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mountaindude86
Sep 4, 2002, 3:07 AM
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Hello,
Just started lead climbing.
Looking for any tips anyone might have.
[ This Message was edited by: jt512 on 2002-09-09 12:19 ]
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stevematthys
Sep 4, 2002, 3:38 AM
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dont be afraid to fall. fear will only hold you back. but remember that a tiny bit of fear is always good, it keeps us alert and alive.
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dondiego
Sep 4, 2002, 3:43 AM
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I used to toprope things before I would lead them when I first started leading that way I would have more confidence to take chances. After a while, I got the hang of it and also had some huge whippers (falls) and realized that I didn't need to toprope anymore. Good luck!
-Don Diego-
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mountaindude86
Sep 4, 2002, 6:04 AM
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Well today i lead a 5'10B and i did well
no falls(thank god) im gonna lead a 5'13A
for my senior proj. but i'll kick it's ass
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the_elk
Sep 4, 2002, 6:15 AM
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Just remember that you will generally be able to toprope harder than you can lead... leading is more than just climbing, it's a mental game too.
Are you leading sport stuff or trad stuff? In my experience, I can lead about 4 grades harder on sport routes than trad... but that said, I know my placements are good, and I'm not usually worried about my gear popping.
I did second for a long time before I led too, that way I could look at placements... and learn.
You haven't climbed til you've led! Totally new and exciting experience! Gets all your senses going.... Awwww, it's awsome ain't it?
Cheers,
Elk
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mountaindude86
Sep 4, 2002, 4:33 PM
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lets see....it was a sport climb...im gonna
go fiddle with 2 or 3 climbs up at table rock today im gonna try to get in about 7 pitchs today...nothing to hard...
god i love climbing!!!!!
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betaben
Sep 4, 2002, 4:59 PM
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The most important thing in selecting your first few Leads is to look at the route and assess the falls you might take, are they clean, will you hit anything if you fall, does the route traverse(if it does the fall will give you a big pendulum and you could hit the rock, especlly if theres a diahedral(corner) near). If you don't know then ask pepople who have climbed the route before.
If you want to begin Trad leading follow and clean lots before leading, and practice placing gear on the ground. Place your piece then attach a 2 foot sling and jump on it. if it don't come out it's good.
CLIMB HARD
the sharp end is where it's at.
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acrophobic
Sep 4, 2002, 5:21 PM
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yeah, fear of falling is your worst enemy on lead... the only way past it i think is conditioning.
Get used to falling and trusting the equipment. After a while you get used to it and don't go into a panic on every hard move above your last bolt
[ This Message was edited by: acrophobic on 2002-09-04 10:21 ]
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krillen
Sep 4, 2002, 5:32 PM
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watch your feet. Everytiem you use a foothold, make sure it's not behind the rope. If you fall with your leg behind you'll ge ta nasty rope burn, or it can flip you upsidedown and cause serious injury.
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overlord
Sep 9, 2002, 10:11 AM
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t oreduce fear of alling... just fall.
CLIMB ON
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climbingcowboy
Sep 9, 2002, 11:20 AM
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Along with the above comments learn on mostly all passive pro (nuts, tri cams, hexs)
and then move on to cams trust me sonner or later youll be ready to blow out of crack somewhere because you used your last #_ cam and cant figure out what piece of passive gear will fit best.
Then AHHHHHHHHHHH
your air bourne. that sucks.
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threefox
Sep 9, 2002, 11:48 AM
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I agree with Cowboy, learn the passive stuff first (if possible). I'm trying to expand my Trad Lead and until recently I only owned passive stuff.
I think that having experience working with passive pro makes me better able to place active stuff.
Not to mention you can easily carry more passive for a fraction of the cost and weight of cams.
Adam......
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climbingpride
Sep 12, 2002, 11:10 PM
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Just a question but..
What do you do if you cant complete the route? Like you fall and cant get past that move? do you just lower off and just leave in your draw? What do you do?
Pride
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beyond_gravity
Sep 14, 2002, 3:36 PM
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You can get a "bail biner" and lower off of that. It's just a cheap biner. Of course, you have to climb back up.
Another option is to climb up, clean the top drawn and downclimb the route cleaning the pro as you downclimb. But it would probably easyer just to finish the route.
There is a way to lower without leaving any gear but i'm not going to get into that because you should wait untill you have more experience before you try to do it.
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onemistakebigpancake
Sep 14, 2002, 4:26 PM
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When i went on my first lead boy was i psyched!
i can follow and top-rope upto a 10c with no problems. My partner picked a route for me, when i saw it, i remember seeing it as a 5.4 n the book and never bother climbing it. i told him to give me something more challenging... he said, just try this first. THANK GOD one of us has their head screwed on straight! i didn't get scared or take a whipper but, it was definetly a challenge thinking about placement, rope management, cams walking, etc... i stuck in five pieces on a 20m climbs, he told me two sucked, one marginal, and two were bomber. Anyway to make a long story short, it's more of a head game than i thought, thinking about your personal and your partner's safety is a must, and get the gear placement perfect BEFORE trying to get the next level, you may not get a second chance!
climb safe
[ This Message was edited by: onemistakebigpancake on 2002-09-14 09:28 ]
[ This Message was edited by: onemistakebigpancake on 2002-09-14 09:43 ]
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lilred
Sep 14, 2002, 5:03 PM
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I JUST got my lead head a few months ago...
The way I got over my fear was to climb to the anchors, and DON'T CLIP...make sure you're safe to do so, and
FALLLL
Also, make sure you communicate to your belayer before you do this...(on the ground before climbing)...this was the only way I got over my fear...Fear will hold you back and will distract you from your climbing...if your thinking about falling, you aren't concentrating on the movement, which really holds you back. Climb until you peel, don't take.
As far as what to do if you can't make it to the top, make sure you're climbing with someone who CAN get to the top...thats what I do
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boulderingmadman
Sep 15, 2002, 12:20 AM
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best piece of advice i got when learning to lead, especially for hard sport climbs, is to look for your rests from the ground. spotting your rests and "learning" the sequences BEFORE you leave the ground will help you be able to concentrate more on climbing. youll know where youre going and how long til that bomber rest...
as for the falling...on a sport climb, i do NOT recommend telling your belayer before taking a purposeful plunge. why?? because it makes your belayer complacent.
your belayer should be ready to catch a fall at ANY time, whether youre clipping the anchors or pulling through the "crux" on a 5.4. the best time to find out your belayer sucks is when you are high on a sport route with good bolts and a clean fall.
if (s)he f---s up at that point, get a new belayer. learning that your belayer isnt paying attention close to the ground with a 1.4 fall factor will get you killed. everytime you you yell "FALLING!!" before you peel, you make your belayer EXPECT that, and it wont happen everytime.
they need to learn to pay attention no matter WHAT the situation...DONT make them complacent by warning them...
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millersqu
Sep 15, 2002, 4:56 PM
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Just so you know, boulderingmadman, if your belayer F--ks up at that point, when you're high on a route, you can forget about getting a new belayer, because you will be a piece of hamburger on the ground. It seems pretty stupid to test your belayer's competence without knowing their abilities.
[ This Message was edited by: millersqu on 2002-09-15 09:57 ]
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boulderingmadman
Sep 15, 2002, 5:02 PM
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well, to be honest, it seems pretty f---ing stupid to use a belayer you arent sure you can trust to begin with, dont it??
thats pretty much my point. trusting that your belayer will stop you is elemental. at least high off the ground, if your belay is setup right, the fall factor is low enough to make a minor mistake correctable. closer to the ground, fall factors(because of the lack of rope let out and gear in the system) are higher, causing greater impact on the belayer and the climber.
distance of the fall is unimportant. 15 feet or 50 ft, it still sucks. its the fall factors that are important. the higher up on the route you are, the more gear(hopefully) youve clipped into, the more rope length has been let out, the lower the fall factors...
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