Rock Climbing As An Adventure Sport
1. Introduction
Between the years 1990 and 2006, there was a 37,514 person increase in membership of the British
Mountaineering Council (BMC – the National Governing Body for rock climbing in the UK). Rock
climbing, as an adventure sport, is constantly growing in popularity (Haas & Meyers, 1995; Long,
1993; Watts, Martin, & Durtschi, 1993). It is a multiple–discipline activity that encompasses
different forms such as bouldering, top roping and lead climbing on real and artificial surfaces.
There are now over 63,000 UK members of the BMC and more than 150,000 active climbers in the
UK alone (BMC, 2004;, BMC, 2006). As popularity in the sport has increased, the physiological
demands of rock climbing have become a major focus of recent ... Show more content on
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Studies have addressed topics such as risk taking and personality (Levenson, 1990), self–esteem (
Ewert, 1994; Magni, Rupolo, Simini, De Leo & Rampazzo, 1985; Freischlag & Freischlag, 1993;
Iso–Ahola, LaVerde & Graefe, 1988; ), stress seeking (Robinson, 1985; Rossi & Cereatti, 1993), and
psychophysiological relationships ( Edwards, 1967; Delignieres, Famose, Thepaut–Mathieu &
Fleurance,1993; Missoum, Rosnet & Richalet, 1992; Hardy & Whitehead, 1984; Ryn, 1971).
Research regarding the physiology of rock climbing has indicated the importance of taking climbing
style into consideration when making comparisons between studies (Sheel, 2004; Watts, 2004) due
to the different physiological effects on performance. Draper et al (2008) report onthat the
differences between the physiological and psychological responses to the different forms of rock
climbing,; indicating that climb–time, post–climb lactate concentrations, peak heart–rate, average
heart–rate and self–reported anxiety (CSAI–2R) were significantly higher for lead climbing (LC)
than for top–roping (TRC) . However, Draper et al (2008) offer no explanation for these findings.
Similarly, Hardy and Hutchinson, (2007) report that anxiety levels in beginner climbers were
significantly higher for their lead climb than in their top–rope ascent. It is now widely accepted that
the inherent threat of physical harm which is evidenced to be apparent during lead climbing, leads to
elevated levels of anxiety which are
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