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diplodocus
May 9, 2004, 4:07 PM
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could someone do me a favor and let me know a trustworthy aid climbing sequence?
eg. look up, place gear, (how many biners in protection, where to clip etrier, where and when to clip rope etc.)
tks!
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jbell2355
May 9, 2004, 4:34 PM
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Aid climbing is no joke. I recommend getting a book about it, read it and then spend a lot of time with someone who has been aiding forever. Don't try to aid climb based on what little you glean from this thread. Actually, you're likely to glean nothing from this thread and just get flamed to death.
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sspssp
May 9, 2004, 4:54 PM
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Climbers vary on what aid sequence they like. Starting with a book is not a bad idea. There have been lots of threads on aid sequence. Do a search and you should be able to find them.
You can self teach yourself in a safe manner by practicing aid on a toprope.
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bigwalling
May 9, 2004, 5:11 PM
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Well, first get out there and try it! Some people make it sound way harder than it is.
Given that you’re asking this question, you probably aren't going to be doing anything too hard. At least not yet... because once it gets hard you have to begin to test pretty much every placement in some way. Otherwise you risk big falls and you're just adding unnecessary fear into the equation of death. With that said, I'll give you an idea of my sequence on easy stuff.
Once you're on a piece, try and get as high as you can in the aider steps! This is very important in making aid go faster and not looking like a stupid little fucker. Granted you will be slow at first, you will get fast over time and with practice. Once you are high in the steps look at the next placement and pull an appropriate piece off your rack. If it's a obvious crack, this is much faster, again after a while you'll just know what piece will fit instead of having to do some guessing work. Place the piece and clip the aider/daisy combo to the placement. On easy aid, which is almost all C1 and C2 stuff, you shouldn't be really testing much stuff unless it looks real shitty. Now you might find some fixed heads, which then it is situational if you should test them. If you have heads and stuff to place them with, then go a head and give it a bounce test (which is a whole other concept depending on how much death factor is involved). If it blow replace it and test your new one. But most likely you'll not have the stuff to place your own, so in that case just ease onto the head and don't be to mean to the bitch.
Now once you have transferred over to the new placement, clip the rope into the previous piece (the one you just stepped off), and unclip your aider/s and daisy. Keep repeating the process until you get to the top of the pitch. Then set up a nice belay.
Another beginning tip, learn to clean REALY FAST. I didn't do this for a long time, now I try and sprint up the rope as fast as I possibly can. This will save mass amounts of time. I can't tell you how much time I used to waste cleaning, now I waste my time at belays and leading pitches with placements I'm not so sure about. If you can clean fast and don't take long at the belay transfer, you will be far better off in the long run. When I solo, I'm actually faster at belay stuff, because I have a system that works for me. When I have a partner all hell breaks loose and we are much slower. So, put some focus into cleaning and belay transfers to help yourself out.
One more idea that will help you out if you are with a partner. After you have set-up the belay, place the first piece for you partner on the next pitch, obviously this isn't always possible or practical, but in many situations it will speed things up. This way you just send him off immediately.
Hope some of this helps, I'm sure I said something wrong in it so ask any questions and maybe I'll be to clarify it better for ya.
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bandycoot
May 9, 2004, 5:22 PM
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My partner and I taught ourselves to aid. Aid climbing is no joke, but neither is any other aspect of climbing. If you start on C1 and you know how to place trad gear you're perfectly safe. It really is true that everyone has their own preferences ranging from number of aiders, to type of daisies, to use the Yosemite Secret Weapon or not, normal aiders, or Russian, fifi hooks and normal daisies or adjustable daisies. The list goes on. My partner and I just bought some fifi hooks, some aiders, we had daisies, and went at a bolt line that NO ONE EVER CLIMBS!!! (this is important) and we hashed out how to aid climb and improved efficiency slowly but surely. Since then I've successfully completed 2 big walls. Sure, the first few placements on the bolt ladder were a complete cluster, but learning is half the fun! We used some book called "Big Walls" to learn the basics. After you know the basics, surf the internet, talk to people, and read books to learn the more efficient ways to move up! There really is no 1 most used way to aid climb.
Josh
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a_scender
May 9, 2004, 5:34 PM
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I rented a great video that covered the basic's of aid climbing. It talks about different methods, like 2,3,or 4 aiders. And different methods for cleaning. The video was great for me as I learn better visually. I got it from the american alpine club liberary, but I've seen it for sale at some local mountain shops. Check it out, well worth it!
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the_antoon
May 9, 2004, 6:06 PM
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Just go buy a book...then hire a guide or find someone who knows what they are doing.
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diplodocus
May 10, 2004, 10:19 AM
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hi "bigwallin",
tks for the wonderful input. I've a question though.
You said:
In reply to: Now once you have transferred over to the new placement, clip the rope into the previous piece (the one you just stepped off), and unclip your aider/s and daisy.
Why do you clip the rope into the previous placement only AFTER you step into the new aider?
Why can't you clip the rope in to the aider that you are standing in (after you've bounced tested it)
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diplodocus
May 10, 2004, 10:20 AM
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In reply to: I rented a great video that covered the basic's of aid climbing. It talks about different methods, like 2,3,or 4 aiders. And different methods for cleaning. The video was great for me as I learn better visually. I got it from the american alpine club liberary, but I've seen it for sale at some local mountain shops. Check it out, well worth it!
What's the name of the video?
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hellclimber
May 10, 2004, 10:50 AM
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In reply to: Why can't you clip the rope in to the aider that you are standing in (after you've bounced tested it)
Why clip the rope into the aider you are standing in? If it fails when you are standing in it then you have just created a longer fall down to your previous placement. I clip into a piece when I remove my daisy-etrier combination from the piece.
hellclimber
Disclaimer: I'm just a gumby at aid so feel free to ignore my "expert" opinion...
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joe
May 10, 2004, 3:10 PM
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1. step up HIGH.
2. look at the next crappy peice you are going to hang your sorry ass from
3. put a metal widget in it
4. clip a daisy to it.
5. bounce test it.
6. smoke a cigarette.
7. run up your aiders and fifi into the peice itself or the biner clipped to it.
8. sigh pathetically.
9. drink a king kobra/old english 800
10. unclip your daisy from the last peice and clip the rope into it. daisy whippers are the realm of the foole.
11. come to the realization that aid climbing is boring and not very sexy, sell your pins and start big wave surfing. or knitting.
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flamer
May 10, 2004, 3:57 PM
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HaHa!
Joe you're a funny bastard!!
Where you been?
Let's go climbing...
josh
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timpanogos
May 10, 2004, 4:35 PM
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Joe, you missed the optional blind fold, after the cig.
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epic_ed
May 10, 2004, 4:49 PM
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Dude, screw all this nonsense. Get out there and try it. Half the fun is finding out for yourself what works best and what works fastest. You haven't really earned your aid stripes until you've wasted hours tangling and sorting your aiders, daisies, rope, and gear. It's part of the learning curve and for a couple of reasons, it should be mandatory. First, problem solving is at the heart of aid climbing. If you find youself helplessly 30 ft off the deck helplessly tangled in your aiders to go down and too cinched in your daisies to move up, hell -- you're just getting started! If you successfully rescue yourself from that fustercluck without breaking out your knife to cut yourself loose and finish the pitch, you have the technical aptitude to be an aid climber. If you find at the end of the pitch that you actually enjoyed the hysteria of the whole process, you probably have the right mind-set to keep playing the game. It's a truely sick bastard that wants to go back for more suffering after their first 3 hour lead.
Secondly, working this out with a climbing buddy will be a good measuring stick to test his will and desire to aid, as well. You think you gotta be sick to want to go back and stand in your aiders another 3 hours? Wait til you get to belay that three hour lead, bro. The self-discovery you'll go through your first few times aiding will be the test of determining if it's really something you want to continue pursuing. So certainly, read the books, talk to friends, and ask questions. But ultimately, just get the F out there and climb.
Ed
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diplodocus
May 13, 2004, 4:09 PM
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tks chad for the link :)
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