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ergophobe
Oct 18, 2003, 4:03 PM
Post #1 of 3
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Anyone remember when people first started using the term "trad" to describe leading routes while placing your own gear? The term multi-pitch like it describes some sort of climbing specialty? Mixed to describe a route that has bolts but requires you to place your own gear? My memory is all turning to mush.
I remember in the 80s when I took my first trip to Verdon, France, most Americans who even knew that climbing in France existed outside of Chamonix called the routes there "bolted" not "sport" climbs.
It seems like in the late 80s, early 90s I started hearing the term "sport" climb. I recently saw a ca 1990 issue of one of the climbing rags which had a long article on "how to sport" climb, which was written for people who were wanting to get into this new form of climbing, but they never use the word trad as far as I remember. It was a column to teach "climbers" how to become "sport climbers" with advice like "you may need some 'quickdraws' or short slings for clipping bolts" and "it is common in sport climbing for climbers not to pull the rope after falling". Latest lycra fashions on display.
I don't remember when I first started hearing the term "trad", but it seems like it was not until I moved back from Switzerland in 1995. I know for certain that's the first I ever heard the term "multi-pitch". In any case, that's the first I ever remember being asked if I "trad" climbed and if I did "multi-pitch" routes.
I do clearly remember (Thanksgiving trip, 1996) being baffled the first time someone described a route as mixed and I expressed surprise that the Red River Gorge had mixed climbs. Someone then explained to me that it was a mix of place your own gear and bolts. I had definitely never heard that before.
Tom
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Deleted
Oct 21, 2003, 3:52 AM
Post #2 of 3
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i'm no real climbing historian, but as far as i can figure the terms "trad" and "sport" probably got their start sometime in the early 90's as a way of distinguishing the old from the new.
i was in north conway, new hampshire in '89 when a small number of climbers began practicing such (at the time) despicable techniques on new lines as pre-inspecting and cleaning climbs on rappel, bolting on rappel -- first with the conventional hand-held bit-holder and a hammer; later with power drills -- hangdogging, etcetera. we had no idea where they were getting off using these tactics because, prior to their activities, the ethic was to climb from the ground up without pre-inspection or prior cleaning, to bolt [i:3164b1e42a]on lead[/i:3164b1e42a], and, if you fell, to lower to the ground, untie and pull the rope prior to casting off on another attempt.
eventually there had to be made a clear separation, and so the term "traditional" or "trad" came into being.
before sport climbing came onto the scene, the only distinctions made in [i:3164b1e42a]rock[/i:3164b1e42a] climbing were between [i:3164b1e42a]clean[/i:3164b1e42a] and [i:3164b1e42a]aid[/i:3164b1e42a] (back then sometimes refered to as [i:3164b1e42a]artificial[/i:3164b1e42a] climbing or [i:3164b1e42a]direct aid[/i:3164b1e42a]), and [i:3164b1e42a]free[/i:3164b1e42a] and [i:3164b1e42a]aid[/i:3164b1e42a].
i don't really recall the term [i:3164b1e42a]multi-pitch[/i:3164b1e42a], per se; usually we'd just refer to a climb as being one pitch, or several pitches long. it wasn't seen as a specialty in itself because it was just [i:3164b1e42a]climbing[/i:3164b1e42a] to us and nothing more.
i would opine that the term [i:3164b1e42a]mixed[/i:3164b1e42a], as applies to rock climbing, came into being following the inception of sport climbing. sadly, many people new to climbing are lacking in knowledge as to whence came our sport. bolts were used in climbing long before sport climbing came along; and to find one or two or several bolts on a route was no big deal. one of the main differences being that they were always placed on [i:3164b1e42a]lead[/i:3164b1e42a], and not on a toprope. many young climbers think that if a climb has bolts, then it [i:3164b1e42a]must[/i:3164b1e42a] be a sport route. nothing could be further from the truth. if you ever get the chance to climb an old-school (read: "trad") bolted route -- and your only experience has been on modern sport climbs -- get ready for a rude awakening.
in the old days, the leader would head up and place a bolt (remember: on lead; hoping not to grease off whatever stance he had for the 20-30 minutes it would take to drill a hole by hand and turn the bolt home), then continue climbing until he got sketched enough to drill [i:3164b1e42a]another[/i:3164b1e42a] bolt, and so on. the resulting route would have loooong runouts between bolts and -- for today's crop of sport climbers used to having one bolt at their knees and the next at arm's length -- be extremely under-protected. the idea being to create bold routes that took real sack to lead -- and many such "death" routes wouldn't see a second ascent for years -- rather than relatively the safe sport routes we see today.
back in the day, if you were on a route and found a bolt, you didn't need any special gear to clip it and go. in modern sport climbing, if you're on a route with nothing more than a dozen or so draws and you come to a section that requires gear you're pretty much sh*t out of luck. these days, [i:3164b1e42a]mixed[/i:3164b1e42a] alerts you to the fact you'll need to carry some gear.
i remember back in the late 70's or early 80's when, if someone was wearing a patagonia "synchilla" jacket and stand-up shorts, you [i:3164b1e42a]knew[/i:3164b1e42a] that person was a climber. in the past dozen or so years, however, our sport has become quite popular (pre-schoolers wear fleece and [i:3164b1e42a]grandmothers[/i:3164b1e42a] climb) and quite fragmented; everyone is a [i:3164b1e42a]climber[/i:3164b1e42a]. and with all those people participating, the lingo was bound to grow and change.
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ergophobe
Oct 24, 2003, 2:53 PM
Post #3 of 3
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Registered: Jul 1, 2002
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Another data point.
It's funny, after I posted I was looking through the shelf and came across a 1993 issue of "Sport Climibng" magazine with an interview of Tony Yaniro. He uses the terms "trad" and "traditionalist" climber to refer to those climbers who hassled him for route-specific training, pre-inspection and so on, but never to refer to someone who places gear on lead.
In my memory, I went off to Switzerland in '92 and came back in '95 and people kept asking me questions I didn't understand or ahd never heard before like "Do you trad climb?" (I had to ask what that was) or "Do you multi-pitch climb?" (I could figure that one out, but had to laugh). The thing is, I left from and returned to Purgatory (er Wisconsin), which doesn't really have much sport or multi-pitch climbing, so I don't know whether usage there was typical or lagged.
Anyway, just curious.
Tom
Tom
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