Sport climbing is a form of
rock climbing that relies on permanent
anchors fixed to the rock, and
bolts placed on rappel and/or with cordless power hammer drills for
protection. In contrast, in
crack climbing the rock is typically devoid of fixed anchors and bolts and climbers must place removable protection as they climb. Sport climbing differs from traditional bolted face climbing where bolts were drilled with a hand drill while lead climbing. Power drilled bolts tend to be much closer together then hand drilled bolts. That means that a lead fall on sport bolts will be shorter then on trad bolts. Since the need to place protection is virtually eliminated, sport climbing places an emphasis on
gymnastic-like ability,
strength, and
endurance, whereas traditional crack and face climbing emphasizes
adventure,
risk and
self-sufficiency.