge. This book will take you all the way from the basics, such as tying on and belaying, through the skills needed to climb safely on multi-pitch crags the world over.

Whatever your aspirations, make sure you have a good and safe time on the crag. Sport climbing is here to stay. Hopefully those who still see it as a dark art will change their opinion before long and realise that climbing, in all its forms, is big enough for everyone to have their own space, enabling us all to get on with what is important having fun.

Well-placed close bolts

A bolt is a generic, cover-all term used to describe a piece of metal protection fixed to a rock face. There are many different styles and types, and which one to use in any particular location will depend upon a number of factors. Rock type, location (coastal or inland), local ethics, type of climbing and the financial situation of the bolter all play a part.