Proper Rope-Tying for Rock Climbing

Rock climbing is very adventurous. It's an activity requiring great endurance, physical fitness and a great deal of intestinal fortitude. To be successful as a rock climber, you not only need to know how to scale a rock wall appropriately, but also how to tie into your climbing rope. To a rock climber, the climbing rope is -- hands down -- a literal life-line. A poorly tied rope can result in a bad fall and even death. Many knots are used in tying a rock-climbing rope, but the most essential one is a basic figure-of-eight knot used to tie ropes together, or to tie into a harness.

Instructions

1. • 1

     Fold over a piece of rope to make a bight (a bight is a folded piece of rope that forms a loop on one end). This will just look like a rope with equally folded halves.

   • 2

     Form a loop in the bight by laying the lead ends over the bight. This will look like a curl of rope just under the bight.

   • 3

     Curl the bight around the loop once, then push it though the loop and pull tight. You can use this loop to attach to your harness, or to a carabiner (a metal loop latching mechanism used to clamp ropes to harnesses or other ropes).