I dont understand the fascination with trad cragging. I really dont.

It keeps you very far from climbing at your physical limit. Whether its the fear of hurting yourself like Dan's talking about, or just the fiddling with gear while youre on the route... I cannot understand why people become so psyched on it and it becomes such a part of their identity.

Climbing long trad multi-pitch routes is a different story I suppose...

Can someone please explain the allure to me?

"I've almost vomited after a hard trad pitch. I've never had that experience sport climbing."

I'm not saying that you have never gotten physically tired from a trad climb. I'm saying that you(and everyone else) could climb harder if you werent finding and placing gear. Take the same climb that you almost puked after- If everything about the route was the same, except it was bolted then it would have been a lot easier(agreed?) So, you were not climbing at your physical limit.

If you are doing something to slow you down and require you to fiddle with something(such as drinking a gatorade, solving a crossword puzzle, or placing little camalot thingys in the rock), you are not climbing at your physical limit.

And anyway, if all climbing was really just about pure physical difficulty, we'd all be low-ball boulderers. You don't have to be climbing at your limit to enjoy yourself.

because you are basically solo climbing with a rope dangling behind you

I dont understand the fascination with trad cragging. I really dont.

It keeps you very far from climbing at your physical limit. Whether its the fear of hurting yourself like Dan's talking about, or just the fiddling with gear while youre on the route... I cannot understand why people become so psyched on it and it becomes such a part of their identity.

Climbing long trad multi-pitch routes is a different story I suppose...

Can someone please explain the allure to me?

Your post doesnt make sense. Everyone can sport climb a lot harder than they can free-solo. You should have said, Why dont you just top-rope instead of lead sport. That would have been a much better argument..

I'm not saying that you have never gotten physically tired from a trad climb. I'm saying that you(and everyone else) could climb harder if you werent finding and placing gear. Take the same climb that you almost puked after

Self sufficiency. Climbing mountains. Doing wild climbs in remote areas.

A sport climber is forever beholden to the Route Developer. Sport climbing cannot be done without modification to the rock. Its an urban pursuit.

Nothing wrong with that per se, mind you. But sport climbing is a one trick pony.
DMT

Look, you cant climb at your physical limit when you are free-soloing because you have the death thing in your way. This is consistent with my argument. Trad climbing is climbing with "stuff" in your way(placing gear). Free-soloing is climbing with "stuff" in your way(death, not being able to fully push yourself, go for moves dynamically...)

It's a different kind of puking. You might not like it but you won't know until you try it.

Look, you cant climb at your physical limit when you are free-soloing because you have the death thing in your way.

And why are all you trad goobers so obsessed with puking? I'd say you all sound like youre bulimic, except arent trad climbers usually kinda overweight...?

I reach my physical limit all of the time trad climbing. Sometimes it's a couple of tough moves over a string of good pro. Other times it's getting out into the danger zone facing big fall potential into not so clean air.

Try pulling the crux moves high over your gear after the fear has crept in. Then try keeping it together to find some good pro, cause that's the only thing that can save you now. Maybe you get it, shaking like a bitch because all you can hear is the clock ticking, louder and louder. Your arms burning, your calves going like a sewing machine on meth, and your brain tumbling down into the void that's tugging at your heels, where you may very well end up, never climbing again. It's fight or flight, and if you don't keep your shit together, the flight will be a long one. There is no escape but up.

Welcome to climbing at your physical limit.

Canadian fella jumped on a 5.10 crack at Smith a few years back. Started hanging and dawging right away. Fell on his 3rd piece, and twice on his 5th piece or so, climbed up and put in a few more, fell and ripped them all out, including the one he had fallen (successfully) twice on.

Died right there. No more climbing. Or anything.

I see stuff like that and I say yes.

For me, that is the essence of climbing - and when you are climbing trad it doesn't matter if its 5.9 or 5.11, its still one hell of an accomplishment when you walk off at the top.