page_title: Rock climbing
section_title: Top rope
hierarchical_section_title: Rock climbing / Types of climbing / Top rope
caption_attribution_description: English: Nat makes her way up Balthazar (12) in the Boulder Bridge area at Morialta Conservation Park, a public reserve 10 km north-east of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
context_page_description: Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. Knowledge of proper climbing techniques and use of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.
  Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the world, rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines, such as scrambling, another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations, differentiated by rock climbing's sustained use of hands to support the climber's weight as well as to provide balance.
  Professional rock climbing competitions have the objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route.
context_section_description: Commonly known as top roping, top rope climbing is climbing in which a climber is belayed from the ground or the base of the route. A belay system resembling a pulley in which an anchor has been created at the top of a climb, through which the rope runs through from the belayer on the ground, to the climber on the ground (position before starting the climb). The rope is "taken-in", to clear up the slack as the climber moves upwards, so in the event of a fall, the climber falls the shortest distance possible. The length of a fall is normally no more than a meter, but can vary depending on the length of the route (the longer the rope, the more stretch the rope will undergo when weighted) and the weight of the climber compared to that of the belayer, among other things.
caption: Top roping Balthazar (12), in the Morialta Conservation Park near Adelaide, South Australia.  Top roping is the most accessible style of climbing for beginners.
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