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kimgraves
Dec 8, 2004, 8:37 PM
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My partner, Matt Hayes, and I are pretty mediocre free climbers. I mean 5.10 on a GOOD day in the gym. Even though we climb a couple of times a week and keep in pretty good shape, realistically at ages 41 and 48 respectively, we’ll probably never be good enough to onsite 5.10 on a consistent basis. So what are two guys to do if they want to climb longer and more committing routes than the 3 pitch classics at the Gunks? Lean to aid climb of course! This is the ongoing story of our aid climbing education.
The hardest part for me was getting over the psychological hurdle that aid climbing was somehow cheating. I’ve been free climbing with clean protection for almost 35 years. Embedded in my bones is a commitment to that aesthetic. Climbing on pro just didn’t feel right. So in order to move past this hurdle, a couple of months ago I deliberately pulled on a piece of protection – the first time I’ve ever done that. I think it must have been on Limelight (Trapps 5.7). I didn’t need to pull on it, I wasn’t gripped or above my head. I could have climbed past it free. But I held on to a cam instead of using the handhold right next to it, just to feel what it felt like to A0. It turned out that it wasn’t a big deal.
I read the John Long book, “Big Walls” and got Don Reid’s Aid Climbing Video tape. I began bidding on aiders and other stuff on Ebay. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something I might not like.
Convincing Matt to try aid was another hurdle. Matt is a very analytical, technical, and detail oriented person. I was sure he’d like aid and be good at it. But it wasn’t until Matt saw the video that he agreed to give it a try. Matt is very adventurous. Seeing the sort of places you can go with aid is, I think, what convinced him.
Fall came late to the Gunks this year. Matt and I were free climbing up until Thanksgiving. But now it was getting cold, and there was no ice and no snow. With nothing else to do, and a hankerin’ not to let the time go to waste, now was our chance to learn aid.
12/5/04
I woke up with a bad cold after getting only a couple hours sleep as I hacked away the night. Yahoo said the forecast was for low 40’s with sun. As the sun was rising, I picked Matt up at our usual West Side Highway corner and we blasted up the 103 miles in our usual 80 minutes. A stop at Starbucks for second breakfast and Rock & Ice for aiders for Matt and we were on the carriage road by 10.
It was a beautiful Sunday at the Gunks. It ended up being in the low 60’s. Guys were climbing without their shirts. I was definitely over dressed looking like Santa in my red long undies and orange bibs. We’d like to especially thank empicard from Gunks.com and the EMS guide who were climbing next to use. They both gave us very good advice and didn’t laugh too hard – at least not that we could hear.
Kim in Santa suit
We ended up on Finger Locks or Cedar Box, which turned out to be a perfect first practice aid climb. It’s remote enough that you can sit on it for several hours. Since it’s only 5.5 if you get clusterf*ked you can always bail and free climb the b*tch wearing the hiking boots you’re aiding in. It’s also short so your second won’t get too bored or cold waiting as you flail away on lead. The pro is bomber, so much so that you can play around with less optimal placements – that’s what I did. Finally it was low enough angle that we could easily learn how to top step. We both found the whole process very straightforward and easy. No clusterf*k here. I guess that’s what it means to be “easy aid.” I bounced hard on all the placements and got to the second or top step on everything. Learned about making a triangle with my feet to stay in balance. It was like climbing 5.0! Tried to make it harder by what I thought were marginal placements. But even those withstood a good bounce.
Found that the advice to get ladders, rather than aiders, to be very sound – they didn’t twist and it was easy to get my feet in them. Also found out why aid climbers prefer ovals. The D’s we have wouldn’t accept the rope if there were two biners already clipped. I have a bunch of 30-year old Chouinard ovals that we used successfully for everything. (I’m doing some work for Tom Frost (see http://www.FrostWorksClimbing.com) and he assured me that they recently tested just as strong as when they were made.) I’m never going to buy another D biner. We got home and Matt immediately ordered 20 wire gate ovals! Also found why aid climbers carry hardware on chest slings. Not having much of a waist, my harness was down around my butt with all the extra weight I was carrying. I’m searching Ebay for a used Yates.
Matt on Fingerlocks
The only thing I had trouble with was the jugging. It was very slow and awkward. I could only advance the aiders a foot at a time so the 70 foot pitch was like 20 minutes on the stair master. I assume my daisies weren’t adjusted correctly. I just need to get the system dialed. I’ve read PTPP's alternative method for cleaning using a Gri Gri plus one ascender. We’re going to try that next. I brought my gloves per holdplease2’s advice, and then forgot them at the bottom of the pitch. Banged up my knuckle just as Kate said I would! Won’t make that mistake again.
I guess our next step is to try traverses and overhangs. A couple of years ago, Mike Rawdon took me past Gravity’s Rainbow. As I remember, it was a 5.12ish splitter crack running top to bottom. Is that true? We can’t free climb anywhere near that level and since it’s much longer and overhanging, it will be much more committing. We’ll listen to the group’s beta and maybe try that next.
A good day that left us with more tools in the toolbox. I’ll add to this as we progress.
Best, Kim
(This post was edited by kimgraves on Dec 31, 2006, 8:41 PM)
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anothertucsonclimber
Dec 8, 2004, 8:47 PM
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Good for you Kim!!!
Glad to see a fellow NYer. I left Queens 2 years ago and have been climbing in the SW ever since!!!! Have a slice of pizza for me, 'cause you can't find a good one here in the Old Pueblo!!!!!
D
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crotch
Dec 8, 2004, 8:59 PM
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In reply to: a couple of months ago I deliberately pulled on a piece of protection – the first time I’ve ever done that.... It turned out that it wasn’t a big deal.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
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gds
Dec 8, 2004, 9:15 PM
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In reply to: Have a slice of pizza for me, 'cause you can't find a good one here in the Old Pueblo!!!!! D |
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tavs
Dec 8, 2004, 9:20 PM
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Welcome indeed. Sounds like you've really taken to it. My first aid pitch included a roof. Aiding out it was fine and fun, once I got into the grove. Jugging and cleaning it SUCKED. Definitely took longer to get the hang of than the actual aiding.
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epic_ed
Dec 8, 2004, 10:20 PM
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Make sure you get the lead on that first traverse. :wink:
And learn to use the gri gri as you second ascender before you have to clean it.
Nice job. If you had fun, then it's all down hill from here. Kiss your savings account good-bye.
Ed
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kimgraves
Feb 16, 2005, 4:56 PM
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Chapter 2: in a continuing series of “trip reports” of my learning to aid climb.
Unfortunately, for me, my climbing partner, Matt, has a great new job taking him all over the world and working long hours when he’s in town. He loves it, but I’m out my aid partner until things settle down. So we haven’t made it back to the Gunks to do any more aid.
So I got permission from my gym manager to put a route up in the gym. Just bolt hangers into the T-nuts. I wasn’t trying to do anything fancy or hook off the holds. The whole thing was done on the normal TR used by the free climbers. I just wanted to practice standing in the aiders and getting up to the top step. So I put up the route. It started with a high reach and diagonal left then up again; over a 3-foot overhang; then along the roof for a couple of moves and then finally up to the top. Seems sort of silly maybe, but it turned out to be really useful. I learned about balancing while hanging free. The combination of fifi and daisy chain finally making sense. Top stepping using the method shown in the new Clean Walls tape really works. It’s trivially easy! I still need to learn more about how not to waste energy as I move up. Three of us ran the route and found it worthwhile and a lot of fun.
The gym manager decided not to leave it up. He was concerned, rightly I think, that people might put their fingers through the bolt hangers, fall and loose a finger - we have a lot of school groups come through. And also it takes some instruction to run the route. Not all the staff is trained. But it was fun while it lasted and something I would recommend doing.
For more info, check out this thread in the aid forum.
Best, Kim
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kimgraves
Apr 20, 2005, 2:39 PM
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Chapter 3:
This winter, Matt’s (matt_hayes) availability has continued to be sparse due to his new job. The good news is that he’s making enough money to buy gear! We did spend a couple of weekends climbing ice in the Catskills, but our aid climbing ground to a halt. Spring has now sprung at the Gunks. Bright, sunny, seventy-degree days – free climbing paradise. But Matt now has another problem – he sliced his right thumb open on a can of tomatoes that required 11 stitches and so can’t free climb for several more weeks. (Just as an aside, if you ever have a chance, get Matt to make you pizza: he’s a real pro. The best I’ve ever had: maybe it’s the blood he puts into it.) So last Sunday we headed up with a couple of other friends. Our plan was for Matt and I to aid something and then set up top ropes to free climb what we could.
The Gunks has several undocumented cliffs. The one I’m referring too will be recognizable by all those who know it as the land of 5.11 and 5.12 classics. It’s a 20-minute steep uphill hike from parking and so receives very little traffic. The perfect place for us to flail away. On one far end of the cliff is a line of 5.6 to 5.10 fifty-foot lines. We chose an unnamed 5.9. This is a climb introduced to me a couple of years ago by Gunkymike. At that time I had fallen on the bouldery first couple of moves. Because I was being belayed from above, rope stretch allowed me to deck. I walked away with a BIG bruise on my tush. So I was out to send this thing – easy aid was my method.
Though “easy aid,” the 5.9 was much steeper and longer than Finger Locks. I used the method I had learned in the gym – daisy chains attached to each ladder that you then fifi in as you move up. This allows you to use much less energy as you’re always resting on the fifi. But at the same time it’s hard to move above your fourth step and still stay fified in. Third step is really pushing it. So while it’s much more secure, I’ve lost the ability to second and top step that I was able to find on the lower angle Finger Locks. Placing pro from your waist rather than your knees meant many more placements – it took over an hour to aid the 50 feet. I’m looking for suggestions about how to combine the security of the fifi method with the ability to second/top step.
During our down time Matt had gotten a Yates chest harness. This was a big improvement over carrying pro on my harness. It’s so good I may use it for free climbing as well.
The most difficult part of the climb was when I stepped out of my aiders, onto a small ledge to make a couple of free moves, and I had to reach down to get my aiders still attached to the last piece. And then you're stepping on your aiders and they're getting caught on everything. Getting back into the security of the aiders was a relief.
Another thing I learned as to place pro with an eye to getting it out. A couple of times I was out of the cam size I needed and so used a Tricam. Weighted Tricams are a b*tch to clean. Matt, who had dropped his nut tool shortly after starting up the pitch on second, left the two Tricams I placed to be cleaned later on rap. The lesson, use cams rather than Tricams when ever possible. Likewise I placed a stopper too far back into the crack. Trying to clean, we couldn’t get under it and so kept pushing it back into the crack. The lesson is place nuts close to the outside of the crack so you can access them with the tool. Finally I overcamed a cam because I was out of the size I needed. This was a b*tch to get out as well. Lesson – more small cams or small nuts.
By the time Matt and I were done, our two friends had lead a neighboring, 5.6 and 5.5, and played around on a 10 and 11. We set a TR on the 5.9. Chris, the best free climber among us, sent the line. Matt and Chris’ partner played around on it with varying degrees of success. Then it came to be my turn. With trepidation I tied into the rope. I even used a double bowline rather than a figure 8 thinking I was sure to fall and the bowline would be easier to untie. I ran up that sucker! Like it was nothing. It was a lot of fun. And it wasn’t because I had pre-inspected it. When you’re aiding you really (or at least I don’t) look for free climbing holds. I’m totally concentrating on my placements and keeping the cluster from being f*ked. So I guess maybe all the yoga, I’ve been doing, is paying off allowing me to do the 9 (actually it seemed more like a sustained 8 to me).
So good lessons. I’m open to suggestions about the top stepping issues.
Regards, Kim
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epic_ed
Apr 20, 2005, 3:01 PM
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Keep it up, Kim! You'll be ready for a big wall before you know it. As for top stepping -- see your thread in the aid forum for my comments.
Keep at it!
Ed
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reunionron
Apr 27, 2005, 12:28 PM
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I was interested in trying aid climbing. After reading you post I definitely want to give it a try. Don't know when I will have a chance. Can't wait to hear more. :lol:
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guanoboy
Apr 27, 2005, 6:02 PM
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Kim-
Not to dissuade you from your aid pursuits, but... Don't let an inability to on-sight 5.10 prevent you from getting on long routes. Pick up a copy of 50 classics. It is full of great climbs appropriate for people whol lead 5.7. Forbidden Peak and Mt. Stuart in Washington State jump to mind - amazing climbs.
andrew
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kimgraves
May 9, 2005, 3:48 PM
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Chapter 4:
The flu I suffered from last week was at bay; Matt’s hand is almost healed; the weather was overcast but not actually raining; we blasted up to the Gunks for our next foray into “easy aid.” I had gotten a pair of adjustable daisies to practice top stepping and Matt had picked up three more C4’s to double up the midrange of our cams. We even packed everything in the Fish Atom Smasher hoping we would have time to try hauling.
I’ve been doing all the leading so it was Matt’s turn. Matt is a new trad leader and he’s generally less experienced placing protection than I am, so it took him “a long” time to do the pitch. Which bring up an interesting question about belaying the leader when the pitch takes so long. Now, I’ve heard of hard aid pitches taking most of the day. Matt didn’t take *that long, but even a good part of the morning is hard on this belayer. I was using a Grigri of course, but what to you do when you got ta go?
I’m from the old trad school of belaying meaning that the break hand never comes off the rope. I was surprised to learn that big-wallers use Grigri’s because of the long leads so the second is free to do other tasks. Does that mean that the second actually feeds rope only when necessary? At other times they can run hands off? We found that the Grigri would actually self-feed if pulled slowly enough. I know intellectually that the device will catch a falling leader even without the belayer. But should you back up the device with a mule knot while you’re hands off? It’s a little unnerving to take hands off.
The big success of the day was to dial in the cleaning system. If you read chapter 1 you’ll see what a problem I had with the jumaring. This time I used the method that PTPP recommended of a Grigri at the waste and one Jumar with daisy attached to my waste and aider to the Jumar. As I stood up in the aider with my right foot/right hand, I would pull up on the Grigri with my left. I was always in balance. I found that adjusting the daisy so it was just long enough to keep my right arm from fully extending was just right. This method was very fast and easy, allowing me to clean 21 pieces in about 20 minutes. I also brought my hammer along so I had something to hit up on the nut tool with without having to resort to Mickey Mouse use of a large hex etc. Though an additional +2 lbs it was/is the right tool for the job – and the gear loop on my harness made for a serviceable hammer holster. Also, I finally remembered to wear kneepads and gloves. These really saved me – I should have been listening to Kate all this while.
I do have one question however: What do you do with all the rope you pull through the Grigri? You’re being belayed by the Grigri, but isn’t there a chance that the rope will hang up below? I ended up tying in a loop every 15 feet or so even though I didn’t need it for backup.
We were fried after a morning of doing this pitch and so ended up spending the rest of the day free climbing. Next time, high stepping practice with the adjustable daisies.
We’re still not sure we actually like this aid thing. As Matt said, “it’s not as poetic” as free climbing. But maybe it’s all still too much of a cluster for use to see the poetry in it. Right now it’s just hard work – or boring work belaying. I suppose as you got higher and higher into some radical place it might look a lot different.
Please attach answers to my questions on this thread in the aid forum so Ed doesn’t have to move things around. Thanks.
Best, Kim
PS: Overhead - a school "climbing team" was working on the 5.6's and 7's right next to us. They even had a blue "first place" ribbon with them. One kid ties in, looks up at the 6 and says to the coach, "Is there anything not on?" This old geezer was grinning from ear to ear.
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kimgraves
Dec 31, 2006, 8:42 PM
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Edited to add embedded images lost after the system migration.
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