Top-roping: The climber moves up the wall secured (belayed) by a rope which runs from them up to anchors above, and then down to a person (the belayer) below who handles the safety rope with a mechanical friction device. This is the most popular form of gym climbing. Some facilities also have several auto-belayers – a self-retracting lifeline used in the fall protection industry. Using an autobelayer means you can just clip in and climb. Once at the top of the climb, the auto belay unit slowly lowers you back to the ground.

 

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Lead-climbing: Here the climber moves up the wall and clips the rope into protection points as they go, secured from a belayer standing below on the ground. In this fashion, it is possible to climb big cliff faces and mountains, as the leader can always stop somewhere to build a station and belay the second – who can remove the equipment as they follow. This “multi-pitch” climbing really only occurs outdoors where faces can be hundreds or even thousands of feet high.

Bouldering: The walls are small enough that safety ropes are not required. Matting and “spotters” are used instead – much the same as in gymnastics. Problems are set on the wall that are no more than a couple of feet off the ground, but the challenge and climbing skills required are the same as those that would be involved for higher routes that would require safety ropes. Most of these problems traverse somewhat in order to get the length that will make them engaging to participants. This way, it is possible to have routes – or problems – that are the entire width of the wall. Walls can be simple vertical structures, or more complex and convoluted – making them more interesting to climb and view. An overhanging wall will require more upper body strength, and force more interesting body movement positions. An overhanging wall also means a fall off the wall is less likely to result in an injury sustained from hitting the wall.