Safety

Climbing head injuries can happen anywhere: from the Salathé on El Cap to your favorite little sport crag. Here are five climbers' nightmare scenarios.

Head trauma is among the most feared and catastrophic injuries in climbing. So why aren't more rock climbers wearing helmets?

No matter how experienced you are, gravity never sleeps. Stay safe and stay vigilant with these 10 time-tested tips.

While highballing isn’t for everyone, its techniques—pad placement, spotting, fall strategies and so on—are.

Check out Matt Samet's author page.

There's a reason why gear is made specifically for climbing, but this guy just didn't get it.

Once you get higher than 20 feet, a spot might still seem useful. A reality check.

Coming untied from the rope while on lead doesn't happen every day, but it happens often enough that you should put the scenario on your radar.

"Four, five, six... I feel something! Rock? Bed surface? It’s nearly six feet down. Could she be that deep?"

How many pitches do you climb in a year? For many of our readers it's probably close to 1,000. If you make a critical error one out of a thousand times, the outlook is bleak.

A classic case of miscommunication could have spelled disaster.

Seven tips—to work on now and continually—for mastering the nuances of falling and catching falls.