How much do you know about the climbing equipment?

Climbing is a brave game, but it does not mean that we have to blindly take risks at the expense of life. “There are only a few things in mind”. The equipment in climbing is equivalent to the sword in the hands of knights and is the key to success. Today, we will briefly introduce some technical equipment that will be used in mountain climbing.

Hail

Hail is one of the most important and versatile climbing equipment. Hail is an extension of human limbs in climbing. Below the snow line, hail can be used as a walking stick on and off the mountain; in walking on ice and snow slopes, hail can maintain the balance of the climber, even as a protection point for climbing; in the ice wall and mixed terrain. Technology-improved hail can be the fulcrum for our climb.

According to the different uses of hail, the design of hail is also different. Long hailstones are suitable for walking on gentle slopes (60cm-90cm); shorter hailstones are more suitable for climbing steep slopes; for ice climbing, specially designed hailstones are required, such as bending of the shank and sharper tine points. Weight is more conducive to waving into the ice (below 60cm).

Crampons

Through the hard ice and snow terrain, the anti-skid equipment strapped to the high-altitude boots has protruding tines on the underside and the front, which can be firmly secured on the ice to provide anti-slip and climbing effects.

01 According to the role of crampons selected cramp

The crampons are made of metal and have sharp teeth. When walking or climbing, they use their own weight and use sharp teeth to plunge into the snow or ice to fix themselves against slipping. Therefore, the quality of the crampons is determined at two points: first, the firmness of the crampons and the shoe, and second, the quality of the crampons.

02 crampons and shoes fixed

There are four main methods for fixing the crampons: the full-card crampons, the full-attached crampons, the crampons after the front card, and the crampons after the front tie.

Full-size crampons

The first requirement is that the shoe must have a crampon card slot. This function is usually only available on mountain boots and partially reloaded hiking shoes.

Advantages: It is stable after being fixed, it is not easy to loosen, and it is more convenient to put on and take off.

Disadvantages: If the shoe makes crampons, the sole needs special reinforcement. The soles of the shoes naturally harden, and the shoes themselves go up, and the production process is also more difficult, resulting in the overall price of shoes will not be too low.

All tied crampons

Full-attached crampons use webbing to tie crampons to shoes.

Advantages: Can be used with any hiking shoe without restriction.

Disadvantages: The degree of firmness is not as good as the full-size crampons; the webbing is easily frozen, and it can be difficult to pick it off. It is slightly more troublesome to wear off.

After the front card is tied or before the card is attached to the crampons

This type of cramp has a soft collar around it that can be stretched freely, and is comfortable to wear on the back.

Advantages: The tying-type crampons can basically be placed on any plastic or leather alpine boot and are ideally suited for activities on snow and glaciers.

Disadvantages: Not suitable for difficult technical mountain climbing and ice climbing.

Alpine Boots

It is an inner and outer double-layered double-layer boots. The inner boots are insulated and cold-proof, the outer boots are hard, waterproof, windproof, and cope with various environments, so that the crampons can be easily bundled.

Alpine boots have very hard soles (almost non-deformable), there are slots before and after, with a variety of crampons, to deal with the alpine snow line. Traveling on snowy fields, walking on icy rocks, climbing on steep ice walls, etc. Note that the emphasis on "climb" rather than "walk" performance is that the Alpine Boots are more rigid and warm compared to the Hiking/Treking Boots.

Climbing rope

General glacier walking will choose knots for safety reasons, it will need climbing ropes. Climbing ropes are generally used for power ropes and are available in several sizes such as 8mm, 8.5mm, 9mm, 9.5mm, and 10mm. According to climbing techniques, single rope, half rope, double rope. It is best to use non-absorbent dry ropes when climbing ice or snow.

seat belt

Seat belts are divided into chest straps, full body harnesses, and seated seat belts. Mountaineers generally use seat belts.

01 Full body harness

When the full-body seat belt is stressed, the advantage is that the direction of force is perpendicular to the ground, and the tension can be evenly distributed to the legs, chest, and back in a vertical direction. Its disadvantage is that if the impact is too violent, it will continue to rotate, causing dizziness in climbing and possibly causing injury to the neck. Moreover, the full-body seat belts have completely withdrawn from the rock climbing mountaineering stage due to their heavy weight, high price, and inconvenience for wearing, which are mainly used in industrial safety or expansion activities.

02 seat belts

The use of seat belts tends to be widespread because seated seat belts can be fitted with chest straps to achieve full body seat belts, and chest seat belts can be replaced with long flat belts. If it is during mountaineering, the two straps of the backpack can also replace the function of the long flat belt. Seated seat belts have now become indispensable for climbing, whether you are hiking, glacier trekking, rock climbing or ice climbing.

03 Mountaineering Belts

There is a much lower chance of falling in climbing trips than climbing, and in consideration of the long journey of climbing, the safety belts used in mountaineering generally minimize the design of the pad to reduce the weight and volume of the seatbelt; Choose materials that are more resistant to wear and absorb water to cope with the harsh terrain and climate; the leg rings that can be quickly opened allow for easy removal of clothing and crampons without the need to take off the seat belts, even on the seat belts while on the toilet Tether the ropes to ensure safety, the number of equipment rings must be at least two, and some simple climbing belts do not even ensure the design of the dangling ring.

Master lock, fast hanging

The following accessories are required on the seatbelt.

Riser

The ascenders are divided into left and right hands and chest risers. When the steep terrain rises or is protected, it is used in combination with a seat belt and a main rope.

Chest riser

Dropper (protector)

It is opposite to the "ascender", which is to strengthen the buffering effect by increasing the friction force on the rope so as to achieve the purpose of "slow down". Common drop devices are stop drop protectors, rescue 8 and MPD (multi-function pulleys).

Sling

Slings are a wide range of outdoor use appliances that are used to attach quick-connects, iron locks, and risers. The flat belt is in direct contact with the protection fulcrum, reducing the wear and tear of the rope. Slings can be made into climbing aids. At the same time, the webbing has high tensile strength and abrasion resistance, which enhances the safety factor of the protection system.

helmet

Prevent snow, ice, stones, etc. from flying and cause accidents.

When climbing, in order to keep warm, we will wear a warm hat and then wear a helmet. This need to be noted that the warm hat needs to be thin and sticky.

Snow cones, ice cones, rock cones, rock plugs, mechanical plugs:

The necessary equipment for establishing a protection station in a technology climb.

The technical equipment briefly introduced today constitutes the process of climbing and the security system. How to use them skillfully requires the climber to learn and accumulate experience in long-term climbs.