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therealface2
Mar 19, 2014, 5:54 PM
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Registered: Nov 17, 2012
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Hey. I just moved to sacramento from the midwest. I've got a small bit of trad experience under my belt (25-30 pitches between RRG, the Gunks, NRG, and lover's leap). I don't know jack about aid (aside from plugging gear and standing on aiders), but I feel it's a necessary skill. I've got no responsibilities until June and figure it's a good time. Anybody have any thoughts on how best to go about learning aid? Should I just head to camp 4 and start hassling people? I'm already hassling folks at my local gym. I'd love to not hire a guide, as I'm currently poor.
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csproul
Mar 19, 2014, 8:17 PM
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Registered: Jun 4, 2004
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therealface2 wrote: Hey. I just moved to sacramento from the midwest. I've got a small bit of trad experience under my belt (25-30 pitches between RRG, the Gunks, NRG, and lover's leap). I don't know jack about aid ( aside from plugging gear and standing on aiders), but I feel it's a necessary skill. I've got no responsibilities until June and figure it's a good time. Anybody have any thoughts on how best to go about learning aid? Should I just head to camp 4 and start hassling people? I'm already hassling folks at my local gym. I'd love to not hire a guide, as I'm currently poor.
WIth your amount of experience, this is about all you need to know to get yourself up a route that is over your head. THe best thing you can do for any aid/bigwall aspirations you might have is to get really solid at trad climbing. In the valley, that means being a SOLID 5.10 trad climber on all the crack sizes and styles of climbing you'll find here.
Check out the SuperTopo "How to Bigwall" book and the "Road to the Nose". Lots of good information on the web from PTPP and on Bigwalls.net and on Supertopo. You can easily practice aid on a TR at Cosumnes or on some routes at Sugarload (may require leading) and Phantom Spires.
But really, the better you can free climb, especially when wearing all of your aid rack, the better off you'll be. PM me, I'm new to Sacramento too and am looking for partners. I've been trad climbing a long time but am pretty new to aid too. I've been teaching myself by rope-soloing climbs. There is definitely a learning curve and expect to be slow. I am still in the slow stage, but I have friends who can aid every bit as fast as most can free climb, so I know it can get better!
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xtrmecat
Mar 25, 2014, 6:36 PM
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Registered: Apr 1, 2004
Posts: 548
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I always shy away from people whom I cannot do a touch of research on, and your profile is not suprisingly empty. if you are very serious about learning aid, I may be able to give you a tad bit of hands on training.
I am coming to the Yos. valley on the afternoon of May 15th and will start fixing a climb immediately. I am planning on fixing four pitches and humping 3/4ths of my teams loads in four and a half days. This leaves quite a bit of time to take a newby up a short ways and show a few things.
Something you should know, it is a lot of work, it is far from pleasant while doing it, and it will be so slow and non exciting you will wonder why in the heck anyone would find this fun.
Not trying to discourage you, but trying to let you in on reality of aid in general.
This is not a promise, just an opening offer. I do not want to die, so it will depend on you and your skills. If you have a wee bit of ambition, and would want to go through a few or more introductory e-mails with me, I might enjoy taking you along for a few pitches. Warning, I exchange info for two months with one guy, and found him to be very inspired, motivated, and even slightly skilled. Upon meeting, he flaked out and arrived a day and a half late, then humped a smallish load to the base and needed to get some stuff tofether on the valley floor and would be back in the morning, when he arrived at the base very late in the afternoon he was shocked when I tactfully told him that maybe I was not the right partner for him, that my expectations were a bit higher of him as a partner.
Reply here and maybe we can exchange thoughts, and then I can e-mail or call. I am leaving for work that i do out of town for an extended hitch until just before my trip. I can exchange e-mail while gone, but phone calls can be harder thing for me to get done due to work and schedules.
Burly Bob
Route not to be disclosed, but I will say this, Yer gonna die.
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shimanilami
Mar 27, 2014, 7:25 PM
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Registered: Jul 24, 2006
Posts: 2043
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Stock up on some Old E and be Burly Bob's bitch for a week. It's the best offer you could possibly hope for.
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