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calculator for impact forces from a climbing fall 1-Nov-2004 At 2:04:44 PM M

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The statement of imact forces on climbing pro seems to be a common topic on this forum. Unfortunately many of the potential impact forces stated on the forum tend to be quite inaccurate. This link is a calculator of impact forces on pro and climber with a variety of input variables.

http://toad.stack.nl/~stilgar/calc.php

[Moderator edit: If that link doesn't work, then try this one.
http://www.myoan.net/climbart/climbforcecal.html ]

I think the calculations are correct. It is important to note that the situation described by this calculator is highly simplified compared to a wild climbing fall. It makes no allowances for friction or slippage at protection points, the climbers harness or the belay. It also assumes that the climber is a rigid mass and the entire mass impacts at the same time. These factors all work to further reduce the impact force.

There is more information here

http://www.southeastclimbing.com/faq/faq_climbing%20forces.htm

and heaps more information with a quick google search.