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thomasribiere
May 20, 2006, 8:25 PM
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After having seen a picture here, this topic came to my mind. it has surely been discussed before, but I'm bored home, on duty.
So do you remember your first lead outside, or do you have to dig in your personal archives to find it?
I had to look in my archives. Mine was a UIAA 3+, 7 meter high sport route, on-sight, in western France, October the 8th of 1995. I have never been back to that crag! I had just no idea of that. Seeing the importance of this route, I don't wonder why! :lol:
But I strongly remember my first whipper (it was in the Frankenjura) and my first multipitch (as a third, in Sardinia).
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dudemanbu
May 20, 2006, 9:09 PM
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I consider my first lead my first trad lead. I don't count or really even remember the tens of dozens of meaningless, stupid sport leads i had done before it.
Anyway, it was third crack at pinnacle cliffs here in CT.
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lofstromc
May 20, 2006, 9:23 PM
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My first trad lead was the Eye at Joshua Tree. I had done numerous sport routes of unknown ratings (to me) at Mt. Lemmon, Tucson AZ prior to that.
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feanor007
May 20, 2006, 9:24 PM
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yah...C# B flat, RRG, first sport lead. West Dihedral, Eldo, first trad lead
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mankyanchor
May 20, 2006, 9:24 PM
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gunky heaven, new river gorge 5.7 last october
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dstein
May 20, 2006, 10:43 PM
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Classic Dihedral 5.7+ on Bucksnort Slab, Sphinx Park, Colorado. I had so many pieces of gear in that crack, probably one evey 5 feet. :lol:
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kricir
May 20, 2006, 10:44 PM
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Mine was a runout 5.7 slab on combat rock (Big Thompson Canyon, CO).
I was 12, and all I had was a few wired nuts that weren’t mine, and I had no idea how to place them. I lowered off a single 1\4 inch bolt by untying and running the rope straight through the hanger. I think the only reason Im still alive is because I didn't weigh much when I was 12. I trad climbed for 6 years before I ever lead a sport route.
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musicman
May 20, 2006, 10:50 PM
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Penal Atrophy, 5.7, Maple Canyon
first trad lead was some easy, short, slabby, bomber 5.6 in moab
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kman
May 20, 2006, 10:57 PM
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Some .9 sport route at Skaha with a first time lead belayer. The top out onto the ledge was spicy. As soon as I got onto the ledge and before clipping in I was all of a sudden getting pulled strongly back toward the edge. WTF??? I look down and the stupid bitch is jumping into the air and locking off to pull in slack in an all out effort to take! I dropped some pretty foul f-bombs and language at her...lucky I didn't get pulled off.
Second lead and first real lead was some .9 gear crack.
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ilovecrimpers
May 20, 2006, 11:36 PM
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Defy the laws of tradition 10a,RRG, trad was 1st pitch of agitez bien 5.8 metcalf rock, ont.
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mntlhuricane
May 20, 2006, 11:49 PM
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Sport: Best Seats in the House 5.9 (South Clear Creek, Obed TN). Trad: Short Mans Sorrow 5.6 (Looking Glass, NC)
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theirishman
May 21, 2006, 12:00 AM
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my first sport lead consisted of taking a 20ft whipper after trying to clip the bolt anchors for 3min STRAIGHT while clutching a crimper! my first trad lead was at the local crag that is actually in the city called The Columns, man am i lucky to live in Eugene :D except for those damn hippies smokin pot at the crag and goin WHOOAAA everytime someone makes a move!
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gunksgoer
May 21, 2006, 12:58 AM
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Yep, been done before:
http://rockclimbing.com/....php?p=935270#935270
But, its always fun to do again.
My first lead was a 3 or 4 bolt 5.7 at the parking lot wall in rumney. First trad lead was crimson corner at the gunks, which clocks in at a whopping 5.0.
More like 5.2 or 5.3 actually, but hey its the gunks. There are 3rd class routes there that are harder than some 5.4's that ive done. Anyway the route is way slabby and you probably wouldnt even think it was a route if you walked by the thing...
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chikinv10
May 21, 2006, 2:32 AM
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My first sport lead outside was at Pilot Mountain NC, a 5.8 called Black Rain, it was my first time really going outside and i was 13. i was kind of scared haha.
my first true trad was a 5.9 crack at Summersville Lake at the end of Orange Oswald though i cant remember the name of it. wasnt much a climb though.
i consider my first true trad lead to be Fruit Loops? at Cereal Buttress at Rumblingbald at 15 years old. it was a lot of fun, mostly just ran it out though. i think i had a total of 5 peices for the entire climb.
But i'm all about bouldering now, i think it makes you do the hardest possible moves your body is able to do. with no climbing to get to the hard move you perform at your peak. i dont see how you can do this any other way unless its a short climb. i'm not putting down long trad or sport, i love doing those too. but i feel like i can be pushed to my full capacity with strength and power with bouldering.
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shandafin
May 21, 2006, 2:45 AM
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Old Man's Route, Seneca Rocks, 5.2 I think. What was cool about it, though, was that it was New Year's day. Pretty sweet! 60 degrees F and we were two of only four people to sign the register at the summit that day.
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gochubug
May 21, 2006, 3:29 AM
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Cave Crack (5.6) at Enchanted Rock in central Texas, back in the '70's...before there was trad vs. sport and climbing was just climbing. :wink:
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girlclimb
May 21, 2006, 3:59 AM
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first sport lead was first time sport climbing (had done fair bit of following trad previous) masterpeice(5.10a) at rumney-
first trad lead-They died laughing(5.9)- cathedral-
i deffinatly still remember them, the nervers the slight pump the what the heck am i doing then the holy cow i am doing it and then the thank god im finnished feelings... a great experience your first time trying something new its addicting : )
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bodyboarder
May 21, 2006, 5:29 AM
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Choping block 5.8 at malibu creek. I fashioned quick draws out of wierd things.... but it was awesome.
my first trad lead was minataur(sp?) at josh i think it's 5.7. i top roped it twice before i lead it.
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vegastradguy
May 21, 2006, 7:55 AM
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Crimson Chrysalis was my first trad lead and probably my 8th lead ever. looking back on it, i was out of my mind!
i led a couple of routes over at Panty Wall- there's a pair of .7's that everyone and their mother does as their first sport leads over there...
then i think i did some climbing out at the Urban Crag or one of those limestone crags near the city.....
after that, it was nothin' but long multipitch for me....just something about being way up off the deck that brightens my day.
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devkrev
May 21, 2006, 1:49 PM
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A small crag near where I used to live. I have been top-roping for a while, and I bought some passive gear (nuts/hexes). I was sick of top-roping, and I considered myself intelligent enough to know a good piece from a bad one.
With a bunch of tied slings, made from one of the 50 foot pieces of webbing I had, I set off to lead this 5.5 climb that I had TRed dozens of times before. I don't recall much of the actually climb, but I remember I was close to running out of slings by the top of the climb (I had maybe 10-12). I also remember being scared out of my mind. I also remember the overwhelming sense of relief once I got to the top, but one thing was most important....I knew I was hooked.
A couple weeks later I went to the gunks. I saw that people led all the time(up to this point it was this mythical activity you only read about in books). Crazy barefoot Rod took myself and a partner of mine up Shockley's Ceiling(5.5).
A week after that I bought a rack of cams and the rest is history.
dev
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thomasribiere
May 21, 2006, 3:14 PM
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nice stories vegastrad' and dev'!
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joebuzz
May 21, 2006, 4:37 PM
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Mine was something called Snake Dike on some dome in Yosemite. Someone just told me it was super easy and I wouldn't have any problems. It was the start of my second climbing season and I recruited an even newer partner for it. Goes to show that some people's advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Needless to say, we survived and even finnished the route, but I haven't talked to the guy who sent us up there in years. Would this be considered my first sport route?
peace... joe
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pamolapat
May 21, 2006, 6:32 PM
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First sport lead was something at Rumney. Might have been Bolt Line at the Beginner's Wall. Also did some cool routes in the Hinterlands that weekend, some of which made me pretty scared.
Trad--very first was 3.2, a scrappy little 5.4 at the Beer Walls in Keene Valley, NY. My first real trad lead was the second and (as we did it) fourth pitches of Thais at Seneca Rocks in 50 temperatures on ths shady route in March. I felt so cold at the time I didn't realize until after we were off what an awesome route it really was.
Patrick
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hillbillywannabe
May 21, 2006, 6:40 PM
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the great arch at stone mountain NC 5.5 ranout...
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texwade
May 22, 2006, 3:05 AM
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Registered: Apr 15, 2006
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First sport lead was today at White Rock in New Mexico. The route wasn't very hard at all but it was still awesome.
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