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Traverse (climbing)
In climbing and mountaineering, a traverse is a section of a climbing route where the climber moves laterally (or horizontally), as opposed to in an upward direction. The term has broad application, and its use ranges from describing a brief section of lateral movement on a pitch of a route, to large multi-pitch climbing routes that almost entirely consist of lateral movement such as girdle traverses that span the entire rock face of a crag, or mountain traverses that span entire ridges connecting chains of mountain peaks.
Long traverses in rock climbing and alpine climbing may require special climbing techniques (e.g. a pendulum or a tension traverse), and pieces of climbing equipment (e.g. ascenders) to manage the risks of the lead climber and/or the following (or 'second') climber falling far off the route. Long traverses place increased pressure on the abilities of the following climber than on a normal climb. Traversing is a regular feature in bouldering, and is also a popular rock-climbing training technique on indoor climbing walls.
Notable traverses include the 4,500-metre El Capitan Girdle Traverse on El Capitan, the world's longest rock route; the Hinterstoisser traverse on the Eiger, which was the key to the famous 1938 Heckmair Route; and the Fitz Roy traverses (both directions) of the Cerro Chaltén Group, which are considered some of the hardest 'mountain traverses' ever completed. Climbers consider the 'Everest-Lhotse traverse', and the even harder 'Everest-Lhotse-Nuptse traverse', as some of the unfinished "holy grails" of mountaineering.
In rock climbing, a traverse is a section of the route that moves horizontally for a period. There are many reasons for the need to have a traverse on a route including side-stepping challenges whose grade is too hard (e.g. a major roof or a very 'blank' section of rock), or trying to follow a crack climbing route where a set of cracks run out and the climbers must move horizontally to find the next set of cracks to continue upward.
A traverse stands in direct contrast to a 'direttissima' (sometimes also called a 'direct'), which is a route that dispenses with any existing traverses, and instead rises vertically upward in the straightest possible line from the bottom to the top. Famous examples include the 1958 creation of the Hasse-Brandler Direttissima on the north face of the Cima Grande on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites.
Rock-climbing routes with traverses can be found at most climbing areas and some are famous for their 'girdle traverse', which are very long traverse routes that horizontally span the entire rock climbing area or crag. Notable girdle traverses include The Great Wall of China (3,000 metres, 67-pitches, 5.9 R) on the Shawangunks in New York State, the Stanage Traverse (circa 5,000 metres but broken up in places, E5 6b) at Stanage Edge in England, and the El Capitan Girdle Traverse (4,500 metres, 75-pitches, 5.10 A4) on El Capitan in Yosemite, which was the world's largest continuous climbing pitch as of 2024 according to Guinness World Records.
Traversing emphasizes specific rock-climbing techniques such as 'crimping', 'side-pulls', 'laybacking', 'stemming', and 'cross-throughs' (in which the limbs are crossed so the moves are longer and fluid). Long traverses require specific pieces of equipment and protection to handle any accidental falls, as a falling climber may fall to a place that is so 'off-route' that it is impossible to climb back up. In such cases, they will have to use mechanical ascenders to jumar back up to rope and get back 'on-route'. When pairs are lead climbing, traversing requires the following climber (or 'second') to also have strong technical abilities, since, in contrast to normal lead climbing, they will not be on the safety of a top rope when they are being belayed by the lead climber. The lead climber will insert protection equipment both before and after a difficult (or crux) move on a traverse to allow the following climber to remove the first piece of protection before making the difficult move. This will reduce the distance that they will fall in the event that they fail to overcome the difficult move.
On some big wall climbing traverses, such as King Swing on The Nose on El Capitan, the traverse cannot be climbed and is instead crossed using specific 'pendulum' or a 'tension traverse' rope-techniques. In a 'pendulum', the 'lead climber' is lowered down from a fixed anchor point, from where they swing back and forward in the manner of a pendulum. When the swing distance is sufficiently great, they can grab onto new holds that would have been unreachable without the pendulum. Once secured on these new holds, they then help their 'second' to pendulum to their new position. In a 'tension traverse', the lead climber sets up in the same manner as with a pendulum, but the face is sufficiently sloped that they can't (or don't need to) swing freely. They instead climb along the rock using the tension in the anchored rope to take some of their weight, thus making the climb easier.
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Traverse (climbing)
In climbing and mountaineering, a traverse is a section of a climbing route where the climber moves laterally (or horizontally), as opposed to in an upward direction. The term has broad application, and its use ranges from describing a brief section of lateral movement on a pitch of a route, to large multi-pitch climbing routes that almost entirely consist of lateral movement such as girdle traverses that span the entire rock face of a crag, or mountain traverses that span entire ridges connecting chains of mountain peaks.
Long traverses in rock climbing and alpine climbing may require special climbing techniques (e.g. a pendulum or a tension traverse), and pieces of climbing equipment (e.g. ascenders) to manage the risks of the lead climber and/or the following (or 'second') climber falling far off the route. Long traverses place increased pressure on the abilities of the following climber than on a normal climb. Traversing is a regular feature in bouldering, and is also a popular rock-climbing training technique on indoor climbing walls.
Notable traverses include the 4,500-metre El Capitan Girdle Traverse on El Capitan, the world's longest rock route; the Hinterstoisser traverse on the Eiger, which was the key to the famous 1938 Heckmair Route; and the Fitz Roy traverses (both directions) of the Cerro Chaltén Group, which are considered some of the hardest 'mountain traverses' ever completed. Climbers consider the 'Everest-Lhotse traverse', and the even harder 'Everest-Lhotse-Nuptse traverse', as some of the unfinished "holy grails" of mountaineering.
In rock climbing, a traverse is a section of the route that moves horizontally for a period. There are many reasons for the need to have a traverse on a route including side-stepping challenges whose grade is too hard (e.g. a major roof or a very 'blank' section of rock), or trying to follow a crack climbing route where a set of cracks run out and the climbers must move horizontally to find the next set of cracks to continue upward.
A traverse stands in direct contrast to a 'direttissima' (sometimes also called a 'direct'), which is a route that dispenses with any existing traverses, and instead rises vertically upward in the straightest possible line from the bottom to the top. Famous examples include the 1958 creation of the Hasse-Brandler Direttissima on the north face of the Cima Grande on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites.
Rock-climbing routes with traverses can be found at most climbing areas and some are famous for their 'girdle traverse', which are very long traverse routes that horizontally span the entire rock climbing area or crag. Notable girdle traverses include The Great Wall of China (3,000 metres, 67-pitches, 5.9 R) on the Shawangunks in New York State, the Stanage Traverse (circa 5,000 metres but broken up in places, E5 6b) at Stanage Edge in England, and the El Capitan Girdle Traverse (4,500 metres, 75-pitches, 5.10 A4) on El Capitan in Yosemite, which was the world's largest continuous climbing pitch as of 2024 according to Guinness World Records.
Traversing emphasizes specific rock-climbing techniques such as 'crimping', 'side-pulls', 'laybacking', 'stemming', and 'cross-throughs' (in which the limbs are crossed so the moves are longer and fluid). Long traverses require specific pieces of equipment and protection to handle any accidental falls, as a falling climber may fall to a place that is so 'off-route' that it is impossible to climb back up. In such cases, they will have to use mechanical ascenders to jumar back up to rope and get back 'on-route'. When pairs are lead climbing, traversing requires the following climber (or 'second') to also have strong technical abilities, since, in contrast to normal lead climbing, they will not be on the safety of a top rope when they are being belayed by the lead climber. The lead climber will insert protection equipment both before and after a difficult (or crux) move on a traverse to allow the following climber to remove the first piece of protection before making the difficult move. This will reduce the distance that they will fall in the event that they fail to overcome the difficult move.
On some big wall climbing traverses, such as King Swing on The Nose on El Capitan, the traverse cannot be climbed and is instead crossed using specific 'pendulum' or a 'tension traverse' rope-techniques. In a 'pendulum', the 'lead climber' is lowered down from a fixed anchor point, from where they swing back and forward in the manner of a pendulum. When the swing distance is sufficiently great, they can grab onto new holds that would have been unreachable without the pendulum. Once secured on these new holds, they then help their 'second' to pendulum to their new position. In a 'tension traverse', the lead climber sets up in the same manner as with a pendulum, but the face is sufficiently sloped that they can't (or don't need to) swing freely. They instead climb along the rock using the tension in the anchored rope to take some of their weight, thus making the climb easier.