FallSafe
Live Link: FallSafe
Overview
Rock climbing is a diverse sport with many distinct disciplines. In the sport and traditional climbing styles, climbers ascend in pairs. One climber is the belayer, holding the rope while the other climber (the leader) climbs.
The leader is tied into one end of the rope, and he or she clips the rope through protection lodged in the rock along the way up.
Climbers use a mix of fixed, drilled bolts, and clean protection (nuts, cams, and hexes) brought up from the base to protect a climb.
Fig 1. Sport climber ascending, clipping to bolts drilled into the stone.
Fig 2. A climbing cam placed inside a crack.
If a climber falls while leading, the length of the fall will equal twice the distance to the last piece of protection, plus the stretch distance of the dynamic rope.
Depending on several variables (e.g. fall distance, climber mass, fall factor, rope elasticity), such a fall can put large amounts of force on a climber's protection.
FallSafe is a tool for modeling the fall forces involved in different climbing fall scenarios, and testing those forces against strength ratings for climbing protection.
Disclaimer
Climb at your own risk. This simulation does not represent the real world, and there is no guarantee of safety in any climbing scenario. The safety of a fall is determined by many variables not taken into account here. These may include, but are not limited to: Rock quality, placement quality, ledges, moisture, rock type, weather, wind, the price of bread, the brightness of your lycra, and what you ate for breakfast.
Sources
Force Equations:
http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=746
Gear Strength Rating Examples:
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-cams-stoppers-nuts-hexes/stoppers-BD2252010000ALL1.html