Big Wall

hey all,

So the low down is this: you're climbing up a rock wall and you run out of rope, but there is still plenty of rock wall up above you. Instead of going back down like a semi-rational person (to be a rock climber you probably have to be a bit off your rocker), you let your climbing partner climb up to your position. And then you keep climbing until you run out of rope again and notice that there is still more rock above you, etc etc. This is big wall climbing or multi-pitch climbing, and Michi and I took our first lesson in it last weekend.

I guess there are several things to know about multi-pitch climbing. First is the general process as I outlined it above. Second is the details of it: who climbs first, and how does that climber make him/herself safe once he/she reaches an anchor point (what knots, what gear, and what techniques etc), and what kind of communication is necessary for multi-pitch climbing to work and be safe. Once you get to the end of the rock, you need to know how you and your partner can get down quickly and safely.

I wish this picture didn't make me look like a dufus, but you can see I'm wearing my helmet, and the backpack Michi just got me. I'm belaying for Michi, who is climbing up to my position.

So that is the gist of what we were taught. It consists of a process of checks, a knowledge of a few knots, a few terms to facilitate safety and good communication, and a lot of double checking and triple checking for safety hazards, for which knowledge of what a dangerous situation looks like is necessary.

Another slightly uncool picture. But you can see how high up we are.

Nice pic of Michi.

The video should give you some idea the scale involved. The guy dressed in yellow at the top of the wall is our teacher, and that is where we finished the climb. Mt. Joyama is about 340m tall, and the wall that we climbed is easily 120m, or almost 400ft.

Although the classes were done in Japanese, most of the climbing terms are English, so that was pretty easy. And I guess my Japanese has gotten good enough for me to understand safety and some climbing instructions. I really appreciate our teacher, a climber who has over 30 years of climbing experience all over the world, and has actually published articles in climbing magazines, such as Rock and Snow. (No joke: I've seen the articles.)

Cheers,