Climbing heritage: The lines and aesthetics of rock climbing

Climbing is an experience born of the interplay of aesthetics and heritage. Nowadays, climbing attracts people in droves, all eager to join the contest between body and rock. In this article, the author addresses the refined social background of climbing. He asks how the intangible heritage left behind in rocks by generations of climbers manifests itself in the aesthetics of movement and the experiences embedded in the lines that form the climbing routes. How might anthropologists study the mind-body experiences and traces left by generations of rock users? How are we to understand the multisensory craft of climbing?