Trad Course of Study

Hey y'all,

I've been climbing for almost a decade, but have never made the leap into climbing cracks or setting pro. I have plenty of experience climbing outside, but always with top-ropes or sport routes. I'm very safety conscious (read: scared), have read extensively about trad placement and anchors, and confidently climb 5.9-10 face climbs outdoors when protected. Amazing Face is a good example of a climb I feel comfortable on. I live in Oakland.

What I want out of trad climbing is access to climbs and locations (like Yosemite and Tuolumne) that feel out of reach with my current skill set. Not looking to be super-badass. I'm hoping you folks can recommend some easy local routes that will help me practice climbing cracks and getting comfortable with placing gear. Routes with solid placements and top-rope possibilities would be ideal. Even spots that are good for building anchors on the ground would be helpful. Eventually I'd like to hire a guide or find a solid partner to evaluate what I've learned before leading on my own.

Thanks!

The place I always like to recommend for those in the East Bay is Cragmont in Berkeley, particularly the 5.6 "crack" there mountainproject.com/v/begin… . No real crack technique is needed, but there are plenty of places to put pro and practice making anchors since the rock is very broken. A notch harder is the 5.7 undercling, located right next to the beginner's crack, which requires much more thought.