Sport climbing began in the early 1980s when elite French rock climbers sought to ascend routes devoid of fissures or cracks where traditional climbers would have placed temporary safety devices. While bolting natural rock faces was controversial and is still a topic of discussion in climbing ethics, sport climbing quickly gained popularity and is credited with setting all following grade milestones in rock climbing.
Sport climbing, which is safer, is also responsible for the explosive growth of competitive climbing, which will make its Olympic debut in the 2020 Summer Olympics. Competition climbing is commonly confused with "sport climbing," despite consisting of three separate rock climbing disciplines: lead climbing (the bolted sport climbing part), bouldering (no bolts required), and speed climbing (also not fastened, but top roped). Sport climbing returns to the Olympic program in 2024, building on its involvement in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Description
Sport climbing is a type of free climbing, meaning that, unlike aid climbing, no mechanical or artificial device can be used to help progression. It is typically done in couples, with the lead climber clipping into permanently fixed bolts that have been pre-drilled for their protection while climbing. Quickdraws are used by the lead climber to clip into the bolts. Once the lead climber reaches the top of the route, the second climber, often known as the belayer, takes off the quickdraws and continues up the route.
Sport climbing is safer than traditional climbing since traditional climbing calls for the lead climber to put on temporary climbing protection equipment as they ascend. Sport climbing is also distinct from free solo climbing, which uses no climbing protection at all.
Confusingly, "sport climbing" refers to the sport of competition climbing, which is actually three different rock climbing disciplines: speed climbing (which is also not fastened), bouldering (which does not require bolts), and lead climbing (which is the bolted sport climbing part).
Equipment
Quickdraws
Compared to traditional climbing, sport climbing requires significantly less equipment because the protection is already drilled into the route. Quickdraws are the sole additional essential piece of equipment needed for lead climbing, aside from the normal gear (rope, belay device, harness, and climbing shoes). These allow the rope to be clipped into the bolts without creating friction. Rope drag on intricate sports climbing routes that do not follow a straight line can be prevented by paying careful attention to the alignment and quickdraw lengths.
Bolts
All sport climbs will eventually need to be re-fitted after a few years because the pre-drilled bolts will eventually deteriorate—especially in coastal places due to salt. The next highest quality stainless steel bolts are predicted to last approximately 20–25 years (the cheaper plated stainless steel bolts have a shorter lifespan), and the highest quality titanium bolts are too costly to use frequently. The American Alpine Club established an "anchor replacement fund" in 2015 to assist in replacing the bolts on the estimated 60,000 sport climbing routes in the country.
Grading
Dominant systems
Sport routes are evaluated just for their technical difficulty, and unlike traditional climbing routes, do not require an additional grade to reflect risk because sport climbing eliminates the danger of a route by employing bolts. The French system, sometimes known as French sport grading, and the American system are the two most widely used methods for grading sport climbing routes. In Germany and central Europe, the UIAA system is widely used. Additionally, the Australian system, often known as Ewbank is utilized.
Integration with Boulder grades
Sport routes are graded more simply than traditional routes, but the comparison between a short route consisting of a single very difficult move and a longer route consisting of a continuous series of slightly softer moves is a problem. Since the "overall" difficulty of the route is the basis for most of the grading systems mentioned above, both routes may receive the same sports grade. Consequently, it is now standard practice on advanced sport climbing routes (such as Realization, La Dura Dura, and La Rambla) to list the hardest moves according to their bouldering grade, which might be either the American "V-scale" system or the French "Font" system. The only distinction between French "Font" boulder grades and sports grades is "capitalization."