the math of rock climbing

[sendit]

Another professor obsessed with climbing, geeking out. What I find interesting is how this is an official video for Emory University.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnoL8hiN65A

[THB]

i find it interesting that he states that a high fall factor = a harder catch and more force put on the climber... but, i find that to be a terrible generalization. a 2 foot fall on 15 feet of rope could be a much worse fall than a 30 foot fall on 60 feet of rope. the 30 footer could be a much softer catch with a dynamic belay, rope stretch, etc... there is just so much more that goes into a soft versus a hard catch that it bothers me that he generalizes that a higher fall factor means a harder catch...

[TradMike]

The thing to point out is the general rule is based on a fully recovered rope and ignores the friction in the system which can vary significantly depending on how many clip in points, how the rope runs through those and if it binds up somehow. It all has to do with how much available rope there is to stretch.

[chriss]

http://www.cwu.edu/~curtiswd/PapersAndP ... 35-140.pdf

[caribe]

http://www.cwu.edu/~curtiswd/PapersAndP ... 35-140.pdf

That was very good Chris.