Common Misunderstandings of The Term
While clear in its contrast to aid climbing, the term free climbing is nonetheless prone to misunderstanding and misuse.
The two most common errors are:
- Confusing free climbing with its subset free soloing, a willfully risk-taking endeavor involving climbing with just one's hands, feet, and body without any rope or protective equipment
- Conflating soloing a free climb with free soloing, "soloing" alone meaning merely to climb with no partner, which depending on the difficulty of the route can be done safely using any of a number of self-belaying systems.
Read more about this topic: Free Climbing
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