02
Jun

Reflection blog

Hello everybody, this will be my last blog entry that is required for school. I will most likely not keep blogging although it was an interesting way of sharing information aand writing. I would just like to say thank you to everyone who read my blog and here is a self-reflection of blogging:

1.  In your opinion, what was the purpose of this blogging activity? (Why did I choose to do blogging instead of more traditional writing activities?)

     We teenagers know a lot, whether from school or from our own research and experiences, sometimes more than people think. Sometimes more than even we think. This blogging technique is a unique approach to getting us to share our information with other people besides just our teachers. WIth blogs we are able to write information about anytopic we want, we get alot more freedom in our writing because our audience that we write to is not just one person but can be anyone in the world. As well as that people who are more creative get to play around with the looks of the site and add pictures and videos to personalize their blog. This way I think that writing becomes easier to do and a more fun. And this is why i think that our teacher choose blogging instead of handwriting.

2.  What have you accomplished during your blogging?

    Blogging is a relatively new concept to me, even if I started last year. During this year as a blogger I have acheived a lot of different things. From all my blogging I have learnt alot of new ways of using my computer and the internet. I have never been much of a technology person but I feel pretty confident with wikis, blogs, and any other type of internet writing sites.  I can now link specific sites to words, something i could never do before. I now understand a bit more and can now use at my disposale the different types of sentences, I have never been to clear about them because they are very complicated and english grammer may not be my best or favorite class (I did spend my first five years of school in a french only school) but after this year I have a fairly clear idea in my head. Most of my other acheivments have been small things that i might not have even noticed yet, for i am sure that I acheived a lot more but a lot of it has just become so natural that i cant even notice them.

3.  What key concepts have you learned while blogging? (This can be about writing, research or technology etc.)

   While making my blogs I have found information and discovered things about writing all over the internet. Before writing any of my posts I would all ways research them first, I would use multiple sites to all ways check if the onformation i found was valid. In some cases i discovered that the things I found were wrong and could have been very disastrous if I had posted them. While researching I found out a lot of information for myself about rock climbing, from different types of camming devices to different forms of rock climbing. This to me was my favorite part; I really like researching topics that I like. While writing, as I said in the prior paragraph, I learnt about all the different forms of sentences such as the compound and complex. I am still a bit unclear about them but ill get it someday. I also learnt how to write to an audience that consists of many different people from around the world. This helped me in writing because it taught me how to appropriately write to different age groups and races withought offending or insulting people by accident. My writing can now be classified as worldwide.

4. Based on the skills you learned while blogging, how will this benefit you in the future? This maybe inside or outside of school.

   I think that this blog will help me in the future, even if it is not too apparent. First of all, any form of writing or activities that work your brain can only be positive for your mental health. So these posts and writing will help me grow mentally and they will give me clearer ideas on how to write to a larger and varied age audience. In turn this will help me because I can communicate efficiently with other races and cultures withought offending them by accident, and if I ever move around the world this will be a valuable skill. If I continue blogging I may also be able to use my blog to show people my work and let them understand a bit more about me. I could also use it at a job interview to give them an understanding of my talents and skills. Lastly if I ever need to use computers when I’m older I will have already learnt a lot of skills to using them.

Well this may be the end, thank you everyone goodbye and climb on!

 

 

16
May

Leave no trace climbing

With the sudden huge explosion of human growth, the nature and areas which people visit for sports and activities have begone to show signs of “Humans”. As for such the policy “Leave no trace” or “Minimal impact” has begun to educate people on coexisting with the earth in a minimal to zero impact.

The rock climbing population has also grown, in America alone there are around 1 million climbers. As such the rock climbing sites that are constantly used are becoming crowded gathering points, trash harbors, trampled and cleared land, and all wildlife has been scared away. Sites that are more remote are also showing signs of human use through the use of permanent equipment, chalk marks, and destruction of fragile environments.

The most negative affects on nature left by careless rockclimbers are: Littering and the disposal of waste, destruction of natural habitat through trampling, erosion, permanent bolts and clips, the clearing of cliff walls for an easier climb, the interruption of animal activities such as nesting, eating, and migration, chalk build up, and abandoned ropes and gear. I have discovered that the construction of rock climbing sites if not considerate of nature is a very destructive act. Large areas are first cleared and built for parking lots, bathrooms, ect. Then constructors go and clear all vegetation on the walls, they will sometimes change the rock face to be better suited for climbing and often destroy nesting sites. This is why the construction of rock climbing walls has been heavily altered into more nature friendly practices.

The clean rock climbing experience is a simple thing. It focuses a lot on cleaning after yourself and not using permanent equipment. A way to achieve this is by: Planing ahead, make sure the area you are going to is well suited to your level, carpool with people to get to the area, find out about the permits of bolting and drilling holes before you go. Durable surfaces: Make sure the  staging area is large enough for your group, continual climbing can wear down surfaces and make hard rock chip and crumble, use any paths that have already been made to access climbing areas, do not wrap a rope around a tree when the friction will destroy the bark, and use colours that are well situated and blend with the environment. Dispose of waste properly: clean up any discarded tape or old gear, always clean up any trash that you may bring with you to the climb site, human  waste is also a big problem, try going to the bathroom before heading out or use any bathrooms at the site, if there are none around then dig a hole at least 6inches deep and make sure it is well away from any water sources. Leave what you find: Do not disrupt any wildlife by moving stones or bushes and plants in your way, all ways leave the site the exact same way as it was before you came, try to avoid climbs with a lot of vegetation on the way up so u will not leave a path of destruction behind you. And lastly try to keep the noise down from your site, if you listen to music wear headphones.

If you follow this guide, and always be friendly to the nature around you then you will become a “clean” rock climber, have fun and climb on.

Some sites that i used for the information here are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_climbing

http://www.onrock.co.uk/LeaveNoTrace.html

http://www.nps.gov/acad/supportyourpark/lnt-rockclimbing.htm

http://www.leavenotracedude.com/lnt-climbing.shtml

09
May

Belaying Techniques

*Note: This post is only a general guide on how to belay, and to never try belaying without prior experience or a professional teacher to check your technique!

The most important part of rock climbing when using a top-rope or sport climbing is the belaying. The belayer is the fail safe in the climb and he or she will stop the climbing persons fall. When you are climbing you will be attached to a rope that whether on a sport climb or top-rope climb will be fed through a clip at the top of the wall or at intervals in it. As you climb up it is the belayers job to pull the rope as to reduce the slack in the rope. This way when you fall, you will not fall far before being caught and the force of your fall will not rip the rope out of the belayers hands. The belaying device is the instrument used to belay someone, you connect it to the front of your harness then putting the rope down and around the center part. Here is a picture to help understand how it works.

  belaying device As you can see, when the rope go is in it circles around the carabiner then comes back out. This way friction mitigates a lot of the weight of the climber and you can hold heavier weights with ease. While your climber ascends the wall you use your left arm (or whichever arm you are more comfortable with) to pull the rope down and take away the slack. Your right hand then pulls the rope upwards and brings it back down to a resting position. When your right hand gets low enough bring your left hand down and grab the bottom rope and then bring your right hand up near the mouth of the belaying device. Not to close or you can get your hand caught if your climber falls. In this way you will always have a hand on the bottom rope to catch a falling climber. If and when your climber falls you need to act quickly. Make sure your hand on the bottom rope is brought down and held tightly also bring your other hand down to hold the rope. This way you can get as much friction on the rope and get a good grip. Using both hands to hold the bottom rope is also a good way to hold a climber in a resting position. If he or she is struggling on the wall or sitting on the rope then you can put your arms like this so you don’t waste energy. But keep a good eye on your climber in case they suddenly jump or do a fast move.

Before and during the climb there are some key words that the belayer and climber use. You need to have good communication with your climber and belayer to keep both of you safe. The words used vary a lot between partners. this is why its always important to go over them before starting. Some of the words are: Belayer ready: this tells your climber that you are ready. Climbing: The climber tells the belayer that he is about to start. Climb on: This is the last confirmation by the belayer to go on. More slack: the climber needs more slack. Up rope: the climber asking the belayer to pull the rope tighter. Watch me: watch the climber as he may fall. Falling: The climber is falling or about to. Rock: There is a rock falling. Ready to lower: The climber telling the belayer hes ready to be brought down. Lowering: The belayer is lowering the climber. These are just a couple of the words, that are generally used.

If you want to watch a video on how to belay follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxC5hCOSzz4

And watch out what guides you read or watch some of them do not give true information, such as this one I found on the internet, do NOT do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4a81pyS2eM&NR=1

Some of the sources I used are:

http://climbing.about.com/od/cliimbingtechniques/a/VoiceCommands.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxC5hCOSzz4

http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/climb/belaywal.shtml

“Go Climb” by Nigel Shepherd

 

02
May

Types of rockclimbing

There are a few types of different rock climbing forms and each one has its differences and similarities in gear and techniques. The main three types are traditional climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. The gear used when rock climbing is an essential part of your climb. You should always take time to familiarize yourself with your gear and mechanics for what to do and not do while using them, because it will be your gear that will save your life. Your techniques will also vary with different types of climbs and its good to know the difference.

Traditional climbing is climbing at its basic. There are no top ropes, no clips or anchor points bolted into the rocks but in this way there is a lot of responsibility for the climber when placing their equipment into holds. It is considered the most ethical way to climb as it leaves the rocks and nature undamaged or affected and most climbers prefer this type of climbing. When traditionally climbing you usually head off with a partner to a wall. The top climber is attached to the bottom climber by a rope and he/she leads the bottom climber up. It is their job to place their specially designed gear into the rock to hold them in case they fall off, and as the bottom climber ascends they will remove the gear. This way the group can continue their progress without backtracking and always be attached to the wall for safety. The types of gear associated with traditional climbing is a long list of varying wedges, slings and camming devices that are held by the top climber in their rack.

Sport climbing is a popular form of climbing that doesn’t require a lot of gear or equipment as all the protection is permanently bolted into the rocks. This is a fast and easy way of climbing. This form of climbing requires a partner who will belay you at the bottom of the climb. The climbers only job when climbing is to place quick-draws into the clips, which are close in distance so that if you fall you don’t fall far. When you reach the end of your climb in sport climbing your partner slowly belays you down the wall until you reach the bottom, as you go down you unhook all of the quick-draws. Before climbing make sure that you have twice the amount or rope as the length of the climb so that you can safely lower your partner down to the ground.

Bouldering is a type of climbing that last a small amount of time, in these climbs you usually try to tackle challenging rock problems that are more difficult than on other climbs. These problems require fast energy draining moves. These types of climbs require a partner to spot you in case you fall, this is just being close to you and controlling your fall. You will also need a crash pad that is a thick soft mat for landing. This will enable you to try harder and more dangerous moves. And a chalk bag would help to keep a good grip on the rock.

As you can see there are a lot of different forms of climbing and each one requires a certain type of gear and technique whole climbing. Rock climbing is also a very social sport and it is always good to bring your buddies for climbs. That’s it for today, rock on.

Sources:

http://www.rock-climbing-guide.com/

http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/

http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/whatyouneed/climbinggearlist.asp

and “Go Climb” by Nigel Shepherd

25
Apr

Feel for the rocks

Rock climbing is as much of a physical sport as a mental one. You need to have a 100% focus at all times and be thinking and planning during and before starting any of you climbs. All rock climbing walls need a minute or two of planning before starting it, you need to look carefully and identify useful handholds, footholds and the best course of action during the climb. It is necessary to do this because once in a climb u have only a few minutes (depending on the difficulty of the wall, or climbers abilities) to make your way to the top. There is always a way to make it and in most cases many different ways. But sometimes choosing the easiest way will ensure you success, because on walls you will have areas where the handholds are near impossible to hold on to,  places where you have to jump or boulder (form of climbing that consists of short intense moves) and it is these that will use up all your energy. As well as those reasons, when speed climbing it is a good idea to have a mental image of what your doing so when climbing you don’t waste time looking for footholds and automatically put your feet where they should be. And while you need to focus a lot mentally you also need to be physically ready for the climb. Rock Climbing is a very demanding sport, it works on fast hard moves that require a lot of upper body strength. You also need to have strong fingers in order to keep a good grip on the wall. Some tips for climbing: Get rock climbing shoes, you will feel the difference right away with these shoes, the grip is amazing. Keep a clear mind and try to breath a lot. Always keep your body as close to the wall while climbing, gravity is your biggest enemy. And lastly always look for footholds, you will burn out pretty fast if you are only using your hands. Well, thats all for today. Have a good week and rock on.

Image from:

http://indigo.ie/~donances/new_web/gallery.html

 




 

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