Tradclimbing+ the Positive Approach to Improving Your Climbing
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TradCLIMBING+ The positive approach to improving your climbing Adrian Berry John Arran Uncredited photos by Adrian Berry Other photos as credited Illustrations by Ray Eckermann Printed by Clearpoint Colourprint Distributed by Cordee (www.cordee.co.uk) Published by ROCKFAX Ltd. December 2007 © ROCKFAX Ltd. 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright owner. A CIP catalogue record is available from the British Library. ISBN 978 1 873341 91 9 www.rockfax.com Cover: Adrian Berry on Cockblock (E5), Clogwyn y Grochan, Snowdonia, Wales. This page: Steve Ramsden on Fay (E4), Lower Sharpnose, Cornwall, England. Alex Barrows on the crux of Quietus (E2) Stanage Edge, The Peak District, England. Contents 3 Introduction (4) Starting Out (8) Tactics (190) Introduction A guide for newcomers showing the Tactics is about how to best use the skills various ways to get into trad climbing, the you already have to get those routes in important differences between climbing the bag and is a major part of the climbing Starting Out indoors and outside, plus an introduction game. to the key safety skills and terminology. The Mind (206) Gear (28) Gear For many climbers, the mind is the weakest A comprehensive look at the myriad of gear link. By taking a more positive approach available, with advice on what to buy to your mind can be turned from being a build up your climbing rack. weakness to being your best asset. Protection Protection (58) Multi-pitching (238) A thorough analysis of how to place protec- Getting high off the ground adds a dimen- tion, with tips on how to make the very sion to climbing, one that can leave life- Ropework best of every feature found on the rock. long memories. Here’s how to do it safely and efficiently. Ropework (96) Training (254) Starting with all the knots you will need for Technique any situation, this chapter looks at how Improving your performance through train- advanced ropework skills will keep you safe, ing is the quick way to progress, this chap- and allow you to focus your energy on the ter looks at physical, technical and mental important business of getting to the top. training using a practical approach. Tactics Technique (160) Destinations (274) There’s no use in having the best gear So you’re climbing like a pro, here’s where The Mind placement and ropework skills if you can’t to go! There’s trad climbing to be found all do the moves - this chapter takes a trad- over the world, so quit your job, pack your specific approach to moving efficiently and bags and check out these destinations! securely. Multi-pitching Training Destinations (E3) Llanberis Slate Quarries, North Wales. Quarries, North (E3) Llanberis Slate Comes the DervishComes Main Header Paul Evans climbing Evans Paul 190 Introduction Starting Out Gear Protection Ropework Technique Tactics The Mind Multi-pitching Training Destinations Main Header 191 Introduction Starting Out Tactics Gear Protection Ropework To improve your climbing standard you can train many things. You can get stronger, fitter, and more flexible; learn to read moves better, Technique place gear more quickly and learn to cope with the stresses of the sharp end. But when you arrive at a crag with a route in mind it’s too late for all that. You are not suddenly going to Tactics get better as a climber but there are still many things you can do to improve your chances of getting up your target route. The Mind Tactics are ways of making the most of your current ability and turning it into success on your chosen route. Multi-pitching Training Destinations 192 Tactics Introduction Styles Onsight Trad climbing has no real ‘rules’; this is one An onsight ascent is one where you had no of the reasons many people are attracted to knowledge as to how to do the climb prior it. You are largely free to choose what you to your successful ascent. Of course you Starting Out want to climb and how you want to climb it. can get a good idea of what to expect by What matters most is that you don’t spoil studying it from the ground, or by climb- it for others, such as by chipping holds or ing other routes nearby, and sometimes hogging a route for hours on end. Beyond the guidebook will offer helpful advice. Gear that it’s largely up to you to choose how you want to climb. Flash While many people would agree that the If you get to the top of a route first time Protection most fulfilling way to climb a route is to without falling, you’ve flashed it. You can’t start at the bottom and work it out as you have top-roped any of the moves or failed go up, there are occasions when sticking on a previous attempt. A flash is distin- rigidly to this approach will limit the range guished from an onsight by the presence of ‘beta’ - helpful information about the Ropework of great climbing experiences available to you. climb: if you’ve watched other people on a route to see how they climb it, or asked As a result, a great many terms have people who’ve done it for specific advice, then your ascent will be considered a flash Technique evolved to describe the style in which climbs are done. What’s more, these terms rather than an onsight. and definitions are continually adapting, with the result that very few climbers ever Yo-Yo seem to agree on their precise meaning at If you fall off a route you may choose to Tactics any one time. But climbers are a competi- lower to the ground (or the last hands-free tive bunch, always striving to succeed on rest), leaving your rope in place and trying routes in the best possible manner. When the route again. This is called ‘yo-yoing’, they share their experiences in the pub or and it isn’t widely practised now that top- The Mind café afterwards, you’ll often hear them use rope rehearsal has become accepted as a (or misuse!) the following terms to de- legitimate - albeit less than ideal - tactic. scribe the way they climbed. Multi-pitching Headpoint Free The term headpoint comes from its sport A free ascent is one where no gear has climbing equivalent: redpoint, which been weighted. For an ascent to be free, means climbing a bolt-protected route you can’t have rested on gear, or used Training from bottom to top in one go regardless of direct aid by pulling on gear. Reversing to the amount of top-rope practice required. the ground to rest or re-think is fine, as is On a successful headpoint all protection coming back another day if it doesn’t feel will be placed during the ascent. The very Destinations right the first time. The term ‘free’ is also hardest trad climbs have only ever been often mis-used by non-climbers to mean headpointed, as they are so dangerous solo climbing without ropes. that a fall may be unthinkable. More on headpointing on page 204. Tactics 193 Pre-placed gear On many climbs, particu- larly multi-pitch routes, Introduction there is no convenient way to get the gear out after a fall, as you cannot easily run around to the Starting Out top and abseil. In these cases it is common to lower to the belay, pull Gear the ropes and try again with some of the gear in place. While it cer- tainly ‘taints’ your ascent somewhat it’s often a Protection better option than failing completely. Routes that have only been climbed in this style still await a Ropework truly clean ascent. Many routes have been climbed after protection Technique has been pre-placed on abseil. While such ascents are still free ascents, the general consensus Tactics amongst climbers is that deliberately pre-placing protection is a style that can and should be improved upon, and that The Mind routes established in John Arran soloing on gritstone during his record setting ascent of five hundred routes in one day. such a way should be clearly The route is High Flyer (E2) Burbage North, Peak District, England. reported as such. While many climbers choose to solo - par- Multi-pitching Soloing ticularly on shorter crags where the rock is solid like gritstone - it is not usually con- Soloing means climbing alone. In free- sidered better style, even though it may be climbing terms it usually means climbing more impressive. Of course there are some Training without using a rope or any protection, routes that are soloed by necessity, having although there are ways to self-belay, no options at all for placing protection. in which case it is usually called roped- Soloing such a route is in fact no different soloing. from leading it and the route will have been given a grade that reflects this. Destinations 194 Tactics Introduction Choice of style you’d onsighted, your ascent will have taught you a valuable lesson, and will There are some who would argue that on- probably give you the confidence to try sight is the only real way to climb and that other routes onsight. anything else is somehow cheating! While Starting Out it is true that many of your most memo- ... or to flash? rable climbs are likely to be those you’ve climbed onsight, if you stick to this rigidly Would it lessen the experience for you you will miss out on many great climbs, if someone told you the best way to do and may well develop your climbing skills the crux and what gear goes in best just Gear less rapidly than you otherwise might.