Rock climbing is an activity which is carried out both in rocks in nature and gym in artificial climbing wall. This activity requires a lot of physical and mental preparation and discipline when it comes to following the rules of safety during this activity. This activity began to take place sometime in the late 19th century. Rock climbing was born as a passion of mountaineers to achieve their mission in conquering high mountain peaks. In the beginning it was basic or traditional climbing but over time climbing has evolved and managed to become professional and now it become an Olympic sport. What makes more exalts this activity is that nowadays some professional climbers (but not many) do solo climbing (without use of safety equipment) which is the most dangerous type of climbing but the desire to reach the maximum skill limits has pushed them to do this kind of climbing (i.e. this type of people are rare).
Rock Climbing as activity, for long time has been seen as an extreme activity and not a lot of people practiced. With the development of this activity by humans as well as with the development of new equipment which are used nowadays this activity is realized with great safety and cannot be considered an extreme activity if the climbing is done professionally and respecting the rules.
Rock climbing is now fully accepted by the World Olympic Committee and is considered like all other sports and for the first time it is planned that climbing competitions be part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
From the 80’s rock climbing has started to be used also in the tourism industry where many nature lovers began to seek in addition to excursions, mountaineering, and alpine activity also rock climbing as an offer to experience more adrenaline. Now many countries are known for their offers or more locations in certain countries recognized as unique destinations that expect visitors for rock climbing. Among them we can mention Italy, Switzerland, Austria, America, France, etc. This activity is now part of the tourism industry as part of the type of outdoor adventure tourism where many tourists are attracted by this attractive offer who seek adventure as well as sports tourism where competitions are held and climbers gather from around the world to hold competitions while they stay for a few days in that place spending on the services they receive that are considered tourist.
At the same time, this activity helps to create employment where in different countries it is developed in “indoor” that requires the engagement of coaches or even “outdoor” that requires guides who lead climbing groups. Therefore, although not in large numbers, because it is a specific activity, it still offers opportunities for job creation, affecting the country’s economy and the well-being of the inhabitants.
Rock Climbing as a very attractive and full of experience activity directly affects the promotion of certain areas or generally taken to national parks, affecting sustainable development and environmental protection. As mentioned above, climbing is part of adventure tourism which is a type of tourism that requires treatment of the environment, culture and traditions and involvement of local residents in development.
Many national parks have become attractive and popular from rock climbing such as Yosemite national, Dolomite, Bavarian Alps etc. Various films have been made about these places for climbing and conquering peaks from vertical rock sites which are shown at various world festivals.
