QUESTION:
I want to know if a rock climber could climb the mountains of Mars? 
What would it feel like and would you have to have any other types of 
rock climbing equipment for Mars than you do for Earth?

ANSWER from Mary Urquhart on February 2, 1997:
A rock climber could climb the mountains on Mars. You would always
have to climb in a spacesuit, and that would make it feel very 
different from rock climbing on the Earth. Most of the mountains on 
Mars have very gentle slopes.  You could climb to the top of many
without any special climbing equipment.  The reason for the gentle
slopes is that the many of the mountains are volcanoes of the same 
type that made the islands of Hawaii (shield volcanoes).  The lava 
that forms shield volcanoes flows easily and builds up into a broad 
gently sloping mountain. 

Olympus Mons, the largest mountain on Mars (and MUCH bigger than any 
mountain on the Earth) is a giant shield volcano with a huge scarp (or 
cliff) at the base.  You would need the same type of rock climbing 
equipment that you would use on the Earth to climb a very high cliff.
You can see a 3-D view of Olympus Mons at:

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/planet_volcano/mars/Shields/
oly_mons_3d.html

Other types of mountains exist on Mars which might provide more 
challenging climbs than the average shield volcano.  Tholi are 
volcanoes with somewhat steeper slopes than the shield volcanoes. 
Some impact craters have a mountain known as a central peak inside of 
them which can be very steep.