Jim Gilbert: If they’re using ropes, then it’s not a ‘free’ climb
No strings attached equals free.
The ongoing show “climbing free the Face in Yosemite,” means the paper would call what all the sports and baseball players did “no help, or nor aide.” Why not call it what it is. It is assisted climbing. True they weren’t being pulled up the face, but if it wasn’t for the ropes, they wouldn’t be able to swing from one position to another when they run into a dead end, and they wouldn’t be alive long, as they have lost their grip many times and fell back.
This is a joke, being fed as something amazing.
Jim Gilbert, Riverbank
Editors’s note: The term “free climbing” includes protective devices that attach to the rock, usually in fissures, through which the protective lines are threaded. When a fall occurs, the devices hold fast. The climber uses only natural featues to ascend and the devices are removed as climbers pass them. In “aid climbing” devices are affixed to the rock face and mechanisms such as stands, stirrups and ladders are attached to assist the climber.
This story was originally published January 15, 2015 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Jim Gilbert: If they’re using ropes, then it’s not a ‘free’ climb."