Trad Climbing
Stone masters course
Trad climbing is the ultimate freedom, it is the most adventurous form of rock climbing. Trad climbing allows you to climb walls huge or small using only your own knowledge and skills. We have created a unique and effective program to take you from a nervous newbie trad climber all the way through to an experienced and competent expedition leader. Through a series of questions we determine your current abilities and experience. From here we place you accordingly in our program which begins with completely inexperienced climbers and finishes with well rounded and confident single pitch, multi pitch, and big wall climbers. Due to the nature of trad climbing, it also requires the most knowledge and decision making. In trad climbing it is crucial that a climber thoroughly understands trad climbing gear, rope management, route reading, anchor building, rappelling, as well as understanding how to assess the risks involved. Our program begins either on the cliff or in the gym depending on your experience level. Here we will begin to further your education in trad climbing. Some things we may teach you or have you attempt during an initial lesson:
-
Explain the gear, how it works and when to use what gear
-
Understanding placing gear, when to place gear and how to assess a gear placement
-
Learning the style of trad climbs (jamming, laybacking, smearing, stemming, etc)
-
Learning trad climbing specific commands
-
Begin “mock leading” (practicing placing gear on top rope) if you’ve never trad led before
-
Follow a multi pitch making notes of the line your coach has taken and where and when he /she has placed gear and built an anchor,.
-
Understanding the rope management required to safely complete a multi pitch climb
-
Understanding the decision making aspects of being a leader
-
If you’re ready you may attempt your first multi pitch climb