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kindasleepy
Mar 29, 2004, 2:11 PM
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I want to start trad climbing. I've been climbing 3 years, sport climbing for one year. I have comfortable with constructing top rope anchors. Problem is that I will have a HARD time finding anyone to show me the "ropes" on lead trad.
I would like to hear peoples experince on how they started trad climbing. Did you do a course or just jump on.
What would be the safest approach without a course or formal lessons.
Just curious.
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keinangst
Mar 29, 2004, 2:20 PM
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There must be 10 threads on this from the past 2 weeks alone...have you tried searching for anything?
Most people suggest finding someone to follow for a while before you take the sharp end of the rope. Even without a teacher, you can also practice placing gear from the ground or from low stances until you get comfortable. But expert advice and teaching is still the best way to go.
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keithlester
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Mar 29, 2004, 2:40 PM
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What would be the safest approach without a course or formal lessons.
You have the decision in your own hands, while you are looking for a regular partner to show you all they can, teach yourself all you can. We all take responsibility for our own safety, I did alot of TR before I learned to lead, but I spent alot of time putting gear in close to the ground and trying to make it come out. Putting gear in on lead is not an exact science anyway, some days you will not feel the need for much gear, other days you will want to stich up a pitch. The final answer is, no safety is guaranteed 100%, even the TR you have been doing already, so take it at the pace you can cope with and try to find someone a little better than yourself. You have to lead to learn leading, so start on low grades like diff or vdiff, and dont be ashamed of climbing at a low grade, remember what its all for and make progress. Best of luck by the way, I had to wait nearly 10 years for a great partner, and now I've got 3 or 4 who I climb with regularly, including one guy I taught to climb when he was a 11 year old boy, now he's 19 and climbing HVS . :D
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cdmtpt
Mar 29, 2004, 2:52 PM
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I took a 3-day course with a guide, and it was helpful but I didn't learn anything I had already either seen following other good climbers or figured out placing pro on the ground. You might try placing gear on a loose TR a few times. If you have a good belayer, they can give you just enough slack in your TR that it feels like a real lead. I found that beneficial, even if people did look at the whole setup like it was a bit odd. It's your safety, so don't let anyone else make your decisions for you. I'd also echo the sentiment about being patient while moving up the grades. Some of the most fun I've had has been out leading "easy" moderates with good friends on a beautiful day.
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angry
Mar 29, 2004, 3:07 PM
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Jumped in. The routes were easy, so I wasn't sketched, just needed to practice placing gear.
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chronicle
Mar 29, 2004, 3:17 PM
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Took a one-day course/guide. The guide was a good friend. After that, just placed tons of pro at ground level. First multi-pitch trad lead was a 5.2. Being comfortable on your first lead is key.
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nealric
Mar 29, 2004, 8:22 PM
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Im 100% self taught. I feel like I was and continue to be a pretty safe trad climber.
I read A LOT of books that described trad techiniqe- at least 5 or 6. I read until I knew all the basic theory of it backwards and fowards.
Then, I did REALLY EASY one pitch climbing- stuff I would feel confident soloing. I would spend 15 minuites at a stance working out pro sometimes.
For more pro placing practice, I did clean aid on top tope.
Another way to get into it is to start placing pro on sport leads. Its often not hard to find bolted cracks at many sport areas. Clip the bolts, but place trad gear too.
Other than placment instincts, organizatinon, and cordination, pretty much all there is to trad climbing can be learned in a book. Protecting with trad gear is essentially a mechanical excersize. Its not like climbing movement.
So, if you are good on sport- go for it!
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bouldertom
Mar 30, 2004, 11:37 PM
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I wanted to start trad so I asked my much more experienced friend to teach me. He walked me over to a 5.6 and handed me the rack. I asked "What happens if I fall?" He replied "Don't fall." After I climbed it he confirmed that all my placements were bomber. The only instruction I got was reading it out of a book beforehand.
This is not a recommended method of learning trad, but that's how I started.
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kindasleepy
Mar 30, 2004, 11:55 PM
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Thanks for your replies. It is helpful hearing how others have started. I don't feel like I am way off base with my potential approach. :roll:
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sspssp
Mar 31, 2004, 12:22 AM
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In reply to: For more pro placing practice, I did clean aid on top tope.
While this alone won't make you a safe trad leader, its an excellant place to start.
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vegastradguy
Mar 31, 2004, 12:26 AM
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i had (and still climb with) an AMGA cert. guide to start me along. Course, it wouldnt matter in the end, as i would have started with anyone willing to show me the ropes, but it was nice to have someone who really knew their sh*t helping me out. it definitely allowed me to excel quicker than i probably would have otherwise.
that said, if you start out with really easy stuff and if you can find someone who has some experience to critique your gear placements....jump in! the aid climbing idea presented is also a good one, as it will quickly teach you what is and what isnt good pro.
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mandrake
Mar 31, 2004, 12:58 AM
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Yeah, I'm another one that's self-taught with the help of books (John Long's was my fave). My sport climbing partner and I taught ourselves by following each other and checking the leader's (duh) placements on really easy routes. That last point is key, because you don't really want to fall until you place good pro.
That said, I would rather have had someone who knew what they were doing teaching us, but no one was immediately available. Plus, the idea of hiring a guide never occurred to us. A few years ago, I became climbing partners with an AMGA-certified guide and, even though I wasn't a rookie at the time, he was able to help me crank it up a notch and taught me some great tricks for improving efficiency on long routes. So, a little more pimpin' for the AMGA: if you've got the cash, I'd think about hooking up with a guide in some cool climbing destination (a place with lots of classic easy routes). Wouldn't cost much more than a ski trip, and it'd be a great foundation.
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yay_chris
Mar 31, 2004, 3:46 AM
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Practice setting gear at the base of the crags to get a feel for the different placements. If you do lead, lead routes well under your ability. Reading up on the various litterature out there works well in conjunction with everything previously mentioned.
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hosh
Mar 31, 2004, 4:39 AM
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I did a bunch of following and then just started running laps on this 5.6 crack, placing as much pro as I could get to stay. Took me a while to figure out how some of the peices fit (tri-cams in particular) but once I got the hang of doing it with one hand, it went pretty smooth. I've recently started pulling stuff closer to my actual climbing level. Feels good to push the limits, you know?
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