Free Climbing - Style

Style

There are no rules per se to free climbing, beyond showing respect for the rock and for other climbers.

Over the years, as climbing has become more popular and climbers more skilled, an entire generation of aficionados has been spawned from and with the ethics of climbing gyms and sport climbing. These climbers now share the rocks in some places with traditionally-trained adherents.

In the newer generation as in previous ones, certain new conventions have emerged as the state of the art changes. Conventions aren't universal: in fact, many older and/or more traditionally oriented climbers may ignore or actively disdain certain newer conventions, and the reverse is true as well: The more traditional values may be regarded as irrelevant, antique or "un-fun" by those who have different experience, goals and cultural identity.

While sport climbers are more likely than traditional climbers to frequently attempt routes which are too hard to successfully ascend on the first try, and repeat until successful, both cultures value positively:

• Climbing a given route on the first try without any advance firsthand knowledge of it (so-called on-sighting).
• Making a flawless ascent, perhaps repeating a route which has previously been climbed in "poor style"
• Advancing the state of the art, perhaps by developing a new route, or by climbing an established route in a creative, novel way

As matters of style, any of the following are likely to be regarded similarly by most free climbers across the various cultures. Generally, the following diminish the perception of "good style":

• Pre-climb inspections (to learn the nuances of a route rather than assessing the route from a safety point of view)
• Resting on gear or rope (hangdogging)
• Pre-placing gear (pinkpointing)
• Pulling or weighting gear Aid-style (french free)
• Prior top roping (headpointing) before sending on lead
• Practice through falling (generally more relevant in sport climbing than traditional)