Free climbing is a type of rock climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend, employing ropes and forms of climbing protection to prevent falls only.
In contrast, free soloing uses no aids of any kind for protection or ascent while aid climbing employs ropes, protection, and direct aids to pull or stand upon such as jumars to make upward progress on extremely sheer vertical surfaces.
Used as an umbrella term, "free climbing" spans four subsets of climbing styles: traditional, sport, free soloing and bouldering.
Read more about Free Climbing: Methods and Techniques, Style, Common Misunderstandings of The Term
Famous quotes containing the words free and/or climbing:
“What blessings thy free bounty gives
Let me not cast away;
For God is paid when man receives,
To enjoy is to obey.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“These are the warnings
that you must forget
if you’re climbing out of yourself.
If you’re going to smash into the sky.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)