How did you start Trad climbing?

jt newgard wrote: I do recommend that people spend some time with a guide especially for trad. I would say the mentor-mentee system is fairly strained right now, with lots more people wanting to "get into climbing" and not enough reliable individuals to teach them!

Funny. The people that mock my ambition to become one of these sought after heroes greatly outweighs the number of people that encourage the opposite. But my partners always want me to lead the hard shit. Hmm

Hiking
Scrambling
Mountaineering
Trad cragging (top-roping first)
Bouldering
Sport (very little)
Gym

Gripped out of my mind on a 5.6 with gear that’d pull if you looked at it wrong 

I started climbing in 1972, so there was really only one kind of climbing (ok, bouldering too).

Started caving in IN. Took basic rock climbing class at The Cave Shop in Bloomington, IN to learn how to rap into pit caves. Loved the climbing part more than caving.

Toproped a lot  (had no clue how to lead at beginning). Climbed at Portland Arch in IN and never saw another climber there (since sold to Nature Conservatory and climbing banned).

Eventually moved to CO, learned to lead and eventually tried sport and gym climbing.

Climbing
 Crawling
(, , ,_ ,)
Walking
hiking to go climbing

There was no:Trad"  only  roped Climbing & 1st  I was taught to tie a "Bowline On a Coil"  around my waist 

Mountaineering
Trad climbing
Sport climbing
Bouldering 

Suburban Roadside wrote: There was no:Trad"  only  roped Climbing & 1st  I was taught to tie a "Bowline On a Coil"  around my waist 

LOL. I've done that but actually learned using a "diaper sling" made of 1" webbing

For me ...

I am pretty sure it started as a pre-teenager exploring a heavily forested creek gully about two blocks from home. The only “rule” was to be home by supper time.

That and day hikes with Mom and sisters into nearby alpine ridges. 

And maybe some wild-berry picking and ocean tide-pool wading once in a while.

I started trad climbing because I had come across outdoor sport climbing on a vacation to Ecuador and it was a revelation to me. But when I returned to NYC, I didn't know there was any significant outdoor sport or top roping available in the area, so I thought I had to climb trad to climb outdoors. I took a bunch of classes and read everything I possibly could find on the internet.

Now having spent a bunch of time in the Gunks, I know there's top roping available, and if I had know that then I might have spent more time top roping and/or bouldering before getting into trad. But I don't regret when i started, it just might not have been the easiest path.

bouldered for about a year till I met someone who was getting into sport climbing. hoped on that for a month or so until I could convince them to start trad climbing with me. since then I got more into sport and lately have been getting stoked on bouldering but climbing on gear is still what gets me going. if you wanna go the safest route maybe do what some of the other folks did and get a guide or follow experienced climbers. or find a line your stoked on and hop on!... I mean slow and steady...

Sloppy Second wrote: OMG you can't just go straight to trad how can you know how to place gear if you haven't clipped a whole lot of bolts!

Well you just go out and do it, but maybe that is too simple.

Paul Hutton wrote:

Funny. The people that mock my ambition to become one of these sought after heroes greatly outweighs the number of people that encourage the opposite. But my partners always want me to lead the hard shit. Hmm

Yeah something funny about that for sure!

Good luck with your path to "guidesmanship".. It's one thing to climb hard and quite another to teach it. Not to mention we need good people teaching good wilderness ethics / appreciation of outdoor climbing environment!!

In 1968 it was just called "climbing".

We pounded pitons for pro.

Learned to climb in J Tree didn’t have a choice really.
But to me that was just climbing. 

I have to say that hiking got me into Trad in the end. I had done a number of 14ers in Colorado while I lived there for 2 years ski bummin' and such. When I did Longs Peak and saw The Diamond I was in awe. Immediately after that hike I moved to NYC and met a couple that met in Patagonia over climbing. So they taught me everything about anchors, we went and top roped outside, went back to the city and that is when the bug hit hard, that getting after something like the diamond is possible. Once I got decent at climbing 5.10c, I practiced and read up on making anchors and went out with a friend who was doing the same. It just manifested from that along side with progressing in the gym. Learning to lead while learning trad from the books and watching videos. Took a class with a bunch of friends with REI to have a guide assess placements and go over efficient ways of anchoring.

After that class my friends and I jumped off into the deepend, took a trip to Red Rocks and did some moderate climbs and really learned by getting our hands dirty on some single pitch trad and sport routes. I make a yearly trip out to Red Rocks and the 2nd time for Trad I got to reconnect with my friend that I started climbing outside with who is now a certified guide and learned loads enough to feel confident to be on my own. I'm now in the process of mastering self-rescue techniques to take on bigger walls the next time I head to Red Rocks.

Please make sure that somewhere in your progression you either get an experienced trad mentor to follow and learn from before taking the sharp end, where he/she can critique your placements and offer guidance. If you don't know anyone like this, you should certainly hire a guide. I've seen some sketchy stuff going on in other trad climbing parties, and if you don't have a good mentor / guide, you'll probably end up on this forum.

I started climbing in the gym at my university because it was free, but my first outdoor climb was trad, the First Flatiron Direct Route. I didn't start leading trad until I had a solid basis of sport climbing and leading lots of sport routes on various rock types at grades 2-3 grades higher than I wanted to start trad climbing. I followed my buddy who has a safety-first risk profile a LOT on trad before I took the sharp end, and then, it was on super easy 5.5-5.7, which I was really confident on. He provided lots of helpful feedback on my placements in those days, and now we are swapping leads and training for some big adventures together!

Good luck, and stay safe.

Matt B wrote: Please make sure that somewhere in your progression you either get an experienced trad mentor to follow and learn from before taking the sharp end, where he/she can critique your placements and offer guidance. If you don't know anyone like this, you should certainly hire a guide. I've seen some sketchy stuff going on in other trad climbing parties, and if you don't have a good mentor / guide, you'll probably end up on this forum.

I started climbing in the gym at my university because it was free, but my first outdoor climb was trad, the First Flatiron Direct Route. I didn't start leading trad until I had a solid basis of sport climbing and leading lots of sport routes on various rock types at grades 2-3 grades higher than I wanted to start trad climbing. I followed my buddy who has a safety-first risk profile a LOT on trad before I took the sharp end, and then, it was on super easy 5.5-5.7, which I was really confident on. He provided lots of helpful feedback on my placements in those days, and now we are swapping leads and training for some big adventures together!

Good luck, and stay safe.

Thing is, the ones that think they don't need no stinkin' mentor really do...and the ones that want one are probably cautious enough to tentatively tackle their first leads after educating themselves.

I always recommend newbies go to the boulders somewhere and place and then stand on cams, trying shitty and bomber placements to see what will hold. Nothing will make you a believer until you actually see that cam in a perfectly parallel crack hold.

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote: Took an interest in Climbing after reading "The White Spider", "Eiger, Wall of Death" and "Annapurna" and thought "this is really cool!". Guys dying in the middle of penjis, death bivouacs and losing feet and noses on Himalayan giants and "ho-dad, this is for me!" was all I could think.

When I started climbing -- TR at Quincy Quarries -- my dear (now) husband and climbing partner gave me The Climb Up to Hell and Annapurna to read. That almost ended it for me right there. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

Thing is, the ones that think they don't need no stinkin' mentor really do...and the ones that want one are probably cautious enough to tentatively tackle their first leads after educating themselves.

I always recommend newbies go to the boulders somewhere and place and then stand on cams, trying shitty and bomber placements to see what will hold. Nothing will make you a believer until you actually see that cam in a perfectly parallel crack hold.

I disagree. I searched long and hard for a mentor and there was just not a lot of possibility where I lived. I read everything I could get my hands on and I watched as many videos as I could. I also then used this aid technique with some webbing I owned and by the time I did meet a guide that was willing to help, he just solidified what I was doing as correct. It would have been a lot nicer to have a mentor but I don't think it's impossible without one and I certainly don't think you can judge what people need without knowing where their confidence comes from. I don't think people are dumb enough to just walk up with a rack and climb something without any prior knowledge - maybe I just don't understand natural selection.

I went hiking at Ragged Mountain in Connecticut in 1976, saw climbers for the first time, and was totally bitten by the bug. Met my early mentor Bob Clark, and never looked back. Became a guide for decades. Still hooked.