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kriso9tails
Jul 28, 2001, 6:22 AM
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I haven't done it (yet) but I don't hear many people talk happily about the fun they had aiding. I think many people treat it as a thing of functionality and not pleasure. If you like it, what's the appeal?
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kagunkie
Jul 28, 2001, 6:32 AM
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Go and find the thinnest crack you can get those little teeney itsy bitsy metal pieces to stick in and climb it by hangin on em!!! Then when your fifteen feet out a twenty foot roof youll be able to tell me the answer.
[ This Message was edited by: kagunkie on 2001-07-27 23:37 ]
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atg200
Jul 30, 2001, 11:59 PM
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Aid climbing isn't really what I would call fun. It is a lot of work, expensive, difficult, and often very frightening. It certainly isn't for everybody, which is part of why it is so special.
There are few things more satisfying than a wall or a big desert tower if you can handle the fear and pressure. The heart in your throat feeling of stepping up on a pin stack you have spent the last 30 minutes carefully building while standing on a precarious copperhead is completely different than anything you will experience free climbing.
andrew
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kagunkie
Jul 31, 2001, 12:09 AM
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How well can you use the tools of climbing???
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kriso9tails
Jul 31, 2001, 3:35 AM
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I need tape to place trad gear... does that give you a clue? Actually, I'm not bad at using climbing gear. It's like a giant mental puzzle with slightly higher stakes. I'm good at puzzles, but not that good at dying.
[ This Message was edited by: kriso9tails on 2001-07-30 20:36 ]
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fiend
Jul 31, 2001, 4:39 AM
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Actually, taping skyhooks to the wall makes for some great pro.
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kagunkie
Jul 31, 2001, 5:13 AM
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Ooooohhhhhhhoohoho nooo noo no no no!!!!! I dont think I would call it great!!!????
Once you get the tape on smell it and see if it stinks!!!! You might have to hold your breath!!!!!!!!
Quak Quak!!
[ This Message was edited by: kagunkie on 2001-07-30 22:17 ]
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kriso9tails
Jul 31, 2001, 5:25 AM
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I don't know. A peice of pro only needs to hold certain directional forces. If it can take the right forces, but slides out the back, then tape that sucker. Hey, at least it will be easy to remove. If I'm protected that's all that I care about.
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krillen
Jul 31, 2001, 3:49 PM
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Aid is 99.9% mental ability and strength. That's the appeal peopel who like complex thinking games, tend to like aid. Eventually though, placing gear becomes instinctual. Then it becomes an art.
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climber1
Aug 10, 2001, 5:53 AM
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Aid climbing is a lot of work, but it allows you to climb routes that you might not be able to free.
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elcapbuzz
Sep 12, 2001, 10:14 PM
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Anybody can aid up a bolt ladder. When you just spent the last 18 hours climbing a single pitch that nobody has ever even thought of climbing, the rewards come after you drill your belay. Knowing you could have put a bolt in anywhere, but stepping up to the challenge of using what is there, without defacing the rock. Yes, it's great fun, but it's not for everyone. Just those of us who are sick.
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passthepitonspete
Oct 10, 2001, 6:16 AM
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Nice one, Ammon! (you sick b*stard, you!)
"Aid climbing is the best way to reach the bitchin'est campsites." (me and Ammon and his brother Gabe and my partner Nick and Chongo all shared a keg of beer together this May up on Big Sur of El Cap's Sea of Dreams - Ammon and Gabe came across 300' horizontally from South Seas - now there's a ropework project for you, eh?)
If you're finding it strenuous, dude, you really need to get yourself some adjustable daisies and an adjustable fifi. Sheesh.
Beats the heck out of free climbing, that's for sure.
Oh yeah, and duct-taped hooks work. I took a twenty-foot fall while soloing Native Son onto a duct taped skyhook, and the thing held . Nearly straightened out mind you, but it held. Now I put a fall arrestor on them.
If you're aid soloing, a far superior way to hold a hook in place is with a prusik knot on the lead rope. You can tighten it up nice and snug - far superior to taping (I only found this out this fall on Zenyatta when I ran out of duct tape!)
Cheers, "Pass the Pitons" Pete
[ This Message was edited by: passthepitonspete on 2001-10-09 23:17 ]
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benjo
Oct 11, 2001, 9:07 PM
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I love aid climbing. It is vertical craftmanship and requires lots of thought, physical endurance, and it gets you to the most exposed and amazing places!
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addiroids
Oct 14, 2001, 8:00 PM
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Aiding on short routes is a fun way to learn what is a good placement and what is "bodyweight only". But seriously, aid climbing takes a lot of work to get good at it. You should be trad climbing long routes (10+ pitches) at about 5.9 before you start to think about tackling something big. The difference between being proficient at aiding and trad climbing is about the difference between bouldering and trad climbing. But with proper study, a large bank account, proper instruction, and good overall physical conditioning, it can be really fun. Aiding is much more fun than free climbing with aid gear on.
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passthepitonspete
Oct 15, 2001, 12:20 AM
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As per addiroids: "But with proper study, a large bank account, proper instruction, and good overall physical conditioning, it can be really fun."
Surely you jest!
I've got a very rigorous training program - get up off the couch, pack my haulbags, walk up to the base of El Cap (not with the haulbags, silly - I hire "sherpas" to carry them ) and like, solo the wall, eh?
[ This Message was edited by: passthepitonspete on 2001-10-14 17:22 ]
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addiroids
Oct 16, 2001, 3:32 AM
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Okay, but I was trying to let AVERAGE mortals know they could do it too. Not all of us are Superman like you. Good site huh? I have begun to add routes to the Tahquitz site, and some for Josh. I like your TR's and pics. Keep up the hard work, wall rat.
TRADitionally yours,
Addiroids
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larryclimb
Nov 27, 2001, 2:55 AM
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I find aid climbing fun, very physical, and extremly scary. We aid climb when its raining or too cold for rock climbing that way you don't miss a day on the rocks.
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theooze
Nov 27, 2001, 4:04 AM
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You betcha! I love it. The problem is, when it comes to cragging, it's hard to find a belayer who wants to hang out for two hours per pitch or whatever. That's why you see people soloing. Lot of work, soloing with all that gear to hump.
Stu
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atg200
Nov 27, 2001, 4:31 AM
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True that. I burn through about 2 partners a month who are psyched for towers in Utah at first, and then after 1 or 2 trips decide aiding is not for them and head for Eldo. Bummer.
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crackwhore
Nov 27, 2001, 4:48 AM
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hardcore aid (A3 or better) is route manufacturing at its finest. thanks for all the fine free routes. the frenchies got nothin' on you guys.
pinscars on sandstone has to be the most beautiful thing ever.
ranks right up there with dog poop on the approach trail or the Green A gully (post quarrying).
lets see if we can think of new ways to disconnect.
much love
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benjo
Nov 28, 2001, 10:07 PM
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Whatever... We may as well quit climbing all together. We might get some chalk on it, or maybe smudge our fingerprints all over it. Which will of course ruin everything. Of course I believe in being careful and minimizing impact. But I also know that there is a lot of rock in the world. What climbers do is INSIGNIFICANT.
Hey Crackwhore, do you drive a car? Do you ride a bicycle? Do you read and right and use paper? Every one of those things affects the environment somewhere in the world, and because you don't see it, you don't think you are doing anything wrong. You are perfect. But deep down you know you are a hypocrite, so you have to rip on activities that other people do to justify your own actions.
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theooze
Nov 28, 2001, 10:50 PM
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What Benjo said. Jeez.
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hardcoredana
Nov 28, 2001, 11:25 PM
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Quote:But deep down you know you are a hypocrite, so you have to rip on activities that other people do to justify your own actions.
Benjo, I agree with you. Furthermore, I think this statement can be applied to certain, vocal aid climbers, aid climbers who think that sport climbers are ruining the sport of climbing.
I said it before, in a different forum, and I think it is applicable here as well:
Quote:We all have our different motivations, our different fears, and our different strengths. Let's not forget that.
I'm not saying we should all agree, but that we should agree to disagree, and at the same time maintain respect for one another.
[ This Message was edited by: hardcoredana on 2001-11-28 15:27 ]
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crackwhore
Nov 29, 2001, 10:14 PM
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whoa banjo, tune down that C string.
(thats C for confrontation)
way to use a shotgun to kill a fly!
your all over the place there with your cars and paper and chalk and s#*t.
i gotta give you about a 3.5 (out of a possible 10) on the rant scale.
you did use a couple of 2 dollar words and stuff but youn pretty much didnt stick to the point at all.
if you want to have a spirited debate about impact (aid climbing v. environment) then bring it on....
i got science
for any occasion
constantly stating, formulating equation.
heres an easy one:
a beginning 5.9 climber topropes a new face off a tree with a sling.
V.
a 13yr. veteran establishes a new 14 pitch A3 line, leaving behind 3 fixed pins, 7 heads, 3 nuts and 6 chiseled bathook placements.
no doubt you'll play the "its all about freedom" card next.
if this is not the right forum for this discussion then...
[ This Message was edited by: crackwhore on 2001-11-29 14:33 ]
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crackwhore
Nov 29, 2001, 10:26 PM
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heres another one for ya banjo,
a certain climber, (you might know him) spies a beautiful, varnished corner from the road. he hikes up, takes a look and finds out that he cant even get his pinky in the damn thing!! so he goes back home and comes back the next wknd replete with pins and starts bashing away until an unbroken line of pinscars permits free climbing (im really stretching in the use of the word "free"). he then proceeds to bolt the line and bestows upon it a 5.13 grade
a new 5.13?
no
the locals chopped it because it almost got the creek shut down.
[ This Message was edited by: crackwhore on 2001-11-29 14:35 ]
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