Brief instructions for lead climbing.

You will need:
● 2 people (1 climber, one belayer)
● 2 climbing harnesses
● 1 climbing rope
● Belay device and carabiner

To prepare:
1. Climber ties one end of the rope to their harness securely with a double figure 8
2. Partner feeds a bite of rope through belay device and clips to the belay loop on their harness

To climb:
1. Climber sets off up the wall or rock and clips the rope into pre-placed protection or places their own protection in the rock as they ascend
2. Partner pays out and takes in rope as required to keep the climber safe
3. At the top of the climb or pitch the climber will either make themself safe and abseil back to the ground
4. Or, make themself safe and prepare to belay their partner from the top of the pitch as they then become the climber and complete the same climb up to the point at which the first climber stopped.
5. This is repeated for very long climbs to the top of a rock face where the pair would then walk off or both abseil back down to ground level.

For this activity, I would like to recreate the process on the floor instead of a wall.

Using none of the equipment listed above (but if you are able to, tie a rope between you) work in pairs to produce a simulated climbing movement across the floor of a large-ish room. Be conscious of how you are moving your body as if responding to a real-life situation where one wrong movement might mean falling. You have never climbed this wall before and to your knowledge, no one else has either. It is a new climb and you putting up the “first ascent”. You might speculate on your chances of success.