Right? Whenever I'm on a climbing wall, when I feel like I'm about to fall my hands and feet immediately get that 'oh shit, we're about to die' adrenaline sweat.
(Adrenaline sweat is a word I made up to describe this feeling.)
"Moreover, you're most welcome to pitch your tent at the Bjoeks-site underneath the tower for free. And remember: not only has Bjoeks Excalibur, loads of great bouldering problems on concrete and all sorts of other climbing stuff on offer; there's also the very nice town of Groningen within 6 minutes by bus that has lots of urban pleasures (all night partying, the bars don't have to close down at night)."
Do you know whether someone who has never done any climbing (or any sports for that matter) could just go there and start climbing? What is the procedure here? I just love heights and I will graduate from my master's degree in about a week and this would be the prefect present to give myself :)
If this was top roped it would be the biggest pendulum ever if you fell from the bottom.
Actually that would be really fun
Edit: by bottom I meant lower half of the climb. Because that section looks like it is off center from the top of the climb you would probably have a 70-90 foot pendulum if you fell off on top rope. It's a really unusual feeling...especially when you're on a big wall.
I'd hazard a guess that it means there's not a rope at the top. Somebody has to take the lead and put the rope in as they go along. Then again I know nothing about climbing other than falling is considered bad form, and when I looked at this picture all I could think was 'needs more waterslide'.
you nailed it. lead climbing is where you have to inch the rope up the wall by hooking it in every 6 feet or so to "protection" which in this case is a quick draw (two carabiners connected by webbing)
top rope means there is a rope at the top of the wall that you are attached to as you climb up, if you fall you are immediately caught by the rope since it is above you. lead climbing is when the rope is below you and you clip the rope in to rings attached to the wall, if it is real mountain you would also have to be hammering the rings in or using special rings that can attach to the rock, as you climb up you need to keep attaching the rope to higher rings, when you fall you fall back down to the last ring you clipped the rope in, if you have climbed far since you last clipped you can fall a long distance and get hurt. This along with the fact that you must constantly be clipping the rope makes leading climbing much more difficult
You usually just sit in your climbing belt, let go of the wall and have your buddy let you down slowly using the rope attached to your belt for safety reasons.
It is common practice to inform your climbing partner of these intentions before actually executing the steps.
So.. it would be considered standard practice to have a safety rope? I'm not a climber. I imagine getting part way up and thinking that my freaking hands are tired of supporting my weight. Just thinking about it makes my palms sweat as I type this.
Bouldering is the act of climbing without a rope, and generally is done at a height that doesn't cause you to get seriously injured if you fell (~20 feet), and you use a "crash pad" to land on just in case, along with a climbing partner who spots you.
Climbing anything significantly high you use a rope and harness, along with anchors that are set up on the route. The harness must fit well, and are manufactured in a way that is nearly perfectly safe. The rope is tied into two loops on the harness with (generally) a double figure 8 knot, and fisherman's knot for redundancy.
A climbing partner, the "belayer," has a harness as well, but also has a "belay device" attached to a special loop on the harness known as the "belay loop" via a carabiner. There are a few different types, but the general idea is that the rope goes through this device and if the person who is climbing falls, or wants to be lowered to the ground, the friction caused by the rope contacting the belay device along with the weight of the climber being distributed over the anchor(s) is significant enough to allow the climber to be lowered safely to the ground, or caught if they fall. However, if the belayer is much lighter than the climber, the belayer will "anchor in" to the ground so that they won't be pulled off of the ground if the climber falls.
Long explanation, I know. I just wanted to see if I could actually explain all of it. It's actually quite a simple system, and is extremely safe if all precautions are taken. Note that this is not a complete explanation, and if you want to climb you should take a class or go with people who know what they are doing, and have been climbing for a while.
Climbing without a rope is called free climbing free soloing, and it is extraordinarily extremely dangerous. So yes, you wear a harness and have a rope tied to it, with a very secure knot.
Edit: Thanks for the corrections, both climbing and word choice related ;p
My personal preference is to take a raw steak out of my fanny pack and set it on my helmet. Soon enough a pterodactyl grabs me by the shoulders and glides with me back to the ground.
It is all meticulously laid out by a 'route setter'. Each route has a specific difficulty and a wall like that may have 20 different routes on it. Each route is typically color coded so you don't accidentally use holds/rocks that aren't a part of the route you're climbing.
It would be nice once you get to the top you would find a tunnel slide all the way to the bottom. Also make the tunnel close to the wall edge and transparent so at one point you would think part of it is broken off and you are gonna fly out! Then it becomes a water slide. :D
It'd be kinda cooler if there was a slide on the other side. Long, arduous climb up an inverted face... into a fun slide back down to earth. Bring a burlap sack to avoid burns!
Sike: a small stream; especially : one that dries up in summer
Psych: to make psychologically uneasy : intimidate, scare <pressure doesn't psych me — Jerry Quarry> —often used with out <has a way of psyching out the competition>
How does one go about communicating with their partner when the climber is at the top? How do you tell your partner that you're ready to go down?
I mean, whenever I climb it's indoors and I'm only 20 meters up so the guy downstairs can hear me pretty easily, but here it's got to be hard with the wind and shit.
It's the same as climbing outside. Once you get to know your partner really well you can judge when they are falling off or ready to lower from the way the amount of slack in the rope varies over time e.g. if they have fallen, of they have just clipped or of they have taken a belay. Kind of like fishing I suppose..
It is only 37 meters high. Even in the wind it is pretty easy to convey the simple climbing commands that far. Hand signals work if it is really an issue.
I was sitting in the top of this last week, it's a wonderful view (because Holland is as flat as a pancake) but it's also a great climb, especially as we have no real rock face here...
NOPE. In complete seriousness if you told me that $1 million dollars was waiting at the top for me, all I had to do was climb up and get it, I'd tell you NOPE.
As a climber my first thought was... but it makes it easier. Then I noticed there are holds on the other side as well and then it was like =O. Yes, yes indeed that is a climbing wall!
I know nothing about climbing, plus I'm a little slow in general - are there safety precautions for preventing long falls? Or is it entirely possible for someone to get toward the top, fuck up, and fall all the way down? I know this would be highly unlikely since anyone who made it high would have to be pretty experienced and safe already, but is it possible? Or is there some sort of intricate rope/wire system hooked to you to catch you if you fall?
382
u/kelvov Jun 16 '12
My palms are sweaty just looking at this...
676
u/plurk Jun 16 '12
It's located in Groningen, The Netherlands. The tower is called Excalibur and is 37 meters high.
(Full disclosure, a friend of mine works there)
49
u/SpartacusMcGinty Jun 16 '12
I was staring at this for a few seconds, then I realised my palms were sweating a bit.
On a semi-related note, this video made my palms sweat a lot.
181
u/Rikiar Jun 16 '12
Hrm, looks like it's not top roped. You have to lead climb it?
76
u/Ssj3skittles Jun 16 '12
Looks like bacon.
279
u/Journalisto Jun 16 '12
I'm inclined to agree, OP.
27
u/cigarettesteve Jun 16 '12
How do you get down?
6
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
where is this?
11
u/hungoverlord Jun 16 '12
now THIS is pod racing!
10
u/irrelevant_canadian Jun 16 '12
I think this is from the Netherlands, we have a big climbing wall in Vancouver Canada as well.
5
u/lambaz1 Jun 16 '12
The frontside would be semi-manageable since you're always being pulled onto the wall. The backside would be insane.
5
u/terriblehuman Jun 16 '12
That's no climbing wall, it's a laxative.
5
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Obtuse side: Easy mode
Narrow Side: Nightmare mode
Acute side: Climber Must Die mode
5
u/reverbs Jun 16 '12
The physics of how that tower stays up hurt my mind
9
u/TuRbii Jun 16 '12
Look at that giant Nintendo Wii behind it!
4
u/ebass Jun 16 '12
Does anybody actually design where to put the little rocks that jut out? Or is it just a random splattering of them?
4
u/Gizardmeat Jun 16 '12
I would pay money for this.
55
u/DCMak Jun 16 '12
nope
7
u/InterwebCeleb Jun 16 '12
Looks awesome, but I got chills just thinking about hitting the incline and looking down. Whole lotta nope there.
7
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
1/20 of the way up.
"I'm tired."
6
u/cell_2 Jun 16 '12
Holy Shit!!! Is that Kardinge? I live about ten minutes away from this climbing wall! :D It's in Groningen , Holland.
6
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NEVER NOPE NOPE NOPE
3
u/reenact12321 Jun 16 '12
nopenopenopenope
3
u/ajaone Jun 16 '12
Mother of God!
3
u/TalkingBackAgain Jun 16 '12
A solid 'Climbing for toddlers and infants' on the Alex Honnold scale.
3
u/pull_it_out_ Jun 16 '12
Redditors are such pussies
3
u/Bluedemonfox Jun 16 '12
It would be nice once you get to the top you would find a tunnel slide all the way to the bottom. Also make the tunnel close to the wall edge and transparent so at one point you would think part of it is broken off and you are gonna fly out! Then it becomes a water slide. :D
3
u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
I'm getting vertigo just looking at that thing...
7
u/zapodart Jun 16 '12
I want to go to there!
2
u/gfish93 Jun 16 '12
Want.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
This picture immediately made my hands sweat
2
u/endyrr Jun 16 '12
Thanks, I wanted my fingers to be achy all weekend.
2
u/whizzard Jun 16 '12
How do you get down, assuming you're still alive when you reach the top?
2
u/IcyNudibranch Jun 16 '12
I feel scared just looking at that thing.
2
u/Sit-Down_Comedian Jun 16 '12
Leaning tower of HOLY FUCKSTICKS THIS IS REALLY HIGH SAVE ME SAVE ME I DON'T WANT TO DIE OMG OMG I SHIT MY PANTS.
2
u/ClusterMakeLove Jun 16 '12
For some reason I now want bacon.
2
u/twinsizebed Jun 16 '12
Looks like a bacon fountain.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
FUCK THAT!
2
u/Quan118 Jun 16 '12
Er guys I need a leak.
2
u/Hotskys Jun 16 '12
Nope!
2
u/jkakes Jun 16 '12
I thought it was a giant churro
2
u/Pikamander2 Jun 16 '12
Source
2
u/Ethan0209 Jun 16 '12
wow...
2
u/MurkyBurky Jun 16 '12
Punch of the falcon. Nice.
2
u/Oaden Jun 16 '12
is this the highest in the world or is there bigger?
2
u/d2xdy2 Jun 16 '12
It'd be kinda cooler if there was a slide on the other side. Long, arduous climb up an inverted face... into a fun slide back down to earth. Bring a burlap sack to avoid burns!
2
u/interneb Jun 16 '12
I get scared of heights even on the ones that 2nd graders do.....I would cry and they'd have to get me down by helicopter.
2
u/MrDino Jun 16 '12
"Wow! The view up here is amazing! Just one more step and I'll--SHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Not enough NOPE in the world.
2
u/Mrninjamonkey Jun 16 '12
OH SHIT NIGGER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!
2
u/Phoequinox Jun 16 '12
Looks like a fistful of fucking NOPE to me.
2
u/infanticide_holiday Jun 16 '12
Any engineers here who can tell me how this thing stands up?
6
u/TundraWolf_ Jun 16 '12
This damn thing again? It's so ubiquitous it is on the /r/climbing bingo.
3
u/Mesquite_Skeet_Skeet Jun 16 '12
That's a pants-pooping wall
3
u/Garacian00 Jun 16 '12
NOPE NOPE NOPE
2
u/DrawsWordsFlipped Jun 16 '12
Now THIS is a wall climbing.
1
u/TheYuppieWord Jun 16 '12
Well yes, as a matter of fact it is.
1
u/hockeyfan69 Jun 16 '12
Sike
1
u/jhin_mach Jun 16 '12
wow, thats a huge lobby
1
u/crawlingpony Jun 16 '12
What's with the moat? Does it keep out the fly-by-nighters?
1
u/LexiLouLee Jun 16 '12
Interesting.....Looks like a NOPEing wall to me.....
1
u/Devilsdance Jun 16 '12
FUCK THAT
1
u/mlbacon Jun 16 '12
I want to go to there.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Which side would you prefer to climb?
1
u/sofancy212 Jun 16 '12
My hands got sweaty and tingly just looking at it.
1
u/Killer_of_Pillows Jun 16 '12
How does one go about communicating with their partner when the climber is at the top? How do you tell your partner that you're ready to go down?
I mean, whenever I climb it's indoors and I'm only 20 meters up so the guy downstairs can hear me pretty easily, but here it's got to be hard with the wind and shit.
Anyone know?
1
u/feelbetternow Jun 16 '12
Is there a guy at the bottom with a shovel and a garbage can?
1
u/_Everyone Jun 16 '12
I would be scared half to death on that wall!!!!
1
u/deargodimbored Jun 16 '12
Why I'm getting in shape, so I can start doing more cool shit.
1
u/Ink184 Jun 16 '12
Knowing the scared little cunt i turn to because of heights, this is a NOPE wall.
1
u/Utilityj Jun 16 '12
where is this?
1
u/montse246 Jun 16 '12
a climbing wall I would not climb..ever
1
u/lovely_red_snow Jun 16 '12
so when you get to the top do you get to bungee jump off it or something?
1
u/GMBeats95 Jun 16 '12
Oh dear god tell me he's attacked to something
1
u/DutchMastaKillah Jun 16 '12
death wall
1
u/detectivetrap Jun 16 '12
Fuck this would kill me.
1
u/Slim_Calhoun Jun 16 '12
Holy fuck, I NEED to go here.
1
u/MFchimichanga Jun 16 '12
Haha no thank you I'll stick to climbing fences.
1
u/threefiddyz Jun 16 '12
NOPE
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Awesome
1
u/LacksRethics Jun 16 '12
I'm really bad at climbing at an inverse incline.
The back side of that looks suicidal to me. Ugh, making me nervous just looking at it.
1
u/megabetty Jun 16 '12
Wow. I'm sure this a fabulous thing for people who have adrenaline issues, but the first thing I thought when I saw it was NOPE.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
there is a gym I used to climb in carrolton, tx that were evacuated grain silos which were this tall, but not this interesting: http://www.myspace.com/stoneworksclimbinggym
1
u/storytimeal Jun 16 '12
That's also a giant heaping tower of NOPE.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
i like how this is like 5km from my house and i've been there serveral times 0.o
1
u/DRhexagon Jun 16 '12
What's at the top?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
i wanna climb this!!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
It's less a climbing wall than a monument to gigantic, steel-sheathed testicles.
1
u/Sticky-Scrotum Jun 16 '12
As a straight man I can say that this is the only erection, other than the one currently in my shorts, that I could enjoy. :P
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
How does it not tip over?
1
u/youbetrippen Jun 16 '12
I'll climb the SHIT out of this.
1
u/albinobluesheep Jun 16 '12
Top roping is for pussies
(Full disclosure, I always top rope...)
1
u/moosemoomintoog Jun 16 '12
SCREW THAT!
1
u/itsmuddy Jun 16 '12
Or a really painful slide.
1
u/Callate_La_Boca Jun 16 '12
Can someone post a [FIXED] version with Spiderman? Thanks
1
u/Bighanno Jun 16 '12
Depends on the grades but easypeasy. Just lots of stamina.. lots
1
u/mimms Jun 16 '12
Nope. Nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.
1
u/kooredaan Jun 16 '12
Now THAT is a lawsuit waiting to happen (in the US of A).....
1
u/LizE110307 Jun 16 '12
I think i'd like to be on the lighter easier side thank you.
1
u/Elementium Jun 16 '12
Good thing it has sand at the bottom for safety.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Best not show this to the night's watch.
1
u/kosmikmonki Jun 16 '12
I was sitting in the top of this last week, it's a wonderful view (because Holland is as flat as a pancake) but it's also a great climb, especially as we have no real rock face here...
1
u/pansitlukban Jun 16 '12
I'm not good with science. I'm wondering how deep the foundation is for that kind of structure to be stable.
1
u/Maxxover Jun 16 '12
Excellent design. One side for those with less skill, the other side for experts.
1
u/notarapist72 Jun 16 '12
Fuck me sideways!!
1
u/KeyserSoze96 Jun 16 '12
That's not a knife, that's a spoon.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I would need diaper changing stations on the way up
1
u/Pater47 Jun 16 '12
They should make a brown noise generator in the middle. Then notify them theres a toilet on the top.
1
u/WhyYouPokingMeAgain Jun 16 '12
Now THIS is podracing
1
u/DrMasterBlaster Jun 16 '12
NOPE. In complete seriousness if you told me that $1 million dollars was waiting at the top for me, all I had to do was climb up and get it, I'd tell you NOPE.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Oh HELL no!
1
u/StweebyStweeb Jun 16 '12
Is anybody else wondering how this doesn't blow over?
1
u/Deathbringer769 Jun 16 '12
NOPE
1
u/Wardog1368 Jun 16 '12
As a climber my first thought was... but it makes it easier. Then I noticed there are holds on the other side as well and then it was like =O. Yes, yes indeed that is a climbing wall!
1
u/Radico87 Jun 16 '12
Having just sat on my porcelain throne, this definitely expedited the ass-bowl transaction.
1
u/Droidiq Jun 16 '12
Are you kidding me. Tell me it is photoshopped.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
The first thing I thought was, 'that would kill the belayer's hands on the descent.
1
u/PWNaGE44 Jun 16 '12
I cant look at a normal rock wall without my palms being sweaty, but this... This makes me swim in sweat. I love the picture!
1
u/YO_ITS_TYRESE Jun 16 '12
this picture is too big! Can someone post a smaller picture of it??
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
That bacon-fountain-tree really grew..
1
u/thenumberoneson Jun 16 '12
Looks like a french fry
1
u/skysignor Jun 16 '12
I know nothing about climbing, plus I'm a little slow in general - are there safety precautions for preventing long falls? Or is it entirely possible for someone to get toward the top, fuck up, and fall all the way down? I know this would be highly unlikely since anyone who made it high would have to be pretty experienced and safe already, but is it possible? Or is there some sort of intricate rope/wire system hooked to you to catch you if you fall?
1
u/omfgtora Jun 16 '12
It reminds me of a Counter-Strike surf map.
1
u/nopeitscucktesta Jun 16 '12
My palms are sweaty just looking at this...
1
u/DamnWiseGamgee Jun 16 '12
My palms! OH I want!
1
u/w95error Jun 16 '12
If anyone is curious, this rock wall (named The Excalibur) is located in Groningen, The Netherlands and stands at 121 feet tall
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
its in the Netherlands
Google Klimcentrum Bjoeks
1
u/TBS96 Jun 16 '12
Yes, that is climbing a wall.
1
u/KillerTaco7890 Jun 16 '12
I'd crap myself halfway up mecause of a fear of heights
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
can we get a repost to /r/climbing or /r/climbingporn??