Design and mechanics of mountaineering equipment

Climbing is one of the fastest growing extreme sports and this is reflected in the exponentially evolving equipment design. Mountaineering equipment is focused mainly on safety, prevention of injuries and protection from falls. Fall protection equipment comprises ropes, belay devices (rope brakes), energy absorbers and harnesses, as well as safety mats for bouldering. Shoes, crampons, ice axes and chalk improve friction and grip. Helmets protect the head primarily from falling rocks and secondarily from impacts in the event of a fall. Traditional alpine mountaineering has evolved into different climbing disciplines, such as sport climbing on natural rock faces and artificial climbing centres, characterised by routes equipped with permanent anchors; lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering, the classical disciplines of climbing competitions; top roping; high-altitude mountaineering; ice climbing; dry tooling (combination of ice and rock climbing); 'via ferrata' climbing (with pre-installed safety equipment such as ladders and iron cables); and free climbing and soloing disciplines, where the strength of a rope is merely replaced by mental toughness. The growth rate and popularity of sport climbing was triggered by the introduction of artificial outdoor climbing centres, climbing gyms and even indoor ice-climbing facilities, which make the sport more accessible. Modern design of climbing equipment is driven by innovation and constrained by safety standards. The general design principle is finding the optimum balance of minimising the weight and improving the strength of equipment. This chapter covers selected aspects of ropes and karabiners and discusses the mechanics and tribology of belay devices, friction anchors and chalk.