|
barmy
Jan 16, 2002, 11:14 AM
Post #1 of 6
(2349 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 15, 2002
Posts: 5
|
Hey, how did you guys learn tradclimbing. I mean, me and my friend are climbing 5.10's sportclimbing and we really wont to learn trad, but there is noone I know of who has experience and could teach us. Can we learn it on our own, maybe also using toprope in the beginning or something(perhaps it's nuts, I don't know). Did all of you learn to trad from someone more experienced.
|
|
|
|
|
fo_d
Jan 16, 2002, 1:14 PM
Post #2 of 6
(2349 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 4, 2001
Posts: 918
|
I also lad 10's on sport. I've been told that cleaning the pro after the lead is a good start, I had a chance to clean a few in J-tree but I'll be on my own from here out, so I will do some mock leads this summer and then start with easy routes for the real thing. ask meadors how hard a 5.6 gets when you lead trad. I taught myself alot of climbing stuff from books but from what I've been told it best to team up with an experianced trad climber to learn trad and I guess if I had that option thats what I would do.
Les
|
|
|
|
|
atg200
Jan 16, 2002, 3:04 PM
Post #3 of 6
(2349 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 27, 2001
Posts: 4317
|
You really should find a good experienced trad climber to follow for awhile. You can figure it all out on your own, but it is faster and much safer to follow an experienced leader.
That said, I basically learned on my own, and lived through it. Get both Climbing Anchors books by John Long and study them. Practice building anchors and placing gear near the ground, and weight them hard and in every direction. You'll start to see what works and what doesn't. Place gear while climbing on toprope, and bounce hard on every piece. Stick to climbs that take good gear way below your ability.
As soon as you can, take a roadtrip to a trad area like the Gunks. You'll likely be able to find a partner willing to teach you and evaluate your gear. I learned a lot this way when I was just starting, and I have helped people just starting out after I really knew what I was doing.
|
|
|
|
|
bulldog
Jan 16, 2002, 3:06 PM
Post #4 of 6
(2349 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 7, 2001
Posts: 103
|
I wish I had an experienced mentor, but alas, I don't.
So what my climbing partner and I did to start out trad climbing was take small steps.
We started out placing pro while toproping, just to get practice and get into the mentality of always looking for placements.
Once we got really comfortable with placing pro, we just started leading routes that we felt very comfortable on - mostly 5.4 to 5.7 leads. We would really overdo it - I mean we'd place twice as much pro as we needed. At belay stations we'd be setting up anchors until it looked silly.
It seems to me that the important aspects to get comfortable with are - 1) the extra weight on your body and how it affects your climbing, 2) getting comfortable with where your gear is at all times, how to get it and place it most efficiently, 3) getting comfortable with the idea that that placement you made has to save your life, and climbing past it with the question raging in your mind whether its gonna hold, 4) staying cool when you are way past your last placement and you can't seem to find any more good spots to place pro, and 5) knowing when to place pro and when to keep climbing.
Good luck and have fun.
And save up some bucks for that rack, believe me, it gets expensive fast.
bulldog
|
|
|
|
|
scrappy
Jan 16, 2002, 11:29 PM
Post #5 of 6
(2349 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 6, 2001
Posts: 25
|
i started by getting a set of nuts and climbing only stuff i felt comfortable soloing. maybee not the greatest way but hey it worked. a better suggestion is to walk along the base of a cliff and spend hours placing pro right off the ground. this way you can concentrate solely on placing pro with no distractions. also start out on something incredibly easy like 5.6. 5.10 sport don't mean shit.
cheers
|
|
|
|
|
graniteboy
Jan 17, 2002, 12:10 AM
Post #6 of 6
(2349 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 1, 2001
Posts: 1092
|
Read everything you can, find a mentor, find a mentor, and find a mentor. Commercial guide services, although you will get some info from them, are too expensive for you to spend two years climbing with them daily. Find a mentor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
