A climber on Mt. Arapiles in Australia. (Image courtesy of flickr.com, as posted by adski.)
Instructor(s)
David Custer
MIT Course Number
ES.255
As Taught In
Spring 2006
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
SP.255 is a lecture, discussion, and project based seminar about the physics of rock climbing. Participants are first exposed to the unsolved problems in the climbing community that could be answered by research and then asked to solve a small part of one of these problems. The seminar provides an introduction to engineering problems, an opportunity to practice communication skills, and a brief stab at doing some research. This seminar explicitly does not include climbing instruction nor is climbing/mountaineering experience a prerequisite.