Transition to Trad - am I ready?

A little background: So I have been climbing outdoors less than a year and my biggest challenge in progressing is my mental game.  In the gym I can take top to bottom whoppers all day without much fear.

Lately Iwas looking to transition to Trad climbing, and was pretty set on the idea. Until today I started to second guess myself. Yesterday I was leading some 5.10a sport climbs and eventually led one on a slabby arete with about an only 12ish ft runout between bolts and I was totally in my head about taking a potential fall as I knew it's be against a sharp arete followed by cheese grating goodness.

I have to make a hasty decision as the course I was planning to take has 1 open spot (through my local Alpine club chapter), with no other courses offered this summer. Just wondering people's thoughts/advice that have been in a similar position. 

Having fear about falling and getting hurt is normal. I'd say it's even wise. Take the course.

You were born ready.

hohmann those whoppers'll getya everytime naw'mean???

Cheers

DMT

Locals Only wrote: hohmann those whoppers'll getya everytime naw'mean???

Cheers

DMT

I'm not even gonna fix it, had me a good laugh

You pick your climbs (or your mentor does), get on low angle trivial climbs with hands free stances that you can stitch up with gear. You might be putting gear in every 1m on such a climb. You may not need to, but you learn to place gear by placing gear.

^That's the approach I've seen, and experienced.

I wouldn't stress about it, just show up. No group I've ever climbed with would send a trad beginner up anything even slightly hard or runout.

What “grade”do you climb indoors? Quotes because climbing indoors is so, so, unlike real live climbing that the indoor rating are irrelevant.

My point is that do it like we all did it before gyms, start on 5.6 and work your way up.

Is a whopper bigger or smaller than a whipper? 

Mark Hudon wrote: What “grade”do you climb indoors? Quotes because climbing indoors is so, so, unlike real live climbing that the indoor rating are irrelevant.

My point is that do it like we all did it before gyms, start on 5.6 and work your way up.

Indoors - 5.10d

Outdoors - typically onsight most 5.10a I come across.

In my opinion there’s no right time to “transition to trad”, nor do you really transition.  Trad skills are just another tool in the toolbox.  If you’re surrounded by routes w/out bolts, learn trad.  If you’re in a sport mecca and satiated by it, don’t.

Tread lightly and find a good mentor.

Okay Jordan, outside is different. Having no ego here will pay dividends in the future. Go to your local area and lead every 5.6 there. Then do every 5.7, then 5.8. Miles, baby, miles. Build a solid base. You might just flow up the ratings and get to your indoor level quickly, or you might not, no biggie. Experience is experience and miles are miles.

Mark Hudon wrote:I was talking to a guy in a gym the other day who ran up the gym .12a routes but was scared of the runout 5.7 on Snake Dike on Half Dome. You don’t want to be that guy.  

Why don't you want to be that guy? Seems like it's just an eye-opener, a dose of reality, for a gym climber transitioning to outdoor climbing. 

Nick Niebuhr wrote: Is a whopper bigger or smaller than a whipper? 

Please define whipper, with math to back it up.

FrankPS wrote:

Why don't you want to be that guy? Seems like it's just an eye-opener, a dose of reality, for a gym climber transitioning to outdoor climbing. 

In that regard, you’re right. 

Mark Hudon wrote:I was talking to a guy in a gym the other day who ran up the gym .12a routes but was scared of the runout 5.7 on Snake Dike on Half Dome. You don’t want to be that guy.  

In the end grades don't really matter to me. I was lucky enough to start my climbing career on real rock and am just happy to be able to get out on as many different types of terrain and features as possible.

That’s the ticket! 

Robert Michael wrote:

Please define whipper, with math to back it up.

You'll have to check that other whipper thread for that. To me falling from the top of my gym wall down 30ish ft was a decent whip!

Do it. A few years ago I was climbing a lot of slabs and had no problems leading 11s that were virtually all friction. Last fall I got freaked out on a 5.8 slab, simply because I hadn't practiced that style of climbing in a while.  Trad climbing definitely has a larger mental aspect to it, but it's not all runouts and bad gear. If you have good gear in good rock, it might as well be a bolt.  As you push higher into the grades just seek out well-protected routes until you feel comfortable climbing that level on gear.

Trad climbing generally gives you less crowds, more multipitch options, and all around more terrain you can climb.  And there is something very satisfying about looking back at a route you just climbed and seeing nothing but blank rock. 

Brandon.Phillips wrote:  it's not all runouts and bad gear. If you have good gear in good rock, it might as well be a bolt. 

as a beginner before being able to gauge whether gear is good one should not assume their gear is as good as a bolt. And yes, newbs have died because their gear failed. Not that that means one shouldnt learn trad, but rather that one should assume their gear is bad for a while

Yeah, don’t be taking any “top and down” whips on gear any time soon.  Treat your first few leads as solos, as they quite possibly might be if you haven’t spent enough time on the ground learning placements.  As far as “readiness”...there’s no set point.  Some people start with trad, some people wait until they’re leading 12s sport before they touch a 5.8 trad pitch, some people are never ready for it.  Just remember that, no matter how good the gear might seem, you are NOT sport climbing on gear.

Mark Hudon wrote: Okay Jordan, outside is different. Having no ego here will pay dividends in the future. Go to your local area and lead every 5.6 there. Then do every 5.7, then 5.8. Miles, baby, miles. Build a solid base. You might just flow up the ratings and get to your indoor level quickly, or you might not, no biggie. Experience is experience and miles are miles.

I was talking to a guy in a gym the other day who ran up the gym .12a routes but was scared of the runout 5.7 on Snake Dike on Half Dome. You don’t want to be that guy.  

I was fine leading the entire snake dike route. I got off route and went from the start of pitch 2 and finished on the anchor of pitch 3 so I kinda skipped the crux of the entire climb and went straight up the blank wall instead of traversing right and up to anchor of pitch 2... assuming I kinda made my own crux by skipping pitch 3 and climbing directly straight to the dike from the start of pitch 2. There is an extra 2 bolt anchor at the start of the dike which is below where most people traverse over from the start of pitch 3 that I used to clip one of the bolts on my way up.