Read on to know which one is more enjoyable!
Say hello to a new era of sports derived from another daily activity from ancient times. It’s a long journey to climb some rocky faces to keep one safe to compete with others on a big stage like the Olympics. In modern days we have both natural rock faces and their replications, The artificial walls. Artificial walls had opened up the possibility to make it a sport rather than only a competitive adventure.
Natural rocks are mostly found in plateau areas as well as in mountains. They can be boulders or even 300mt. tall rocky wall with lots of varieties of surface textures and gradients. Hence, they have different difficulty scales too. This type is vast and has numerous possibilities of using what’s on the rock.
Artificial walls carry the idea of replicating the features of natural rock such as holds, bumps, cracks, even the texture and the gradient. Around 1964 the first ever artificial rock wall was made which elevated the fate of rock climbing to an entirely greater height. In this way exactly similar setups could be provided to multiple competitors at the same time.
Safety is undoubtedly the deciding parameter for artificial walls to be included in sports as it can be performed in utter safety using various equipment without interfering with the performance of the competitors. Whereas natural climbing can also be done in safer conditions but the difference is distinct between natural and artificial climbing.
One can find numerous climbing techniques once they are into the world of rock climbing. A few examples are Knee Bar, Dyno, Bat hang, Knee Drop, Heel Hook etc. In natural rock one may find the opportunity to use these kinds of techniques when required but in contrast we can manipulate holds making artificial walls providing them the opportunity to practice any targeted technique.
Artificial wall has surely brought availability and variations to the doorstep of a climber but that doesn’t eclipse the popularity of natural rock climbing. Artificial rocks provide flexibility to requirement whereas Natural Rock provides sheer adventure and endless paths to explore.
Over these years these have enhanced the popularity of each other to an extent that there are various Styles of climbs now like Trad Climbing, Aid-climb, Speed Climbing, Power Climbing and even Free Solos.
There are many more improvisations ahead as we go through the path of rock climbing.
