Getting into trad

How did you start the transition from sport climbing to trad, or do you have any other stories of how you got in to trad climbing?

It's a rain day in Lander - give me a call at 970-200-346 blue camalot if you want to chat! I've been climbing for twelve years and worked #asaguide and middle school coach.

Ideally take someone up on an offer to take you out. Less ideally read alot (john longs book, or Craig leubbens) watch videos, and get your hands on some gear. A couple of nuts and cams are a good place to start, you can sometimes find them used for not too much money. Then you can start placing them while on the ground, weighting them, bouncing on them etc. to get accustomed. Still way better to have someone experienced take you out though. 

Dr Logic wrote:

Only call if you like goats. 

I helped a goat birth when I was like ten

might help to post in the regional forum of your chosen climbing area to look for a potential partner. Fritz can help you sort out if they're legit or just saying they know what they're doing. good luck 

Obviously finding a partner who is interested in trad climbing is required, and, as stated above, finding a mentor will help.
If that is not possible for you then taking some guided courses will definitely be a great way to get your hands dirty plugging cams and slotting nuts, and should give you a boost in confidence to go out and start ticking off easy routes.
If you cant do either of these then you can still learn on your own, but your chances fucking up and ending up on some instagram page that makes fun of sketchy anchors are higher

I spent a day with a professional guide doing a lesson on trad gear, climbing, placements, etc.

One thing not mentioned yet... go "aid bouldering"... hanging off nut and small cams in a low risk environment gives you a great sense for how gear acts when loaded.

Bryce, I started climbing by taking a “class” from a guy holding a sign on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley $10 to learn to rock climb, two weeks later I was helping him teach. So, check with what your local climbing group recommends.  Local Access Fund folks, AAC local, local climbing gym, a local climbing shop.  There are many good certified guide services and guides nowadays and lots of backup resources and advice.
Perhaps a sport partner would learn with you.

I started bouldering daily to train and found it gave me a great base for moving on rock.  I only had to get used to trusting my gear as backup and my partner. Really important!  Then there was the exposure on multi pitch climbs.  Wouldn’t trade it all for a minute. Be safe.

F r i t z wrote:

It's a rain day in Lander - give me a call at 970-200-346 blue camalot if you want to chat! I've been climbing for twelve years and worked #asaguide and middle school coach.

But... phone numbers don't have decimal places!

Andrew Krajnik wrote:

But... phone numbers don't have decimal places!

True, I'd rather climb baby blues than cupped blues! Although if they made a blue #9 Camalot, that would be my favorite size to climb -- knee and back for days.

I was a fan of the books when I started and just get out and practice well below your comfort level.  Mentors are great and many of my friends these days go with guides to get experience and then take classes.  If you go the "mentor" route, I suggest having multiple mentors.  There are so many ways to do things correctly but many people only do their favorite way so, more mentors, more breadth of knowledge gained.  

David Gibbs    wrote:

I spent a day with a professional guide doing a lesson on trad gear, climbing, placements, etc.

Dr Logic wrote:

Then you can better judge other people's placements. Honestly, just follow a bunch of trad. Clean gear. Do it with whoever you feel comfortable with. 

Just know that every trad climber always thinks they are 100% right and everyone else is always doing at least one thing wrong. So use various forms of learning imo. Mentor, guide, video, and book - all of the above. 

Then it's like any other type of climbing, get mileage, drink beer, post exaggerated and self righteous things on MP. Rinse and repeat.

I was not saying that my way was the only way, or even the best way.  I was simply answering the question, "how did you get into trad?".  How is that self-righteous?

Why: After moving to Portland, I realized that the local crags have a strong mixed ethic and I honestly got tired of being limited to the sport-only routes.

How: I just asked if anyone locally would be willing to help me learn and someone kindly responded. That's how it started about 4 years ago. Now I probably climb more trad than sport, thought I still enjoy both for different reasons.

Bryce Logan wrote:

I helped a goat birth when I was like ten

Interesting, didn't realize humans could goat surrogate. 

I followed about a half dozen climbs before I started my path to get competent enough to lead. The first few climbs I had no idea if the leaders knew what they were doing. But then I did some research and for the other climbs I could tell the leaders were safe and competent. In hindsight they first few were safe too, but I didn't have the knowledge to make that judgement at the time.

I researched everything I could, bought a trad rack and played around with it on the ground. Then I took a 2 day trad leading course. It was a great way to do it because the other people in the class had to focus on learning the basics, which I already knew, so I could focus on more advanced ideas and ask questions. The first day included climbing aid on top rope. Which is great because you practice a lot of placements and see what will really hold vs. what will rip out. Knowing how to aid it a great tool to have too, because if it starts raining, you need to go through a hard section, or you need to self rescue it's great to know how to aid. After my aid pitch (which I quickly finished because I had researched aid climbing and knew how to do it) I asked the instructor about multi pitch anchors and he said "wow, you really are excited to go lead". I kind of did this course as my final step on learning how to lead, not my first. He had me make anchors close to the ground and he critiqued them. He said I could have done some things differently if I wanted, and showed me other options but they were all good anchors, so that gave me confidence to start multipitch.

The second day was mock free leading, on top rope. A big benefit is the instructor cleaned the gear and critiqued each placement, pointing out any errors or possible improvements. The most enlightening thing of that day was when I asked how often should I place a piece, like every 10 feet or 15 feet, and he said it depends. Close to the ground you'll place more pieces to prevent a ground fall (same thing if you pass a ledge). If it's easy and you're high up and the fall is clean you can run it out. Just think what will happen if you fall at any point, where will you end up? And think about rope stretch. And think about if one piece pulls. So then I could envision how the lead protection system was engineered to work.

I have since taught about a half dozen people to lead, but I know that most people who teach their friends to lead should probably not do it. Unless you are confident your friend really knows what they're doing it's worth it to pay for a professional who knows how to teach and is certified that they know what they're doing.

Nathan Doyle wrote:

Interesting, didn't realize humans could goat surrogate. 

With Gote all things are possible.

I went out with a few partners on easy things first. These days were designed to be learning days. We found a 5.4 or 5.5 crack that had a ton of face features, so easy climbing, but also easy and plentiful gear. First, I followed, cleaning as I went. Then I TR'd, placing gear and had my partner clean it, evaluating placements. Then I lead it.

After that, I was pretty sure I'd enjoy trad, I bought a used rack from MtnProj and took a 2 day "Intro To Trad" course from a guiding outfit. We did a lot of what's been recommended here. Placing gear on the ground, bouncing on it, placing 3 pieces nearby (practicing anchors where you may have 1 super solid piece and need to find 2 other placements), doing more placing while climbing (TR), all while having the guide evaluate placements. Ended the class with leading a route we had practiced on TR.

Mileage is key. Learning to evaluate placements and knowing when a piece is solid is crucial. You'll also start to recognize less-obvious, but better placement options. 

If you're pretty sure you'll stick with it, the best thing to do is get some gear. That way, you're not relying on someone else to practice. If you have your own, you can just go out alone to the base of a cliff and plug gear. Put a sling on it, stand on it, bounce on it. Does it move? Does it get hopelessly stuck? How engaged are the lobes or surfaces? How's the rock around it? Does it sound hollow? Is there a detached flake or loose piece in there that may crack or crumble under high load?

All of those things are things you can do to practice by yourself. I'd also recommend being familiar with multipitch climbing basics, depending on where you're located.