page_title: Rock climbing
section_title: Via ferrata
hierarchical_section_title: Rock climbing / Types of climbing / Via ferrata
caption_attribution_description: English: Climber climbing Guide Cracks on Daff Dome. Tuolumne Meadows section of Yosemite National Park.
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: A method of fairly easily ascending a route, heavily dependent on permanent protection rather than using natural rock features to proceed.
caption: Climber with climbing gear attached at his harness
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