V15 Questions: Rock Climbing Trivia Quiz

Did you know that January 4 is National Trivia Day?! In honor of this fact-filled occasion, we put together a classic trivia test piece about all the weird, wacky, and downright wow-inducing things that make up this sport of rock climbing we all love.

Whether you’re a new age boulderer or an old school trad dad, it’s time to test your knowledge of the beta, but don’t expect an on-sight. We haven’t yet decided which is harder: climbing V15 or getting all 15 of these questions right. (View your results with correct answers and trivia info at the end ... no cheating!)

What was the first rock climbing grading system ever used?

B-scale

UIAA scale

Yosemite Decimal System

Benesch scale

What are Fred Nicole’s most notable climbing achievements?

Climbing the first V14

Climbing the first V15

Designing the Five Ten Aleon climbing shoe

All of the above

At what point does bouldering become highballing?

40 ft.

15 ft.

12 ft.

20 ft.

Who was first to free climb El Cap?

Alex Honnold

Lynn Hill

Tommy Caldwell

Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore

Nalle Hukkataival is the only person in the world to have bouldered V17.

True

False

In what type of climbing would one experience the “screaming barfies”?

Free soloing

Trad climbing while hungover

Ice climbing

Highball bouldering

Who can we thank for the first rock climbing emoji?

Angela Guzman

Sasha DiGiulian

Raymond Sepulveda

Hazel Findlay

In terms of a cardiovascular workout, rock climbing about 5.11 for 5 minutes is the equivalent of….

Running a mile in 15 to 18 minutes

Running a mile in 8 to 11 minutes

Doing 100 jumping jacks

LOL! Rock climbers don’t do cardio.

Where was the first indoor climbing gym constructed?

Vertical World (Seattle, Washington)

Schurman Rock (Camp Long, Washington)

Ullswater School (Penrith, England)

Leeds University (Leeds, England)

Which pro climber was the first to make it to Hollywood?

Alex Honnold

Jason Momoa

Chris Sharma

Adam Ondra

Who is considered responsible for the birth of big wall climbing?

Warren Harding

John Salathé

Jim “The Bird” Bridwell

Royal Robbins

What is a “monkey fist” in the world of rock climbing?

A form of climbing gear pro made from knotted rope

When you full crimp so hard for so long you have trouble uncurling your hand afterwards

Trad climbing slang for a type of fist jam

When a monkey appears on the rock and attacks unsuspecting climbers (most common when climbing in exotic locations, like Thailand)

On June 3, 2017, Alex Honnold completed the legacy free solo of El Cap’s Freerider. What other first happened on El Cap that week?

Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds set a new speed record, climbing the Nose in just 2 hours and 19 minutes.

A massive rock fall killed a tourist standing at the base of the wall

El Cap saw its first “naked ascent” by Leah Pappajohn and Jonathan Fleury

15 year old Connor Herson becomes the youngest person to free any route on El Cap

As of the end of 2019, what was the fastest indoor speed climb (up a 15 meter wall) ever achieved?

6.56 seconds

5.48 seconds

10.12 seconds

8.60 seconds

Where would one see the grade “V-Diff" used to describe a rock climb?

B-scale

V-scale

British Adjectival scale

Australian Grading Scale

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V15 Questions: Rock Climbing Trivia Quiz

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