Grab a pack, tie on your harness and rack up your carabiners—mountain climbers rely on this gear to help them ascend. Everything should be as lightweight and versatile as possible. Gear that does double duty—a belay device that doubles as a rappelling device, for example—helps lighten the load considerably.
Climbing Pack
Climbers stow their gear in a lightweight backpack. An overweight pack with awkward bulges can actually change your center of gravity as you climb. Mark Houston and Kathy Cosley, authors of “Alpine Climbing: Techniques to Take You Higher,” believe climbing packs work best when they’re simple, top-opening packs without side pockets, a frame, a waist belt or external pouches that add too much bulk. They recommend approximately 2,000 cubic inches of space for day trips and 3,000 cubic inches for overnight climbs.
Harness
The climbing harness is a specialized belt with leg loops that keeps you attached to your climbing rope. They also provide storage space for tools like carabiners. According to outdoor gear retailer REI, harnesses have more or less padding depending on the type of climb you’re doing. Alpine climbers need ultra-light non-absorbent materials; climbers with hanging belays need more padding on the belt and the leg loops.
Rope
Climbers categorize ropes by their diameter, measured in millimeters, and their weight in grams per meter. Alpine mountain guide Michael Silitch breaks it down for REI—thick ropes with a diameter of 10.1 to 11mm can swing over rough rocks without breaking, he says, although they’re heavier to carry. Skinny ropes with a diameter of 8.9 to 9.4mm are easier to carry over your shoulder during an alpine climb, but you need to be sure the rope can hold you if you fall. (See Reference 3) Frequent climbers might have ropes sized exactly for the longest pitch of a climb, ensuring they’re not carrying too much weight. Common lengths range from 40 to 80m.
Belay Device
To safely navigate steep drops, climbers working in pairs can belay—one anchor partner holds the rope while the other uses the rope to descend in a controlled fall. Climbers thread the rope through a metal belay device attached to the anchor’s harness, providing friction and allowing him to control the speed of the other climber’s “fall.” (See Reference 4) The device itself is a small metal plate or tube. Houston and Cosley recommend the Petzl Reverso belaying device, with an autoblocking function that’s useful for belaying more than one person.
Carabiners
A carabiner is a simple metal ring shaped like an oval or the letter “D.” Every carabiner has a latch that opens the ring so you can lock it onto an anchor or your harness. Many mountain climbing areas already have anchors—a bolt or other metal device hammered into the rock that you can use to secure your position. Tie your climbing rope to a carabiner and attach that carabiner to an anchor for extra protection on your climb. Some carabiners offer a locking latch to make sure it doesn’t slip off the anchor as you move.
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