How to lead sport climbs using trad gear

People always find new and creative ways to mis-inform others on the internet. Found this educational photo at "Extreme Adventure Sports!" ( extreme-adventure-sports.co… )

To illustrate the general description of trad pro, the site's got an image of a Tricam with the sling tucked through a bolt hanger and clipped! Now I understand what the mags mean when they talk about some badass "leading a sport climb on natural gear".

The rest of the site is mildly amusing in an amateurish sort of way, but this was the only real gem I found.

yet, another application of the badass tri-cam.

Also take note there are ONLY 4 types of protection and 2 kinds of belay device. Geez, I'm sure glad they straightened that out for me. And I say the ice climber is just using the back scratch function with that tool.

That site is a lawsuit waiting to happen...

My favs:

"the rattle of the carabiners as we walk to the rappel sight"

"wet (waterproof treated) rope and dry rope is also a personal choice. Dry rope is cheaper, but will become waterlogged if it gets wet"

"without an easy to use chalk bag your grip will definitely suffer"

"There are two different types of belay devices ATC’s. and Grigri"

Personally, I always choose a wet rope. This necessitates hauling a bucket of water to the crag with me so I can soak the rope in between pitches, but it's worth it to avoid getting waterlogged.

I'm really glad too that she has 18 years of soccer and softball coaching experience. I mean those are the sports that most directly relate to climbing and other "extreme adventure" sports.

"Rock climbing gear is some of the most important sporting equipment you will ever purchase. Your life will literally depend on it."
Yes, my girlfriend will kill me if she finds out how much money I have spent.

"The helmet is more for protection from rocks hitting you in the head, than protecting you in a fall."
Really? I guess I better get a wide brim helmet.

"I have also used a figure 8 which is popular. You will go down faster with a figure 8, although it can be slowed by feeding the rope in the small end. You have to decide if that is a good or bad thing!"
I've seen people "go down faster" with all sorts of belay devices.

Heh... clearly I didn't look closely enough at the site to find all the goodies. I do like the picture of the quickdraw-ish thing with the rope clipped into it that is just hung in front of a picture of Utah redrock. Hardcore.

This is also classic, especially in light of the ongoing thread about rappelling knots:
"If you need to tie two ends of rope together then you will use the double fisherman knot that is also known as the grapevine. This technique works with rope that is of two different sizes. The triple fisherman’s knot is also known as an overhand bend. The Europeans tend to call it the death knot." I can't even count the number of ways those few sentences are wrong.

Toby B wrote:Personally, I always choose a wet rope. This necessitates hauling a bucket of water to the crag with me so I can soak the rope in between pitches, but it's worth it to avoid getting waterlogged.

I think you meant you don't need to haul a water bottle to the crag cuz you can SUCK on the rope when thirsty while on the climb. That's wet rope technique.

"Carabineers are used as connectors and there are several different types of carabineers each used for different connections."

Carabineer-a soldier armed with a carbine (I looked it up).

This next quote sums up the entire website.....

"When I did my first ascent the rope was up against a rock ledge. I was not experienced enough to know how to remove my ascenders or self-rescue and I had no footholds to push myself away from the wall.

I hung in the air for about 20 minutes, spinning around...looking around...getting jittery- while I waited for help."

....She totally FA'd that fixed line! What a champ! Also was it impossible to just use the WALL to push away from the WALL or do you need footholds on the wall to push away from said wall? I'm confused now I don't think I've been rock climbing correctly for years, I better read the rest of her website.

P.S. Remember people; rapelling and ascending ropes (wet or dry) is a dangerous sport and should not be attempted without supervision from an untrained professional.

i really want to experience this...why the password!

CJ Coccia wrote:i really want to experience this...why the password!

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BiQm5Y0lRXAJ:www.extreme-adventure-sports.com/rock-climbing-gear.html+ extreme-adventure-sports.co…;cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

google cache rocks!

This lady and Jim Ebert should hook up their combined knowledge just might make the most helpful, educational top rope ascending climbing website where people go to find the best information on the internet to learning on how to rock climb, top rope and ascend rocks in the history of the universe their combined resumes would make grown men weep.

apparently she sucks at securing her site too. the password is ******

Edit: I've removed her password from this post by her request.

I am always puzzled when I hear rappelling referred to as a sport.

extreme-adventure-sports.co…

Did she try to lock her site down based on the discussion here? Apparently more people browse MP than I thought. Anyway, its not password protected now.

Nice Spencer. I was going to suggest that her and Jim Ebert (AKA baddest motherf@cker around) should start a climbing school for suicidal dumbdumbs to learn how to be the best rad trad top roping reppelling american uber ascenshun supastars! But you beat me to it. Ha! I love the hyperbole in Jim's writing. He really adds a poingnant, yet mind numbingly stagnant, twist to climbing style and ethics. Alas, we can't all be so bold to lead the way, put down the purse, and take the digital sharp end. I would love to hear Mark Twight's thoughts on these goonbabies.

What the hell? Following a link from her site to her "favorite rock climbing book", I ended up here: Higher Ground RockClimbing

Has anyone seen this before? It's like QVC comes to the climbing world. I don't know whether to be amused or depressed...

If anyone is bold enough to sign up for the free mini-course offer, please share it with us!

HEY! Please don't equate her with Jim Ebert. She's untrained and inaccurate all across the board. Jim is 100% real, genuine, safety conscious, with correct training and instruction. Yes, he may teach alot of top ropers but he is for real, even with that blunder of a resume that was posted to the internet .

yet another sign the apocalypse is coming...820 days to go

Alexander Nees wrote:What the hell? Following a link from her site to her "favorite rock climbing book", I ended up here: Higher Ground RockClimbing Has anyone seen this before? It's like QVC comes to the climbing world. I don't know whether to be amused or depressed... If anyone is bold enough to sign up for the free mini-course offer, please share it with us!

Check this out!

oh wow... the pic of the tricam in the bolt...wtf? did i miss the new stlye that everyone's trying now, lol!