I'm a complete newbie to trad - help!

Following good trad leaders is helpful. Seeing how they place gear, and learning what it takes to clean a well placed piece helps you learn how to place gear well.

Buy a few of the most common pieces like small nuts, especially in adjacent sizes, and go to a place where you can practice placing them without being on a route. Part of good trad leading is not fumbling around looking for the best fit, but rather, having a sense of the exact size and type of piece you need to place, so you can be quick about it.

Most of all find a good mentor.

Lexi J wrote: I'm finally starting to enter into the scary world of trad climbing, and I have a friend who has been graciously willing to lend me a few pointers. I'm thinking about taking a class sometime soon, but for now, my main questions are:

- How the hell do you learn to trust yourself and your gear placements?
- What are some gentle trad routes around Smith to practice? No bolts!
- Where can I purchase cheap trad gear?

Any further tips/suggestions are appreciated. I'm stoked about this because I've always told myself that I would never attempt a trad route, and here I am making my first attempt. But also, I don't want to die, so please help. :)

Update:
Thanks all! I plan on following my friend up a few easy trad routes, cleaning and observing how/where she places gear, and hopefully I'll be able to score a class with She Moves Mountains. I've heard of them before and they sound rad. In the meantime, I'll try not to die! 

My advice is to first, learn it the right way from the beginning.  Changing bad habits down the line is harder to do than just avoiding them in the first place.  And it's safer for you, your partners and others climbing near you.

A class is a very good idea.  This will help you to minimize gaps in the skills you need to learn.  Choose your class wisely.  Some classes try to teach it all in one session.  You will not remember much this way.  Better to break it down into more manageable skillsets.

Take your time and learn each step thoroughly.  Becoming a competent trad leader takes time and lots of practice.  Enjoy the learning process.

Master your knots completely.  Learn to be able to tie them behind your back.  Understand them fully.  Learn how to dress them well.  Once you really know your knots it makes everything else so much easier.  And those who really know their knots are so much easier to teach.  You can focus on the other things without having to waste brain power on trying to remember how to tie a knot.  I can't focus this enough:  MASTER your knots.  

These are the knots I recommend learning first and knowing well:  figure eight follow with yosemite finish, figure eight on a bight, overhand on a bight, double overhand, double fishermans, girth hitch, clove hitch.  Other knots will come later and can be learned when they are needed.

Try to find a mentor who actually knows what they are doing.  Experience does not always equate to competence, so don't always assume that because someone has been climbing a long time that they know what they are doing.  I have climbed with someone with 30+years of experience and their systems were horrible.  I have seen many "experienced" climbers who have learned things the wrong way and that's all they have ever known.  Be picky about who you choose as a mentor.  

Follow and clean many many many pitches, preferably with a very good mentor so you can see good gear placements.  As you clean, learn how to develop a system to handle the gear so that you can't drop it.  Rack the gear in order of size and type of gear on your harness.  This will help you to learn the gear sizing before you start leading so you can quickly grab the right piece the first time.  Study the pieces.  Test them.  Develop an eye for what makes a good placement.  

The more you understand how cams work and how passive gear works and what is a good vs bad placement the more trust you will gain in the gear.  This takes time.  As someone mentioned, try aiding a climb on toprope.  This way you can test each piece thoroughly by bounce testing on it and seeing what will hold and what doesn't hold.  It also helps to take pictures of your gear placements so that you can have others evaluate them to determine what makes them good and how to improve them.  This has helped many of my new trad leaders improve their placements quickly.  

And as someone else mentioned, when you are first learning you shouldn't be trusting your gear placements.   Trust will come in time as you become more competent and knowledgeable.

PS. I don't recommend taking any whippers (as someone suggested above) until you have enough experience under your belt to know your gear placements are good.  And even then I don't recommend taking any whippers.  

Artem Vasilyev wrote:

Disagree! Whipping is healthy if you're climbing hard and have experience with your gear. Central Oregon Basalt, for example, takes wonderful gear in splitter columns. There is little danger involved once you get a good feel for when you're safe and when you're not. I.e. place an equalized anchor before you commit to a crux if you really feel like it. 

3 weeks ago I was climbing hard and the crack took great gear. I took a whipper, now 3 weeks later my fingers are still in pain. So glad I took that whipper!!

I wouldn't recommend taking any whippers unless you're on an overhang with no chance of hitting anything if you fall.

Artem Vasilyev wrote:

You took a whipper, therefore your fingers are in pain? 

And falling on splitter cracks is pretty mellow overall.

Yeah, often when you fall you hit something on the way down, especially on blocky trad terrain. I crashed into a rock and hurt my fingers

Yeah, I'm definitely of the opinion that taking practice whippers on a super bomber placement(s) is a good thing to do if the route is at least ~80 degrees steep and doesn't have any major blocks or trees below. But if someone just needs to learn how to fall then doing that on a sport route would most likely be better than one that requires gear. Practicing falling for sure helped me become a more confident climber. If you're really that worried about it, use a mammut rope (they're really stretchy), throw a screamer on that bitch, and just let go! Wheeeeeee!!

Find a sage mentor.  So many posers.

Best wishes

Lots of good advice here.

When I'm mentoring for how to place gear, I recommend a few steps:

1. Talk about it with a mentor or guide and practice on the ground ("ground school"). What are the considerations for cam placement - small vs. large? What are the considerations for passive pro? For extending with longer draws? When do you double up or counter-balance a piece? What types of rock should you avoid? What if your only options are bad? Etc.

2. Follow an experienced leader for many, many pitches and look at how and where they place their gear. Ask questions. If you have time, remove their gear and practice replacing it in the same spot before you move on. Try placing it in other nearby spots and think about why the leader chose the particular placement they did, instead of the alternatives. Think about how they do (or don't) protect for falls above ledges, protect for both the leader and follower on traverses, and managing the distance between pieces so that if one piece pulls out you won't die. Some leaders are better at this stuff than others.

3. Practice placing gear while on top rope, and have your partner/mentor clean the pitch. Ask them to give you feedback on the placements. They can take photos of placements they want to talk about if you're too far away to communicate in real time.

Those three are enough to get started. I've never practiced falling on gear or bounce testing (while on TR), but some people like it.

Definitely start leading for real on things that are really chill for you, that you could probably solo, and make sure your partner has patience. When you first start leading trad, it's not about the climbing skills. It's about learning to place gear well and quickly. You want to be able to safely hang out at a stance and try 3 or 4 pieces if you need to so that you get a feel for what fits where. If you're rushing because you're pumped and scared, you won't be learning much about your gear.  

Note: if you decide to try testing your gear with bodyweight and bounce tests (aid climbing), watch a good video about it. There are some fine points to ensure you don't get hurt. For example, always wear a helmet and don't look at your gear while you're bouncing. Gear that pops out has a tendency to hit you in the face if you're looking at it. Look down while you're bouncing and it will get your helmet if it hits you.

Whip on gear. When it holds, you’ll learn you can trust it. (Obviously learn how to place it first)

Smith rock climbing guides is a great resource if you want some one on one help! We did a trad intro through them and felt it was helpful!

#hotgirlpriviledge

You guys think you've been trolled? Notice how (possibly) no girls have even taken the bait? LOL

Roots wrote: #hotgirlpriviledge

You guys think you've been trolled? Notice how (possibly) no girls have even taken the bait? LOL

L Kap is a girl and what bait?

Eli Cushnir wrote: Howdy, I just moved to bend. Trad climbing is my biggest passion and I’ve got a few years under my belt. I’m not an official climbing guide but I learned everything I know about trad from NOLS and I am more conservative/safety minded than most people I’ve encountered. I lead up to 5.9 and breaking into low 10’s. I’ve taught a few friends and really enjoy sharing the knowledge behind what I love so much. If you live in bend and are lookin for some mentorship/teaching let me know! As long as you are a confident lead belayer I’m good!  Text me at 831-535-9657 if you’d like. 

See Roy's comment above. People who only have a few years under their belt shouldn't be teaching others IMO.

saign charlestein wrote: Whip on gear. When it holds, you’ll learn you can trust it. (Obviously learn how to place it first)

And when it doesnt hold you’ll have plenty of time while you are recovering (if you’re lucky) to think about why/how it failed.  

Roots wrote: #hotgirlpriviledge

You guys think you've been trolled? Notice how (possibly) no girls have even taken the bait? LOL

This comment says more about you than you perhaps realize. 

L Kap wrote:

This comment says more about you than you perhaps realize. 

Nah - more about the usual MP trolls...don't know what's real or fake anymore...carry on aspiring tradsters : )

This is what I am talking about...legit or not I dunno but seems like a totally ludicrous question:

​What?​​​

Roots wrote:

Nah - more about the usual MP trolls...don't know what's real or fake anymore...carry on aspiring tradsters : )

No. I'm familiar with MP trolls. The fact that you would think of, and publicly refer to, a young woman as "bait" and hashtag your post "hotgirlprivilege" still says more about you than you seem to realize. 

LOL the ID picture is the bait, not the "person".

To me, you seem hyper judgmental and overly offended by just one of my post which you also assume completely tells you who I am. Great analyst skills you got there. My suggestion is to do more research on me and then judge. My posts are there for you...go ahead take a look at the big picture..or don't....

I'll even double down on my OP:

If you think attractive girls (or any gender for that matter) don't have special privilege, then I guess that "says more about you than you perhaps realize". 

Roots wrote: LOL the ID picture is the bait, not the "person".

To me, you seem hyper judgmental and overly offended by just one of my post which you also assume completely tells you who I am. Great analyst skills you got there. My suggestion is to do more research on me and then judge. My posts are there for you...go ahead take a look at the big picture..or don't....

I'll even double down on my OP:

If you think attractive girls (or any gender for that matter) don't have special privilege, then I guess that "says more about you than you perhaps realize". 

Go ahead and double down. People will read and yes certainly judge you accordingly. That's how social animals work.

Consider for a minute that the ID photo is a real person who may be reading your words. You have just told the world how you feel about women whom you consider attractive. Which is not a bad thing, as it will help people make decisions about you.

It is not an especially convincing argument that your feelings are gender neutral, but I am willing to be wrong. Please point me to your past post with a young man's photo whom you called "bait" and hashtagged "hotguyprivilege".

And yes, I'm aware that people will read what I've written and make decisions about me too. Which, in my view, is not at all a bad thing. Anyone who reads this and thinks I'm not their kind of person is very likely right.  

rockklimber wrote:

And when it doesnt hold you’ll have plenty of time while you are recovering (if you’re lucky) to think about why/how it failed.  

That's why you back up pieces near cruxs. If you're not comfortable falling on your pieces why are you even placing them. 

Stop terrifying people with the what ifs. Risk management of knowing when to push yourself and when to back off are key things to learn. Falling is ok and with proper back ups just as safe as falling on bolts. I have had pieces rip and guess what the piece behind it caught me. I fell a few more feet than expected but still I'm ok. 

I agree in finding a certified instructor so you can sus out good and bad mentors. (And advice) My first mentor was shit and gave me bad advice I progressed slowly. Got a instructor and went from climbing 5.7 single pitch totally gripped to onsighting 5.10 multipitches. In about 2 seasons.  
Either way just climb a shit ton even if its top roping or easy multi pitches I lean new things even on easy terrain wether it's a technical aspect like building my anchors faster or placing gear in strenuous positions so I'm ready to move fasterwhen I want to try somthing harder.
And Jesus christ have fun dont compare yourself with others and go on your own journey.