The aims of this study were to examine training characteristics, body composition, muscular strength, and endurance in sport climbers, and to demonstrate the relationship among these components by means of structural equation modelling. Altogether, 205 sport climbers (136 males, 69 females), with a performance RP (red point) of grade 4 to 11 on the Union Internationale des Association d'Alpinisme (UIAA) scale, took part in the study. The proposed structural model, with latent variable handÁarm strength and endurance (developed from reference values for simple tests), indicated by three manifest variables (grip strength, bent-arm hang, and finger hang) and three exogenous variables (body fat, volume of climbing, and climbing experience), explained 97% of the variance in climbing performance. The relationship between body fat and climbing experience/volume with climbing performance was not direct, but was better explained using the mediator handÁ arm strength and endurance. We conclude that these simple tests, together with percent body fat, volume of climbing, and climbing experience, can satisfactorily predict climbing performance.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether climbing in children leads to the development of upper limb strength and endurance, and changes in body composition. Fifty young climbers aged 10-17 participated in an 8 week climbing program. Metres climbed were used as a factor to assess the effect of climbing. Two groups were ex post formed with a limit of 320 metres climbed. Boys and girls from the group that climbed more metres significantly increased their performance in bent-arm hang time (boys from 35.1 ± 3.9 s to 48.4 ± 4.4 s; girls from 18.9 ± 3.9 s to 24.4 ± 4.9 s) and grip strength related to body mass (boys from 0.65 ± 0.03 to 0.71 ± 0.03; girls from 0.52 ± 0.03 to 0.57 ± 0.03). Significant changes in the ECM/BCM ratio (extra cellular/body cellular mass) were found in the group that climbed more metres (boys from 0.88 ± 0.10 to 0.85 ± 0.09; girls from 1.00 ± 0.09 to 0.94 ± 0.09). There were no changes found in body fat in either group. The findings suggest that a climbing program with higher volume of metres climbed can influence grip strength, upper body muscular endurance and the amount of relative body cellular mass.

Aim. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between submaximal and maximal physiological responses to rock climbing for climbers of differing abilities. Methods. Twenty-six male climbers performed a submaximal climbing test on a known circuit at 90° (vertical) and 105° (15° overhanging) inclination and speed 25 movements·min−1. A maximal test was undertaken on a similar circuit at the same speed with inclination increasing by 10° for each successive 3 min stage. Results. Mean oxygen consumption and heart rate (HR) increased with wall inclination and climbers reached a mean (±SD) peak trueV˙Onormal2 of 40.3 ± 3.5 mL·kg−1 ·min−1 during the maximal test. Self-reported climbing ability was negatively correlated with trueV˙Onormal2 and HR during the submaximal test at 90° (trueV˙Onormal2, r = −0.82; HR, and r = −0.66) and at 105° (trueV˙Onormal2, r = −0.84; HR, and r = −0.78) suggesting an increased exercise economy for climbers with a higher ability level. Conclusion. Findings from this study indicate that there is a relationship between wall inclination and the physiological demand of a climb. However, the increased technical ability and fitness of higher level climbers appears to an extent to offset the increased demand through improved exercise economy which in turn leads to an increased time to exhaustion and an improvement in performance.

Experiential organizations often adopt quantitative course evaluation, as this provides them with numbers to justify prescribed educational outcomes to funding bodies. However, it has been argued that qualitative methods better suit the personal nature of the experiential learning process, so that epistemological understanding follows pedagogical philosophy (Allison & Pomeroy, 2000). This article highlights the learning of participants at Outward Bound New Zealand. A mixed method approach was chosen including quantitative and qualitative data collection, pre and post course. Participants (157) from four different courses were surveyed by questionnaire, with a response rate of 82% for the first to last day responses, and 30% for the 12-week post-course follow-up. The quantitative findings were consistent with the medium change of previous outdoor program effect size research for 20+ day courses (Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997). However, the qualitative responses encapsulated the value and “real” meaning of these personal experiences.

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This article aims to develop a better understanding of how sport fans perceive events' social media presence. An online qualitative survey was conducted with sport fans (n ¼ 105) of four professional tennis events (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open). Findings suggest that fans perceive the events' usage of social media to be about three aspects: interaction, insight, and brand anthropomorphism. In addition, fan responses suggest that while Facebook is the most popular site for general social media usage, these fans consider Twitter to be their most preferred platform to follow the events. Finally, fan responses illustrate three barriers that brands need to overcome in order to successfully develop and execute their social media strategy: competition with other media, a lack of yearround incentives, and technological capabilities of the platforms, which ultimately influenced fans' motives and use.

Measurement of thermal emission by admittance spectroscopy § Band diagram of the Schottky diode and its equivalent circuit § AC capacitance and conductance are measured over a temperature range of T=20K-300K and frequency range of f=10kHz-1MHz

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