Rock climbing disciplines and styles of climbing.

When talking about the sport we love, climbers generally divide the sport into four distinct disciplines: Bouldering, Sport Climbing, Traditional Climbing, and Aid Climbing. Bouldering and sport climbing are by far the most popular styles todays. 

Bouldering, by far the most social, generally focuses on short and ropeless routes. Most of the time, these routes are on boulders. Bouldering today is very popular as a sport on its own. Boulder problems can range from two or three moves, to very tall boulders where a fall near the top would not be recommended.   

Sport Climbing, also very popular today, is the most common form of established climbing in the world today. Sport climbing routes are pre-equipped with permanent fixed anchors called bolts.

Sport climbing routes are design to minimize the risk and maximize the physical reward of climbing and movement. Because sport climbs are designed to maximize safety, the climber can focus on pushing their own personal and physical limits with minimum thought about protecting themselves.  Sport climbers often reverse routes to push their limits and improve, but some climbers who sport climb still prefer to climb well within their physical limits and stay on routes that don’t require them to practice each move.

Traditional Climbing, most commonly referred to as trad climbing, generally requires that the climber place all the needed protection on the ascent, while the partner removes it. The protection is temporary and removable. In some cases, trad routes can be equipped with bolts because they is no other way of protecting the route. When a bolted route becomes a sport route is a bit of a grey area in today’s climbing world.

Because trad climbing generally requires that the climber place and remove the protection on every ascent, this style of climbing as a few more  technical skills  that climbers must learn. Climbers also have to invest more money in the equipment needed. Like sport climbing, trad climber still use a rope only for protection. 

 
Aid Climbing, means the climber is using specialize rock climbing gear to scale the cliff with a mechanical advantage. Aid Climbing techniques are used when the features on the cliff are too small or featureless to use just hands and feet to make upward progress.

Bouldering, Sport Climbing, and Traditional climbing all fall into a category of climbing referred to as free climbing. Free climbing doesn’t mean that climbers scale the cliffs un-roped, but that the climbers scale the cliff using their hands and feet to hold the natural features on the cliff to make upward progress. If the climber uses the equipment to help their body move higher up the cliff, the climber is said to be “Aid Climbing.”

Climbing is fun, and can be as challenging as the individual climbers want it to be. When free-climbing, the basic goal is to reach the top of the route without hanging or placing your weight on the gear or rope. If the climbers hang during the ascent, the climb is not considered a clean ascent in terms of free climbing.  Climbers who get a clean ascent on the first attempt have on-sighted the route. If a climber falls, and needs to repeat the route two or more times to get a clean ascent, the climber has red-pointed the route.  

Climbing gyms, and artificial climbing walls, have evolved and helped make climbing more accessible to people. Today, climbing walls can be found in community center, schools, and recreation centers.  Climbing gyms focus on free climbing and bouldering.