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gardy90
Apr 12, 2010, 2:26 AM
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hello, im fairly new here. ive been climbing for quite a few years, the past few have been alot of sport. im wanting to get into trad, my question is what would you recommend as far as doing this safety, without just buying gear and going all in without practice placing pro?
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MS1
Apr 12, 2010, 2:59 AM
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gardy90 wrote: hello, im fairly new here. ive been climbing for quite a few years, the past few have been alot of sport. im wanting to get into trad, my question is what would you recommend as far as doing this safety, without just buying gear and going all in without practice placing pro?
Follow good leaders and learn from them. Read Long's Climbing Anchors. Do some clean aid leads. Then, when feel you are ready, start free leading on gear, but keep the difficulty very low until you have confidence in your placement skills.
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maldaly
Apr 12, 2010, 3:46 AM
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Hey gardy90, don't know where you live but if it's anywhere near the New River Gorge, sign up for my free clinic at the New River Rendezvous, Trad Climbing for the Chicken Hearted. It's always a great place to get an intro. Here's the course description I sent in to the organizers:
Trad Climbing for the Chicken-Hearted
Head Chicken: Malcolm Daly
Little Pecker: Jim (Shim) Shimburg
Requirements: Climbers who attend should have a good working knowledge of climbing terminology, solid belay and rappel skills and know how to tie and identify a figure 8 tie-in knot. We will not instruct on the basics of belaying and rappelling however, we can help with techniques that are specific to certain types of equipment.
Equipment: Harness, Helmet, Rappel/Belay device, Climbing Shoes, Rucksack, Water, Food, weather-appropriate clothes and hat. Participants should bring their own rack* of they have it.
This full day interactive clinic will cover many of the basics of trad climbing as learned through 40 years of trial and error efforts by the Head Chicken and the Little Pecker. We'll start the day by tearing through a trad climber's backpack and examine everything that is in it, why it's there and how it's used. This will focus primarily on the climbing gear but will also cover the accoutrements that make life safe and enjoyable on a day's outing. We'll cover:
* packs
* harnesses
* first aid kits
* dealing with shit
* passive protection (nuts, stoppers, tricams)
* active protection (cams, big bros, other springy things)
* belay devices
* slings/draws
* clothes
* food
* water
* lighting
Following this session will be the time to place gear and climb! We'll find an area that has potential to practice placing and removing gear as well as be able to set up a mock lead. Attendees will have a chance to take a lead fall on the gear they place!
Note: This is not an anchor clinic. We will not instruct the "building" of SERENE anchors. If you want SERENE, listen to the Cowboy Junkies.
Caution: This clinic is unabridged and R rated. Language will be fluid, colorful and occasionally profane. We mean no offense: this how we communicate in the trad world. You WILL be changed by attending this clinic and you must be prepared for anything.
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coastal_climber
Apr 12, 2010, 4:19 AM
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What he said.
I really recommend the clean aiding. Gives you time to make good placements, without the time/energy pressures.
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mhix13
Apr 12, 2010, 4:58 AM
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Haven't read Long's Book but I did get Leuben's anchor book (I hear they're virtually the same); read them and maybe check out other sources of advice/info. Look up pics of good and bad placements on the internet. Find people in your area to follow and clean their gear for them (this will also afford you the opportunity to see if you like trad at all). Make a lot of placements from the ground with gear and then hook a sling to it and bounce test the hell out of it (a set of nuts is not a bad investment as you'll need at least a full set to lead most stuff). Take the grade you sport climb and kick it down a few grades (I was somewhere in 5.9 territory and started trad. around 5.6 plus or minus a grade. it's not ideal to fall on 5.7 or less... the stuff is usually leaned in and conducive to breaking legs in a fall.
Really I think your first trad. lead is more mental than anything else. If you were leading 5.6 on sport it wouldn't be a big deal but when your relying on your own placements it becomes more sketchy feeling. Taking that first step on the sharp end with a rack full of gear is intimidating... but very rewarding 
just my humble opinion... good luck!
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irregularpanda
Apr 12, 2010, 5:34 AM
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maldaly wrote: This clinic is unabridged and R rated. Language will be fluid, colorful and occasionally profane.
What he said, go do that. Sounds like fun. Maybe you'll get a chance to get elbow deep in some slippery wet cracks, while your nuts are in your mouth.
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gardy90
Apr 12, 2010, 6:21 AM
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thanks everyone, well what i had figured i would start off with is picking up a set of nuts and a set of hexs and from what i have read both are the backbone so to speak of a trad rack, then i figured i would start by leading some sport routes ive done many times, and in between bolts or at bolts, place a piece of gear, and i live in cheyenne WY but do alot of my climbing in RMNP and around Allenspark colorado
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suprasoup
Apr 12, 2010, 10:30 AM
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I'd forgo the hexes. Save the cash and pick up slings or biners for trad draws. It'd be much more useful.
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MS1
Apr 12, 2010, 11:28 AM
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gardy90 wrote: thanks everyone, well what i had figured i would start off with is picking up a set of nuts and a set of hexs and from what i have read both are the backbone so to speak of a trad rack, then i figured i would start by leading some sport routes ive done many times, and in between bolts or at bolts, place a piece of gear, and i live in cheyenne WY but do alot of my climbing in RMNP and around Allenspark colorado
You can do this, but it's not an ideal way to learn to place gear. There is a lot more to it than just throwing gear into rock. Partnering up, following, and aiding will all teach you subtleties about placement that just placing a few pieces in on a sport route will not.
Also, don't get hexes right now. I own some and bring them on routes occasionally, but you will be much better served by a few mid-range cams (BD 1-3 would be a good start) and some trad draws.
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charley
Apr 12, 2010, 11:29 AM
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Mal, it is nice to see that you don't have to be able to climb 5.8 to take your clinic. One of the reasons I have stopped going to the vue is that climbing 5.8 was a requirement for most of the clinics and I don't consistently climb 5.8.
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phang_nga
Apr 12, 2010, 12:12 PM
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You could also try top-roping while placing gear. In other words, climb on two ropes. If your pro pops, you're still cool.
Falling on purpose in this scenario helps build confidence in your placements too.
Yes, the New River Gorge is a wonderful place to climb... I used to climb there back in the early 80s... back in the day.
Good luck!
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petsfed
Apr 12, 2010, 1:07 PM
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gardy90 wrote: then i figured i would start by leading some sport routes ive done many times, and in between bolts or at bolts, place a piece of gear
No. Unless the route was poorly bolted, you won't have that opportunity.
Also, 40 minutes from your home is an excellent trad climbing area, with lots of easy and moderate routes. Vedauwoo is fairly low commitment, as these things go, so if you're not up to leading the route, you've still got lots of options for retrieving your gear. Alternately, go to Estes and climb at Lumpy Ridge. If you put out a "looking for partners" message on Mountain Project that explains that you're looking to learn trad, you'll probably get quite a few hits. I'd volunteer, but I won't be back in Laramie until August, and you're probably dieing to get started.
(This post was edited by petsfed on Apr 12, 2010, 1:09 PM)
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karmiclimber
Apr 12, 2010, 1:57 PM
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So when are you taking me to Corrugation Corner? I'll bring the new-fangled cams and you bring the know-how.
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dingus
Apr 12, 2010, 2:14 PM
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when it warms up Karmi. Its dumping up there right now!
DMT
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karmiclimber
Apr 12, 2010, 2:17 PM
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No shit. I'm coming out in late july. Should be warm then, eh? Ever climbed at the Kyburz affair? I have some routes from there on my ticklist.
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gardy90
Apr 12, 2010, 5:36 PM
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yea ive been out that way to vedavoo(sp?) havent done much climbing there, done a bit of bouldering though, and it realy only takes 20min or so to get there. but im itching realy bad to get some outdoor climbing in soon, my regular climbing partner wont be out this way until late may, and shortley after that we are looking to climb longs peak via kieners route.. going to try the keyhole route this weekend if the weather holds, granted its prolly still snow covered haha
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evanwish
Apr 12, 2010, 11:18 PM
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dingus wrote: gardy90 wrote: hello, im fairly new here. ive been climbing for quite a few years, the past few have been alot of sport. im wanting to get into trad, my question is what would you recommend as far as doing this safety, without just buying gear and going all in without practice placing pro? Taking The Leap into Trad is an excellent idea!  DMT
Good pun, ha.
But more likely,
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squishy654
Apr 12, 2010, 11:29 PM
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I love the hogback, best place to learn trad IMO...and later free soloing...
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dingus
Apr 13, 2010, 12:00 AM
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evanwish wrote: dingus wrote: gardy90 wrote: hello, im fairly new here. ive been climbing for quite a few years, the past few have been alot of sport. im wanting to get into trad, my question is what would you recommend as far as doing this safety, without just buying gear and going all in without practice placing pro? Taking The Leap into Trad is an excellent idea! [img]http://p6.hostingprod.com/@treks.org/usa01_05.jpg[/img] DMT Good pun, ha. But more likely, [IMG]http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p96/evanphoto/IMGP3206.jpg[/IMG]
My first roped climb in CA was (drum roll please) Corrugation Corner. Seriously, it was!
DMT
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willwill
Apr 13, 2010, 2:40 AM
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I'm fairly new to trad, but I'll go ahead and tell you what I did to learn. I started out with a set of nuts and hexes. I played with them a lot on the ground to get good at finding placements then started placing them as I climbed on toprope. I waited until I felt secure with the passive gear before I bought cams and started leading. This seems to be the advice a lot of people give and it seems to be good because when you are good at placing passive gear the cams are easy to learn. Have fun. Be safe.
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evanwish
Apr 13, 2010, 6:26 AM
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dingus wrote: evanwish wrote: dingus wrote: gardy90 wrote: hello, im fairly new here. ive been climbing for quite a few years, the past few have been alot of sport. im wanting to get into trad, my question is what would you recommend as far as doing this safety, without just buying gear and going all in without practice placing pro? Taking The Leap into Trad is an excellent idea! [img]http://p6.hostingprod.com/@treks.org/usa01_05.jpg[/img] DMT Good pun, ha. But more likely, [IMG]http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p96/evanphoto/IMGP3206.jpg[/IMG] My first roped climb in CA was (drum roll please) Corrugation Corner. Seriously, it was! DMT
Thats a great one when you get there without a line.
First roped climb in CA or just first roped climb? My first multi-pitch climbs were all over Hoggsback and the Lower Buttress. Corrugation is classic though.
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