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sungam
Dec 13, 2005, 9:59 PM
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i remember my first trad lead (not too long ago...) it was called Chemical Warfare (UK: Severe) and it was at rosyth quarry. good crack to wide for close hand but too thin for wide... so it was laybacking all the way. it was great, and i crammed plenty of gear in on my way up.
everyone else can post their memorys of their first trad lead on this thread.
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baja_java
Dec 13, 2005, 10:11 PM
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what i remember most was topping out and putting my hands on hips and looking down at all the faces smiling up at me and thinking, oh yeah, now i can totally score with her and her and her and her and her and her
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phugganut
Dec 13, 2005, 10:20 PM
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My first was the 5.7 variation of Tranquility on Moosedog Tower in J-Tree. We did it in 2 pitches, and it was great fun. It's now become a bit of a tradition, so I've done that route at least 7 or 8 times now, and the Direct S. Face 7 or 8 times also. Nice memories. :D
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bobruef
Dec 13, 2005, 10:21 PM
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First trad lead was a 5.3 ladder, not much of a climb, accomplishment or experience
Second lead was a 5.5 that was exhilerating at the time (A Flake Called Lee @Sugarloaf). Got sketched out, but pushed on. Haven't looked back since.
Learned a vaulable lesson after tossing the rope down to the base (to be picked up after walking down the trail):
Free soloing to get a stuck rope thrown down by an idiot (me) that was too lazy to cary it is not cool...not cool at all.
Possibly heading to Seneca WV to put in my first multipitch this chilly Deceber weekend.
Climbing only gets more addicting after that first trad lead!
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ilikerock13
Dec 13, 2005, 10:21 PM
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Yeah it was a short but sweet finger crack in Leavenworth, WA at Castlerock, named Angel Crack, my friend wanted me to lead it for two reasons it took prefect gear and i think more importantly it was his first trad lead and he fell on his first go at it. As would i first lead first fall, agian i was comfortable with placing gear and the gear was bomber!!! but it was still a huge rush falling then finishing the next try, wasn't hard must have just been nerves.
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g-funk
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Dec 13, 2005, 11:08 PM
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My first trad lead was Corrugation Corner at Lover's Leap here in California. 5.7, and three pitches. It was definitely memorable. My first outdoor climb was also at Lover's Leap. It was a 5.9 crack called the Line. Very cool for sure. . . . .
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jimfix
Dec 13, 2005, 11:19 PM
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Ahhh, this takes me back a little. The day in question I was a little sick (OK sick as a dog, but after road tripping 300 miles I WAS going climbing) and subsequently quite weak. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and ~95 degrees. It was a nice and easy 5.9 with sketchy pro until about 30'. A bomber hex relived my mind a little. However it was a fair epic for a 5.9. My hands were slick with sweat (not just from the heat), and no amount of chalk would dry them. Close to the topout I was getting desperate until I grasped a nice positive shrub but the trunk and clipped the anchor. Whist I set up an absail I realised there was blood on the rope (an pretty much all my gear for that matter). The nice positive shrub had offered such good traction because it had thorns! I didn't even notice when I grabbed it. Ahhh, adrenaline, my little friend.
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dutyje
Dec 14, 2005, 1:30 AM
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Mine was a 60' tall 3rd class slab with a perfectly protectable fingers-to-hands sized crack the whole way up. I'm so bold :oops:
At least I got a chance to place lots of active and passive pro, and have it all evaluated by an excellent leader/teacher.
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addict
Dec 14, 2005, 1:52 AM
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my first lead was the oak flake (5.6) on swan slab in yosemite. pretty rockin place to start i think. i jammed every cam i owned in that thing and by the top i was freaked because i was like "holy crap i have to run the top out." and i jammed my #2 in so far that it took 15 min. to get out. good times good times.
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jgparks
Dec 14, 2005, 3:58 AM
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My first lead was Fruit Loops (5.7) at Rumbling Bald, North Carolina. The most riveting part of it was when I was halfway up and my belayer (the only other one there) said "Hold on, I'm gonna take you off belay and take a picture." And that's what he did.
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lichenmuncher
Dec 14, 2005, 4:31 AM
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:D
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saxfiend
Dec 14, 2005, 4:38 AM
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My first lead was One-Ten (5.6) at Sunset Rock in TN. It was memorable not only because it was my first, but because of the thunderstorm that started rolling in fast as I was about 2/3 of the way up. I topped out in light rain, then as I was cleaning gear on rap, there was this tremendous thunderclap! I was soaked by the time I got back to the ground. Five minutes later, the storm had blown through and the rain stopped.
JL
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ajkclay
Dec 14, 2005, 12:23 PM
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My first was a grade 11 that I taught myself tradding on... I didn't have anyone to teach me, so I picked a route with a decent crack and ran laps placing tons of gear.
The route is called Clea at Morialta (Adelaide)
Cheers
Adam
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erclimb
Dec 14, 2005, 1:10 PM
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my first leads were at seneca...you're a brave man for heading there in december...i hear there are some good routes on the east face if you want to catch the morning sun...if you want to sleep in and catch the afternoon sun on the west face, i suggest le gourmet (5.4) to front c (short 5.6) to critter crack (5.6 hand crack) to the 4th class summit scramble; all of these pitches protect really well...i always rappel down the old man's route that is just below the summit...three single-rope raps or two double-rope raps (you can get down in one rap if you have two 60-m ropes and don't mind 12 feet of 5.4 downclimbing); some people prefer the traffic jam rappel that descends just right of le gourmet, but i've had problems with ropes getting stuck...if you have time, climb traffic jam, a short but sweet 5.7 pitch--though it will probably be too cold in the shade)
oh yeah, wear your windproof gear because the wind howls on the summit
have fun!
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aja
Dec 19, 2005, 11:39 PM
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My first trad lead, was just this past summer. I was passing through Arkansas, stopped off at Sam's Throne and hooked up w/ a couple great partners. We had climbed for a couple days, I was really enjoying the smooth sandstone there. My friend Jay suggested that I try a little 5.7 dihedral, called "Poison Ivy." I remember he told me it was a "golden opportunity." Wow, my palms are getting all sweaty just thinking about it!
Anyhow, I racked up and climbed on. I placed a cam here and a nut there. It felt great! I distinctly remember droplets of sweat running down into my eyes, leaving a bit of a sting and could only hear the sound of my breath. Everything else just seemed to fade away.
My placements were good, and I was cruising. A couple times doubt tried to intersect into my route, but I pushed it away. That was one of the best days ever!
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oldsalt
Dec 20, 2005, 12:09 AM
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As a heartfelt tribute to all who post here...
My first sport lead was very memorable to me, but now I have cleaned gear as a second, purchased part of my rack, and am preparing to do that first trad lead soon. The first trad lead is a different animal, isn't it?
Keep posting, I'm loving what I read.
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healyje
Dec 20, 2005, 12:17 AM
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In some ways it's a bit sad in that for the life of me I can't remember my first lead or the first bunch of them for that matter now that I sit here trying. The most memorable early leads I can pull up all involved free climbing on skyhooks, stack hexs in pockets, and a lots of moss. I do distinctly remember my first lead out of state - the "Bastille Crack" in Eldorado which shortly thereafter was also my first roped solo. It is still one of my favorite climbs though I haven't been on it in twenty years or so. I guess after 31 years they're falling off the back end pretty quick...
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saxfiend
Dec 20, 2005, 12:37 AM
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In reply to: In some ways it's a bit sad in that for the life of me I can't remember my first lead or the first bunch of them for that matter now that I sit here trying. The most memorable early leads I can pull up all involved free climbing on skyhooks, stack hexs in pockets, and a lots of moss. I do distinctly remember my first lead out of state - the "Bastille Crack" in Eldorado which shortly thereafter was also my first roped solo. It is still one of my favorite climbs though I haven't been on it in twenty years or so. I guess after 31 years they're falling off the back end pretty quick...
One of the highlights of an SCC party this past summer was Rich Gottlieb regaling us with tales of his beginnings as a climber, back before T-Wall had even been thought of. Someone else told of seconding him on a climb and topping out to find Rich using kudzu vines wrapped around his legs as a belay anchor . . .
So how about some first lead stories (or early lead stories) from back before the invention of the wheel? :)
JL
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gamehendge
Dec 20, 2005, 12:46 AM
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Frosty Cone 5.7 @ JTree. Followed by Scrumdillyshus and Deceptive Corner both 5.7 that same day.
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weaver
Dec 20, 2005, 12:50 AM
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In reply to: My first lead was Fruit Loops (5.7) at Rumbling Bald, North Carolina. The most riveting part of it was when I was halfway up and my belayer (the only other one there) said "Hold on, I'm gonna take you off belay and take a picture." And that's what he did.
:shock:
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healyje
Dec 20, 2005, 12:52 AM
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In reply to: [ So how about some first lead stories (or early lead stories) from back before the invention of the wheel? :) JL
I'll have to give that some thought and see if between me and Tangen-Foster we can't come up with one of our early epics...
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alibaba
Dec 21, 2005, 2:33 PM
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I distinctly remember my very first trad lead which also happend to be my first trad climb ever. Since i'd never done this stuff (and neither had my partner) but had attacked the problem academically by studying loads of books and articles, i felt very confident up to my third placement. That's where I looked down the first time and noticed that my previous two wires had popped. My partner was waving them around and cheering me on.
Luckily i'd chosen a route that was supposedly well within my ability at the time, namely 6b or 19 or 5.10d - since i had redpointed 22 before it should have been a blast. It was at Arapiles, Australia at the Organ Pipes and around 30 celsius which made everything a little slippery.
Anyway. Having succesfully fought of the first wave of panic i placed a bomber cam (at least i was telling myself it was a bomber piece) and got a move on. Trying to place gear every two or three feet made progress a little slow. I also kept slipping on some crucial holds which let to even more consternation and doubts about the sanity of the whole operation.
Well in the end the 30 metres or so took 2 hours to climb. I was very exhausted (also due to dehydration) but mainly very very happy.
So up to today i just plain ignore boring sports climbs and can only overachive on trad climbs. It's just awesome!
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joe3
Dec 21, 2005, 3:30 PM
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my first lead was on a climb called little finger on Roger's rock in lake George, new york.... i think we did it in like five pitches... it was mad fun
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azrockclimber
Dec 21, 2005, 3:35 PM
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1st trad lead: slippery when wet mt. lemmon. 5.7 two pitches... I took my girlfriend up it. it was so sweet!!
That was the first time I met the little speedy ass birds that live on the mountain. !!! they scared the shit outta me when they went wizzing by my head!!!
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