The question I have is, have any of you ever climbed a route where the crux is too hard for a free climb, so you aided the crux?

First and foremost, let my say i have regretably never climbed at cathedral, but have some advice none the less.

First and foremost there are three things to consider, The length of the crux you are planning to aid, the popularity of the route and your skills as an aid climber.
Let me explain. Without any malice directed at you, let us consider first your skill as a climber, are you talking about aiding 5.8's and 9's? The point to consider here is that the lower the grade, the more poulated the route is bound to be, and regardless of local ethics, more climbers means a greater chance of pissing one of them off. Admittedly, every area has climbs that have fallen into the shadows.... vegetation slowly erasing their existance, and I am sure they would love to be aided and get a little scrubbing, However I dont think this is the experience you are looking for.

No malice taken. I agree. I would never put myself above others when trying to aid a portion of a route and certainly would not aid a full route if it is a popular route and it looks like a nice day to climb. And thanks for reminding me that aid is used in cleaning routes. God knows, there are many at a "secret" area (Dartmouth told me not to talk about it) that needs cleaning and TRing the routes would be too dangerous due to the TR setup location.

Next you need to consider the length of the crux. If it is just a few moves of climbing beyond your ability, then aiding it is a common solution. You arent slowing down anyone behind you, and no-one has any right to complain. Pay heed though, a typical pitch on aid is two to three hours..... so if entire pitches are what you are looking at, then make considerations as to timing and poularity.

No full pitches, I believe. Only portions of a pitch as you mentioned above.

And finally your skill as an aid climber. Have you spent time on aid? Are you quick at jumping from free moves to aid moves rapidly and safely? This is another factor to consider.

I have not had any aid experience yet. This is going to change though .. see post above. I do have, and have watched over and over again, the VHS "The Video Guide To AID CLIMBING, hosted by Don Reid and featuring Steve Gerberding. Yes, I realize it's only an instructional video and use it as such. I am aware of the dangers of "running with this new information" and trying to duplicate what they have done. Not gonna happen!

Good luck, and hopefully things work out welll for you. Learning to quickly bust into aid for a few moves will certainlly open up loads of oppourtunity for you, but also pay heed that it only takes a single climber to raise a big stink about your practices.

First and foremost, let my say .

First and foremost there are three things to consider

That is how lots of climbs go...

Take a look at Ancient Art- Stolen Chimney, 5.11 or 5.8 AO, that route sees a ton of traffic, it wouldn't see anywhere close to that amount if folks didn't pull on bolts for two short sections.

It's not so blatant, but that's how honeymoon chimney on the priest goes as well for lots of folks. s---, i even took aiders for that bolt ladder. It's a super fun 5.9 tower with a short bolt ladder for me, but for folks who like crazy-ass stem moves on calcite it's a 5.11 tower. The crux is only about 15 feet long. Why should 15 feet keep me off of a 350 foot tower???

snip ... Just make sure it's a crack section and not a face section!

What you're suggesting is, in fact, "traditional" trad. Nothing wrong with that.

The only thing that may be a problem is this: I'm reading an assumption into your question, and the assumption is that aiding through a crux is sort of like cheating. Putting aside the style/ethics issues here (I think we've put those to rest), there's still this: you think it'll be easier. Please note - it may not be!

Most folks who don't aid look at it and think: well, that's the easy way out. Not so. Aid climbing is hard and scary, and out here in the Northeast, may involve a lot of thin moves to get between good cracks even on relatively moderate lines! Some lines may actually be significantly harder and more dangerous (unless you get creative with really long telescoping cheater sticks) via aid than free.

So caveat emptor, and have fun!

GO

I've climbed the Prow several times over the years, and to be honest it's EASIER, QUICKER, and MORE FUN done french free. Don't even bother with aiders; bring a small rack (you don't really need anything larger than #1 Camalot) and enjoy yourself. The pitches are SHORT if you don't link anything together.

First and foremost, let my

reg ... breaking out the aiders is what I have in mind. French Free is nothing special or new to me. Did this when I first started and decided it was a very bad idea to get use to grabbing gear when things get tough. I just couldn't see how I was going to learn with French Free tactics.

Alan

This is great. Thanks for all the support and suggestions. About changing from aid to free ... I heard that would be the hardest transition to make.

If using an aider: Instead of clipping it to the piece with a biner, use a fifi hook rigged with some cord in the tiny top hole. The cord can be attached to you somewhere so it will "clean" the aider automatically as you climb up. Lots easier than reaching one hand down while trying to go free. Alternately, you can usually coax the fifi hook out with one foot without too much terror [assumes aider is attached to you with daisy, etc.].