Aid Question: Dirty Aid Ethics in the Valley

You should ask The Chief (Rick) over at SummitPost or SuperTopo...he is a very accomplished aid climber... :)

Perhaps I should clarify: by 'roadcut' I mean a roadside cliff created in whole or in part by dynamite, and thus existing in a different moral universe than your average crag.

Bash away on those, I say. But BenDoyle's beta is pretty sound: nailing is not rocket science, and you'll get there when you need to be there. Artful trickery with hooks and cams and nuts will keep you plenty busy for a long time.

Instead of trying single pitch routes take your rack and go as high as you can on a wall. Bring a full haul bag and make sure to bail at night. Don't bring water for the true aid experience. Everyone can aid climb not everyone can trick themselves into thinking its fun.

Weston Lippia wrote:You should ask The Chief (Rick) over at SummitPost or SuperTopo...he is a very accomplished aid climber... :)

Hehehe.

More Balls Than Brains A3- 1 pitch R(166)
When I did it a year ago I relied on some fixed fixed heads and a baby angle. I doubt I needed to though. Don't remember and clean placements that were more than bodywieght so if you want a clean attempt, I'd try it on TR. Climb Church Bowl Tree then penji/tension traverse over t\o the bolts.

The Stigma A3 2 pitches R(45)
The short second pitch goes clean. Didn't do pitch 3 but looked like it would go Cf on fixed heads, some looked new a year ago, some not so much.

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Aid cragging is great fun. Don't listen to people that tell you to "get up there and learn on the wall" That argument has never made much sense ot me. Like bouldering to practice crux moves before you climb a bunch of pitches just to then start to work on the moves, Aid bouldering and Aid cragging give you the ability to be more secure with your nailing and clean nalternatives to nailing before you're a day up the wall and confronting it for the first time. Go prepared, not hard.

Kat Pinnacle Northwest Corner goes at 5.7 C2 no problem. The silly 5.5 P1 is a loose pile of poop though.