Rock Climbing Styles - Solo Climbing

Written by: Lucreid

Solo Climbing is a type of Climbing in its purest form. With no one to belay you and no tools to hinder you from your ascent, this is where you scale walls alone, purely using your hands and feet to hoist your way upwards. Although Solo Climbing may offer the best possible experience when it comes to Climbing, it also poses the highest possible risk. One wrong move may lead to severe injuries. Be warned that Solo Climbing is a practice for those who have at least some actual experience in Rock Climbing. Beginners would probably end up hurting themselves while attempting this style.

There are several types of Solo Climbing. Here are some examples:

• Roped Soloing – this is where the climber is secured with a rope connected to a self-locking device. This is the safest form of Solo Climbing.


• Deep Water Soloing – this involves climbing cliffs above the sea. The sea serves as a sort of cushion to lessen the possibility of injury whenever the climber slips and falls.


• Free Soloing – this is the truest possible form of Climbing; scaling walls with only your bare hands and feet. It is also very dangerous since tools of any form, even for safety purposes, are excluded. On the other hand, Free Soloing is guaranteed to make any climber feel a surge of adrenaline, feeding that thirst for excitement.

Why Go Solo Climbing?

People may usually feel discouraged when they hear about Solo Climbing because of the risks involved, the level of difficulty it offers, and the worst possible injuries that a climber could attain during the climb. But then again, it is still practiced by a huge number of climbers throughout the world. What drives them to engage in this extreme sport? Here are some reasons:

• Solo Climbing provides absolute freedom to climbers; it allows them to be in control of everything.


• The rush that Solo Climbing induces is euphoric and addicting. Some people actually like the feeling of being threatened by danger since it motivates them to push their human limits further, while satiating their desire for thrill and excitement. There’s nothing more potent than Solo Climbing to provoke such feelings to a climber.


• Solo Climbing helps you understand yourself better and what you can do. It tells you how far you can actually go and how much more you can reach to break a certain limitation. It is the perfect sport to synchronize a climber to oneself: movements, thoughts, and restrictions of certain limitations.

Solo Climbing is certainly not easy since it demands a huge amount of effort from a climber. Take the necessary precautions to minimize the risks when climbing.

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