Is trad climbing dangerous reddit There were no climbing gyms and sport climbing wasn't invented yet. There is a climb I’m wanting to project, and the top is accessible by foot to set up a top rope. I would have used threes, but didnt have any static rope with me this time. Middle Rear (5th loop): Bought my Petzl Aquila specifically for this loop for trad climbing. And you did not have some arbitrary grade you had to be able to climb before even thinking about climbing Traditional climbing: use at your own risk. I am now projecting 5. 1 and 0. If you live near good trad climbing, use a climbing forum like Mountain Project or a social network like Facebook Groups to find local climbers that have experience looking for partners. I’m thinking of a set of Black Diamond C4 cams from . I’m building my first trad rack for climbing within a couple hours of the Seattle area, mostly at Index and Leavenworth, Vantage in the winter. 10 routes on toprope at the gym, learn to sport climb -> Once competent at lead climbing and belaying sport routes, learn to single pitch trad climb -> Once competent at single pitch trad climbing and anchor building, begin climbing easy multipitch routes Skip Reddit, go to Mountain Project instead. Easy TR access, easy gear, easy climbing. Fair, I was mostly looking at the age and thinking that if the kid had been climbing for a while that he would have made some connections in the trad world. Best option is to hire a professional rock guide and have them teach you, or take a group class, or go to an event/climbing festival. Reply reply The home of Climbing on reddit. trad climbing is dangerous but can be perfectly safe depending on the climb and how well you place gear. However, I have climbed exclusively on Ontario limestone and learned to place gear here from an AMGA guide. Only thing I wish is that it were the ultralights and zeros throughout since fully l I have totems down to . 5 and #0. Climbing, skiing, hiking, kayaking. Climb with a lot of people and find the people who like to teach and mentor, find the people who like to continue learning. I've climbed multipitch sport for a year or so, Climb at around 5. " I've sport climbed for a while but am only now getting into trad. Have they been inspected? Reslung? Your first trad rack doesn’t need to be the newest BD ultralight fancyness, unless you have the money. My best advice is to make friends with other climbers who are willing to take you out. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter if it’s 15 years old, what matters is the climbing history. 2 x4 on a small whipper so they are on my shitlist. And cardio, the amount of hiking was the crux for me, not the climb. Once I started climbing, I thought trad was insanity. They place well; and expand a surprising amount for the smallness. The only advice I can give is place early and often and avoid having only one piece between you and disaster. I think in the end though cams generally are more useful in most situations and would probably help with the mental battle of trad climbing more that hexes. For longer pitches you’ll want two half ropes. I tend to lead everything for my friends so own 1. Just like everything in climbing, it's all situational. It’s also allowed climbers to push the boundaries of possibility and attempt free climbing routes with minimal trad gear placements. This was my first route with no bolted anchors and it was too much fun! The route was staircase at eleven mile in Colorado 5. Shite that it was made for people that don't have a clue about climbing, so we have to make a "show" to keep the viewers in front of the TVs. In this thread you can ask any trad climbing related question that you may have. 10 pitch is stress-free when you understand that it goes at 5. It's not a bad idea to know how to ride a bike, but it's not a prerequisite. They are a solidly made basic cam from a reputable Italian manufacturer. Thank you all for feed back! Cant believe how much there is to improve. As you make the climbing less adventurous (below altitude, sport climbing, indoor, etc) it becomes safer, but rock climbing is a dangerous sport. And the sooner you get started placing gear & handling the logistics of trad and adventure climbing, the better off you're going to be. This thread will be posted again every Sunday so there should always be an opportunity to ask your question and have it answered. Depending on the area, you may have to build your own anchors (not sure if the Gunks has a lot of fixed anchors or not), which changes a lot of the logistics of getting up and down without leaving gear. Hi all, I’m fairly new to trad climbing and particularly inexperienced when building anchors. Totems: smallest 4 sizes. Max onsight are both 12b. Members Online Here’s some shitty quality pics, demonstrating the appropriate technique to lose all body tension and flail desperately, before lowering off into a manzanita bush. 5 & . I'll share some observations I had and what the guide said. Laybacking isn't ideal for trad climbing because it puts your body weight and head away from where you'll be wanting to put protection. 10/11), and took some trad and mountaineering courses, I climbed enough trad to scare myself and knew I didn't want to push my limits there. The popular trad climbs were put up years ago with 50's and 60's when those were the norm (60 is still the norm for trad climbing IMO). Thanks for the breakdown, I don't live in the UK but do want to visit sometime (specifically for the purpose of climbing). The rope and helmet needs to be outside the pack. 2 z4. 4-4, with . rocks, animals, walkoffs, weather, any other hazard you can think of can get you while climbing trad. I have a rack of totems then BD C4 . Add your thoughts and get the conversation going. You can be incredibly cautious, or you can walk upon a razor's edge. 0 coins. The dual axle design is largely obsolete, but it's still a proven concept that does the job. Passive pro is simple enough and it's great to learn because you can IMMEDIATELY see that the piece will stay. No pure trad pitches outside the course (little beginner-suitable rock for that around here) but maybe a few dozen pitches of mixed trad (runout pitons and bolted/natural features belays mostly) and passages of alpine I protected on gear. 7 with easy but thoughtful good active and passive gear) and and by the time you need to take or even fall you should have placed enough gear/and your follower should have been diligent about calling you out on any bad placements so you I've been climbing off and on for a few years and love going outdoors but there aren't many sport routes near me (Southern PA). it's dangerous. For most of trad climbing bailing is easier than sport! You just aid through the hard moves. My favorite is being a few pitches up and realizing the crux of the route is going to be the thinly protected traverse I'm about to lead. I have been climbing for a little over a year and learned most of what I know about sport climbing from a friend. A lot of people get hung up on the transition, but there truly is trad climbing for every level of climber, as long as you're placing good gear and understand the principles keeping you safe. A lot of the pieces look to be in decent shape. I think that trad climbing probably leads to the least amount of injuries, statistically. then this grade (5. I'm making this post because I climb at a crag where climbing on other peoples' anchors is commonplace, but there are a lot of inexperienced climbers and sketchy anchors. WC: Off-fingers to fist size. Perhaps there’s a bit of a valley of use, where younger intermediate climbers use them the least, and new leaders and really old trad climbers have them racked up the most. If you don’t bring the right gear, or place it incorrectly, or drop it, things can get very dangerous very fast. Fine for some objectives, not for others. Put your partner on rappel with the tube closest to the anchor. They’re super light, super flexible and they seem to fit everywhere. I'm planning a trip to Vegas in the spring and looking for recommendations for multipitch trad adventures. The C4, Drago If you are not used to granite/slab climbing/crack climbing…. 5 and we did it in 3 pitches. 3 z4s. You don't want to sport climb with alpine draws. A recent thread about replacing/removing fixed gear at Stony Middleton stimulated a lot of more general discussion about the future of trad climbing. The modern day progression for this is: learn to rock climb-> Once you comfortably climb 5. football or tennis, where there is no such inherent risk, which needs to be prevented. I did a bit of top rope and sport climbing after that, and moved onto climbing a little bit of trad as a second for a while until I felt I was ready to start leading trad. 78 votes, 64 comments. Mar 13, 2024 · For sport climbing, you want full-size, wear-resistant biners on stiff, beefy slings (think Petzl Express or Trango Smooth draw). Premium Powerups Explore Gaming Trad's a dangerous game, if you're not I’ve been climbing hard sport for a long time but just started trad climbing this year and I’m hooked! I’ve been climbing trad way below my limits to be safe. Nice to see that finally we have some good climbing movies, or climbing tv series. My trad leading grades are so far quite a bit below my sports grade, but I'm working on a lot of easy trad routes and upping the grade a little bit at a time. This is unlike e. 75 for the BD Z4s but don’t have any experience with them. each different style of climbing has a different mix of these. Go to Colorado region forums and ask for a climbing partner. It’s better to have more gear than you need if you’re new to the trad game. IMO, the expected progression of gym>sport>trad does nobody any favors. Typically there are convenient spots to belay at those lengths. This is reddit. Climbing=trad climbing. No amount of reading or YouTube is a substitute for just getting out and doing as much multipitch trad climbing as you can. there's two main things that appeal to people about climbing: fitness and adventure (meaning longer approaches, longer routes, more risk, more exposure, adverse weather, more gear and technical skills required). So I'm wondering is it possible to teach myself. Free-soloing is dangerous, simul-climbing is dangerous, crossing glaciers is dangerous, driving to the crag is dangerous, crag dogs can be dangerous. Next thing you have is a climbing partner and hopefully lifelong friend. what the fuck am I doing up here Had that more than a few times. My take is that the dragons are really great for alpine climbing. You can narrow the definition as much as you want, but cumulatively, you are taking more risk by climbing on gear. Feb 25, 2021 · The Future of Sport Climbing vs Trad Climbing Whether for trad or sport, the improved safety of technical climbing gear through the years has inspired more people to enjoy rock climbing. I agree with your intuition. See full list on scoutorama. A full set of climbing equipment that is enough to start doing trad can be had for the price of a decent mountain bike or a road bike. Some of them passed away paddling big dangerous rapids on hard rivers. IMO, this is the best all around book. If you're climbing trad here, you're climbing cracks and slab. Trad climbing was not some big goal that you had to work up to by a progression of gym > sport > trad. For single pitch trad under 30m you can use one half rope and tie in to the middle to lead. But, we called it "climbing". Yes, I am talking about the Solution Guide. Climbing in the northeast I’ll clip pitons every other pitch at least, often multiple times a pitch or at anchors. Generally, trad climbing is less athletic as opposed to gym climb particularly, which is why there is the stereotype of the “trad dad” that’s out of shape and only climbs 5. You don’t touch trad, so your opinion is irrelevant. I like DMM stuff cos it’s 100% designed for British trad but there’s nothing wrong with other brands. To me, they each have different merits, and it has nothing to do with the grades. As with all climbing shoes there’s a strong element of personal preference but grit trad climbing is pretty smeary and involves a lot of standing still psyching yourself up to commit so you’re generally going to want pretty much flat shoes but ones with a good amount of tension to them (so not completely flat comfy beginner shoes) which is After a couple years trad climbing, here's what I would do if I had the money to build a new rack from scratch. I was reading about nut placement on a Mountain Project article (mirrored from climbing. Hello, I'm looking to get into trad climbing. I understand that it's common for guidebooks to warn climbers about sandbagging or climbs that aren't ideal for inexperienced leaders. Im going to get rid of the . Skip to main content. The home of Climbing on reddit. Some people felt that many lo Trad climbing IS more than just placing gear in the sense that it is also: understanding the micro and macro structure of the rock, reading for good rests and spots where it is comfortable to place, gear management, very often anchor building, very often crack climbing (jam it up!), and a whole bunch of knowledge about different knots and some other gear. When you put yourself that far from the crack, you aren't able to see which size gear will fit (the guy tries to slot in a #1 again, and is again too small), and you also aren't able to see the features in the Also been collecting a trad rack for a while and I’m about to purchase the final pieces. If you're an experienced climber and want to contribute to the community, these threads are a great opportunity for that. Going to multi pitch course this year. Previous to having this harness, I just squeezed all this stuff behind all the alpines, but it was a pain. Flaws in the rock dictate where and when we can place gear. You rap on either line (to be super slick about it, you can stay tied into your figure 8 and rap on that side to be rapping on a closed system), get to the next anchor, tether in, your partner raps. Both sides of the rope are now fixed. The problem with free soloing is that if you do die, best case scenario you're creating a horrific mess somebody else has to clean up; worst case scenario you're damaging the global climbing community with a high-profile accident that will make people think climbing is more dangerous and irresponsible than it is, inspire private landowners to But here's my only advice that seems relevant to this thread. 11. Maybe good for harder stuff too but I'm a wimp when it comes to climbing on gear. We really just used it as a way to jumpstart our trad climbing careers because we didn't know too many other climbers to go the traditional "mentor-follower" style. Of course, like all climbing, it doesn’t matter in the slightest how you do it as long as you’re honest. There are no bolts for anchors, but there are two trees. Trad climbing is nuanced and there’s a lot to learn with the highest price to pay for mistakes. com Feb 14, 2022 · What Type of Climbing is Most Dangerous? In an examination of all roped rock-climbing accidents, trad climbers reported about three times the number of accidents as sport and toprope combined. 1-. I've been wanting to get into trad climbing for a while now but people at my gym are only interested in bouldering. 3-1 (black->blue) weighs less than a #0. Trad climbing requires years of expertise to master and should not be done without proper instruction. 75. However, the only real answer to your question is: whichever shoes fits YOUR foot best. Reddit is redditors first climbers second. I would bet money that bouldering causes the most injuries, then topropes, then sport climbing. After a couple years trad climbing, here's what I would do if I had the money to build a new rack from scratch. I think it's best practice for people to learn with three-piece anchors as their standard and use them for a while. It’s at least better style to avoid retreating. 4-4 and a single rack of friends . I am interested in learning to trad climb, but I feel more nervous to learn it from a friend because it is (in my mind) more dangerous and more complicated. Got a single rack of c4s . Next time you have a route with a long approach that uses a double rack, take the tricams instead of the second set. Then I was addicted to trad, but soloing seemed maniacal. Which is fine, and the right mindset for a lot of alpine terrain, but it will also hold you back from climbing routes at harder grades where falling is not super dangerous. Be on time, bring the snacks, offer to drive, etc. They also come in different colors, so you can My trad RP is actually higher than my sport (13a vs 12d). On here sits all the extra stuff. The pro goes where available, not always where we would like it to be. I started with trad in 1972. The totems add confidence in small cracks and pockets. I think it was worth it. After one year of trad climbing and nearly 100 pitches led, I am very comfy leading 5. Climbing is dangerous, if you consider that having no belay while being at top, can very likely result in falling to death. ) yap, i have a 0. Here's the thing. Unless you are climbing 5. MP, SuperTopo, and Facebook are places where you will find much, much, much more experienced climbers. Rock fall, difficulty retreating in bad weather, getting benighted, route finding, dangerous run outs, scary descents, and marginal anchors are all issues I've faced trad climbing. One can get 12 quick draws for the same price as 2 cams. Coins. 12 or harder on gear, there is no reason to spend $200 on climbing shoes with the exception of TC pros which are worth it if you climb enough to resole em once per year. you can make it as safe as you want to a point. I did my first trad route not too long ago (haven't lead trad yet though, which is good imo, no rush for these kind of things) but it had bolted anchors at the pitches and the end, which we ended up not using (the end one I have one pair for trad multipitch and I go a half size down for hard single pitch. 4M subscribers in the climbing community. The commitment level and objective dangers are higher with multi pitch trad (and I include aid climbing here). However if you're only climbing well protected splitters at well established crags with a fat rack, then it's essentially sport climbing. You don't even need a knot. Trad (short for “traditional”) climbing involves placing removable gear, such as nuts and cams, into cracks and other features of the rock to protect the climber in the event of a fall. The anchors I'm sharing below are for toproping, and not trad, but I think this subreddit is a good place to get opinions from other experienced climbers on anchor safety. Quite a few of my European friends have them; they're fairly cheap over here and perfectly adequate for plugging the occasional runout between bolts on typical alpine rock routes. C4s are great for pure trad: when I’m pumped while placing gear I really enjoy a thumb loop. the full last gives the shoes a lot of stiffness that i find really helps in cracks and edging. The WCs are basically C4s with extendable slings, but only go up to fist size. I think sport climbing is a good progression before trad because it is significantly more accessible. Trad climbing, however, is a huge leap from sport climbing. I never wake up and say "Damn, I realllly want to solo today. You can get a trad rack for the price of one pair of tech bindings for ski touring. There used to be no such thing as gym climbing or sport climbing. all can be as tame or as dangerous as you decide to make it. Well, trad climbing is not like placing bolts in sport climbing. I spent a few weeks trad climbing in the South Island. 5. If I'm climbing without gear - courting danger - albeit I imagine many if not all that do this court safety more than danger in their choices. Little cottonwood granite routes are sandbaged, and will feel much harder than the grade if you are not well versed in granite/slab-friction/crack climbing. 3 to 3, DMM wallnuts #1-11, and 8 60cm slings and 2 120cm slings. Haul loop: Shoes. You can find mentors even by taking a trip alone to a popular trad area with your rack and good belaying skills or maybe on an online forum. But since they all are adept climbers they tend to prefer to rant about not-climbing, whereas here the average user has a couple years of experience and still has climbing on the brain. Old crusty trad dads use them. Before I started climbing, I thought it was crazy. 6 route elsewhere. Start now. So I see most dangerous climbing I started climbing trad first, then sport, and now boulder a lot. My partner and I are learning to trad climb, started with mock placements and now are climbing very easy grades (5. "Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hill" is a good all around book that cover most aspect of mountain climbing, from walking up to ice climbing. I have a bunch of quick draws that I can repurpose as alpine draws using runners. For trad, however, much lighter draws work better—featherweight biners on thin, supple slings to reduce bulk and weight and provide a more flexible attachment to nuts (think Black Diamond Oz). In theory, a trad route of a given grade should be similar in physical difficulty to a sport route of the same grade, but will feel harder because of carrying a cumbersome rack, the knowledge and skill needed place gear effectively - and/or the mental control required when opportunities to place gear aren't as frequent as you might like. 5 and below), and we're stoked!! But also I'm wondering if there's any Gunks climbers in here who have advice on what walls to hit to keep practicing on super easy grades. Members Online • I use Camp Nano 22 for my trad rack. EDIT: I really prefer the men's version though. I know that everyone thinks it's super dangerous driving a car, but the reality is there are very few deaths per driver when compared to many of the other activities we do. The design of the totem is simply better imo. Same is true for older style single axle cams. Although this may be a consequence of me climbing in the Eastern US. It also has a large section on trad climbing and climbing technique, however, it may not be the most in depth read. 10 trad climbing. I always saw trad as more of a thing where you keep climbing and climbing easy terrain (think Red rock 5. true In this form of climbing, the protection is place into suitable formations in the rock while ascending. Unfortunately, he felt the screaming barfies coming, too, as it was so cold. Sometimes it's 30 feet and sometimes 400 feet. Hey everyone! I’ve been trad climbing for 3 years now and I am interested in switching my gear around. Traditional climbing: use at your own risk. I still do all three. I am a fairly new trad leader, so you should take what I say with a big grain of salt. 8+ at the Gunks. And yes we are scared of falling. Half ropes are much more popular for UK trad and you will hardly ever need more than 60m. I have heard that I would love the Up Mocc's and then also that the TC Pro is the end all be all of trad shoes. I think you would be devastated if a friend got hurt or died. Extendable slings are great in this setting. If you are single pitch climbing, it's probably fine, but multipitch climbing with a full double rack, draws, anchor material, atc/grigri, and water bottle/packable jacket gets really tight without a lot of gear loop space. If you go with this thought, you may miss out on what you can do with hexes and also do dangerous things with nuts. 5 racks looking to make it a true double. You can share carabiners between your quickdraws and alpine draws and just swap them out depending on if you're trad climbing and sport climbing. 11 (21 - 23 as I'm in oz). Yes. I got a lot of mileage in this way and was very lucky to have awesome people teach My background in placing gear is 30% alpine, 65% mixed sport climbing (you have bolts and pegs but using gear is advisable) and 5% pure trad. We came into it with a strong sport climbing background, understanding of pro, and general dos/don'ts. The rope and helmet were outside. 6) schoolroom will probably feel pretty hard, compared to say a typical 5. It's like saying you have to know how to ride a bike before you can drive a car. The load pulls directly on the lobes rather than the stem, this has many advantages. I know it's ideal to have someone show you how to trad but no one I know can climb trad. it's very dangerous even if you're completely careful. I also have fairly decent crack skills and sport onsight solid 5. Experience: climbing and mountaineering for 3 years, took a trad climbing course 2 years ago. As others have stated, nothing wrong with some QuickDraws on a trad route (maybe a nut is placed at a crux and you aren’t worried about it walking and it makes you feel better about fall potential; maybe the route is mixed and you want to clip the bolt with a QuickDraw; maybe it’s Specifically, I feel like it could be dangerous on easier trad climbs that inexperienced leaders are encouraged to try because of the listed grade. Trad climbing standards and practices change over time. The gear loops are tiny compared to my dead bird harness. Have fun and be safe my dude. Open menu Open navigation Open navigation 23 votes, 36 comments. I would probably always bring a set with me no matter where I'm climbing, they can be useful at times, even if you can be heard from 10 km away. Here's why I think this: You should never place a nut in a horizontal crack unless it is in a keyhole pocket where it won't rattle or slip out sideways, or you are doing two opposed nuts because there is no keyhole pocket. 70 is more weight on the approach, more rope to pull through and manage at your tiny belay. The climbing in some trad areas, like the Gunks and Eldorado Canyon, might involve a lot of horizontal rails, pockets, edges, and other features familiar to someone adept at face climbing, but the norm is for trad climbing to involve a lot of crack climbing as well. Trad climbing is dangerous: Every form of climbing is inherently dangerous, but even more so for trad climbing, because you’re responsible for bringing and placing your own protection. A lot of other hobbies are much more expensive. Be the first to comment Nobody's responded to this post yet. My local trad climbing area is eldo, so I place these things a lot, and I’ve fallen on them plenty. Go follow a handful of pitches on gear and try mock trad leading on TR, then have partner check your gear. 5 - #5. . Climbing on easy trad routes with finicky gear and lots of ledge fall potential put me in the "leader must not fall" mindset for all of my trad climbs. Eventually you should have enough experience to just inherently know when a two piece anchor is good, which tbh it is a lot of the time. That said, if you really want a stiff pair of shoes for long multipitches, boreal makes some good quality stiff shoes at a competitive pricepoint. 1. What would be the best way to utilize these trees for an anchor? (Configurations, knots, etc. To me, one of the great things about climbing (all of it, from mountains to ice to sport to trade, whatever) is that it's all about acceptable risk. some of them passed away on easy runs they should have been able to get down bare-handed without a paddle. A 20l is plenty for sport climbing, multipitch and a lunch. Or sports like backcountry skiing where you can do everything perfectly and the environment kills you if you are unlucky. A big problem with trad climbing on limestone is that the rock quality tends to be crappy. AAC members tend to be the most experienced climbers and therefore the group that would have the least amount of accidents, I would Traditional climbing: use at your own risk. Sophomore trad climbers are usually pretty stoked to take more people out climbing. Trad is an adventure and not some kind of stepping stone of progression from the gym. BD: big cams. The following analysis, and pie chart, exclude alpine and mountaineering incidents, which represent a separate climbing discipline with added dangers Jun 25, 2023 · Trad climbing can be dangerous if proper precautions are not taken or if the climber is not experienced enough. Trying a 5. Second story is not mine, and is an ice climbing story rather than just a trad climbing story-- It was a bitterly cold day, and he hadn't managed to poop before heading out that morning. Be the best partner to these people. There’s a ton of nice routes and long multis. Now I solo on occasion, and it still seems crazy. 9+ trad routes after only 2 years of leading trad. You need more information. Then you have sports like multi pitch trad climbing where the worst most people ever deal with is scrapes but if you aren’t careful, knowledgeable and paying attention you can face almost certain death. com), and was surprised that the first tip in the "advanced techniques" section was to place 2 nuts in opposition in a horizontal crack. Falls? How new is each piece. Backstory: I've always been outdoors, First as a junior ski racer, then spent some years climbing (at my best sport climbing 5. There are certainly very athletic trad climbers and routes but trad tends to be adventurous with loose rock, pants, dirt, and danger, so it’s just a different Oct 27, 2020 · Trad is more dangerous than sport. Posted by u/[Deleted Account] - 6 votes and 7 comments 20K subscribers in the tradclimbing community. I have done top rope, lead and trad climbing courses. Grigri, ATC, prusik, triple or quad length sling or a cordalette, bail gear, etc. I would wear this one for multi pitches. Gear fails or fuckups when rope climbing? - that's just bad and saying "climbing should be dangerous" if the latter happens is flawed imo. 7 C1 if you get shut down. Perhaps part of that is simply wanting to rationalise it away. 2 equivalent (black) and use metolius ultralight master cams for the smaller sizes 0 and 00. At my local crag (Squamish), the rock type is completely different for each discipline. I'm new to Trad climbing (have followed a ton, have a mentor, have taken a course with a guide) but I am having a really hard time identifying placements for cams that are trustworthy. bouldering and sport climbing are extremely fitness-intensive but But something just doesn’t feel right about climbing 30 feet up to the crux gear, placing it all, reversing, hanging around for an hour, and then going back up to send. He was on a scary lead and felt the pressure building. Trad gear (placing, bouncing, falling) absolutely damages sandstone, and other rock to a lesser degree, but it’s only a contention because those cracks are also used for hand/foot placement, whereas in sport climbing the holds aren’t affected by the protection. Seems to cover nearly all bases. I have done many normal anchors, some anchors to threes, but never before with trad gear. g. Hexes do deserve more love. We used a normal double rack and got by fine (with the exception of one route requiring multiple 5s and 6s, but the guidebook gives fair warning of that). 6-5. Little fixed gear is used when trad climbing, and fixed bolts are rare or absent. A set from 0. If you're on your 3rd trad lead ever and you're out of gear, looking at a dangerous fall, and all you have is a horizontal nut placement, you should reassess what you're climbing Go on a trad climbing trip with experienced leaders (get on very easy trad, 3-4 grades under your sport level) Start buying gear and repeat step 4. alpine climbing is really dangerous. (I'm a dude and know nothing about women's shoes) The Matterhorn is a serious climb. I use a rope and gear side carabiner, although I still haven’t seen enough damage to the biners to worry. The technical difficulty is not very hard, but it is on shitty loose rock, exposed as fuck, long - like, very long, as in more than 10 hrs climbing up and down long, crowded (which means lots of stones falling on you, rope jam all along, people surpassing, people coming down while you go up which leads to stressful crowded situations in the many bottlenecks Getting more and more into trad, and I've been doing so with a pair of La Sportiva Solutions, which admittedly, I adore climbing in, but hate having on for multiple pitches or entire days. I’ve been climbing hard sport for a long time but just started trad climbing this year and I’m hooked! I’ve been climbing trad way below my limits to be safe. I have friends who say that they have been climbing for a decade but refuse to learn new things and change their systems. i haven't whipped on them yet so i dont know about the durability, but i fucked a . 10 - 5. They are the most comfortable shoe I've worn and perfect for sub 5. Trad climbing with quickdraws is not ideal, but it works if you bring a few alpines as well for strategic extensions. Last week-end, I went trad climbing with a 40l pack. I also use some of my alpines to prevent rope drag on wandering sport routes. ststqsceohpctwifnnmycsgtnrmovmvziqfzvlvexywgo