Lead climbing

Lead climbing is a climbing technique used to ascend a route. This technique is predominantly used in rock climbing and involves a lead climber attaching themselves to a length of dynamic (stretchy) climbing rope and ascending a route whilst periodically attaching protection to the face of the route and "clipping in" to it. The lead climber must have another person acting as a belayer. The belayer has multiple roles: holding the rope in the event of a fall, and paying out or taking up rope as the climber moves.

As lead climbing does not require a pre-placed anchor at the top of the route, it is often seen as less restricted than top roping. Also, because a lead climber does not have an anchor point above them whilst climbing, only the limbs and body of the climber are used to effect upward progress. Protective devices are only placed to catch the climber in the event of a fall.

Lead climbing is an advanced technique, and is rarely practiced by novice climbers.

Lead climbing basics

When lead climbing, the lead climber or leader wears a harness tied to one end of a rope. The leader's partner provides the belay, paying out rope as needed, but ready to hold the rope tightly, usually with the aid of a belay device, to catch the leader in the event of a fall. The lead climber ascends the route, periodically placing protection for safety in the event of a fall. The protection can consist of pre-placed bolts and pitons, to which the climber clips quickdraws, or removable protection such as nuts and spring loaded camming devices which are carefully secured by the climber into cracks or other features. Distances between pieces of protection can range from three to forty feet or more, although most often the distance is between six and twelve feet.

At any point, the leader can fall at least twice as far as the distance to the most recently placed protection. If a leader is ten feet above the last piece of protection, a fall will be a minimum of twenty feet. Realistically, the fall would likely include several more feet due to rope elasticity and slack and give in the overall mechanical system. Any time a lead climber approaches twice the height of the last piece of protection, there is danger of a ground fall in which the falling climber hits the ground before the rope goes tight. In such a case, the rope does no good at all. The severity of a fall which is arrested by the climbing rope is measured by the fall factor: the ratio of the distance fallen to the amount of rope between the climber and the belayer. A fall of 20 feet is much more severe (exerts more force on the climber and climbing equipment) if it occurs with 10 feet of rope out (i.e. the climber has placed no protection and falls from 10 feet above the belayer to 10 feet below--a factor 2 fall) than if it occurs 100 feet above the belayer (a fall factor of 0.2), in which case the stretch of the rope more effectively cushions the fall.

Once the leader reaches a suitable spot for anchoring, or runs out of protection (hopefully the former), two things can occur:

1. The climber is lowered to the ground by the belayer or rappels to the ground, removing the pieces of protection on the way down. This is common when sport climbing or climbing short routes.
2. The leader belays the lower climber (the former belayer) up to the anchors. On the way up, the climber cleans (removes) the protection placed by the leader. This is common when climbing multi-pitch routes, where this process is repeated once for each pitch.

Sport climbing generally uses pre-placed protection, while removable protection is more commonly used when traditional climbing. However, it is not uncommon to see routes with both types of protection present when lead climbing.

Lead climbing is done for several reasons. Often, placing a top-rope is not an option because the anchors are not accessible by any means other than climbing. Sport climbing and traditional climbing both utilize lead climbing techniques for practical reasons, as well as stylistic reasons. Climbers may work individual pitches on top-rope, but valid ascents require the climber to lead the pitch.