escalade de haut niveau

CONT: Depuis quelques années, on se sert de plus en plus, en escalade de haute difficulté, de crochets qui ont diverses utilisations; pour l'auto-assurance rapide (ils remplacent un mousqueton); pour progresser là où le rocher très compact ne permet pas de pitonner [...]
OBS: [Vu] les prouesses en escalade rocheuse [...], les alpinistes ont pensé qu'il serait commode d'avoir une nomenclature pour pouvoir juger de la difficulté d'une course, ils inventèrent donc une échelle qui classait les difficultés de passages de 1 à 6, le 6 étant ce qu'il y avait de plus difficile.

CONT: Technical climbing ... is a rather loose term, because of variability of style and capability among climbers, but it makes a very useful distinction. Technical routes are those requiring the hardware of modern climbing and the ability to use it. Technical climbing is distinguished from classical techniques relying mainly on ice axes, threading the rope behind gendarmes, and the motto that in really exposed places, ""The leader must not fall"". In general, technical routes are those classified as fifth and sixth class.
CONT: The Basics of Technical Rock Climbing. Rock climbing is becoming a specialized sport ... Some of the most difficult and most popular climbs in the world are less than forty feet long and climbers now often focus their energies only on pure power, almost with the intensity of Olympic athletics.