Patrick Edlinger, a versatile and charismatic French rock climber who helped popularize competitive sport climbing in the 1980s — “a form of yoga,” he called it — died on Nov. 16 at his home in La Palud-sur-Verdon, France. He was 52.

Daniel Gorgeon, a close friend and fellow climber, confirmed his death. He did not specify the cause.

Sport climbing involves using anchors or bolts that are permanently installed into rock faces or artificial climbing walls to secure ropes and harnesses. The system prevents climbers from falling and allows them to practice routes by essentially falling repeatedly until they master a section.

The technique was anathema to some devotees of what is known as traditional climbing, a far more risky endeavor that requires climbers to improvise their own network of anchors and safety ropes as they make an ascent.