The Buddy: Tips on Rock Climbing

Rock climbing itself has been around for centuries, however rock climbing as a sport began at the end of the nineteenth century in Germany and England. Since then it has grown into a world famous sport that hundreds of thousands participate in. There are several different types of climbing, each having it's own grade of difficulty and risks. It is considered one of the more dangerous sports because of the extreme risk no matter what type of climbing you do but when the proper safety is followed rock climbing is a very enjoyable sport that is much safer than most people think.

If you are taking up climbing you should definitely check out these video tips. You will learn about all the safety precautions you should take to ensure you have a cautious and successful climb. Our experts go through everything from the type of chalk available and why you need to to the clothing you should wear. Of course it is always good to consult live experts before attempting this sport. We suggest taking a class on the safety of climbing and get live tips from guys who do it every day. Then go have fun!!

"Hello! I’m Dan and this is Brian from Eastern Mountain Sports on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we’re going to demonstrate the proper buddy check when climbing. Brian here is going to represent our lead climber and I’m going to represent the belayer in the climbing system and I’m going to go through and I’m going to double check several things with his harness. The first thing that I want to double check is that everything on his harness is double backed. Then I’m going to check and make sure the waist belt is double back, we’re also going to make sure that both of the leg straps are double back. Then the next thing that I’m going to double check is that he properly tied the rope to his harness, I’m going to make sure he started out I went from top to bottom. I’m going to make sure he followed through on his figure eight knot properly and I’m going to make sure that any excess rope is tied in a half fisherman’s knot. Once all that’s checked I’m going to tell Brian that he is okay to climb, the importance to doing this buddy check is that it’s very easy to make a mistake when climbing and even the smallest mistake can result in tragedy so when you have a buddy that double checked everything that you’ve done and you get in the routine of always double checking all of those things it’ll be a lot safer."