Read follower requirements.

So I’ve mentored many many people on how to be a trad leader. I have a friend who just got a quick job in Yosemite for the foreseeable future. There is not enough time to teach them how to be a leader so this will be the first time instructing them on being a follower only. My question to everyone is what are the things that you would want from a follower that would bring them to the head of the pack when deciding on who your climbing partner will be? Any extras that you could bring or techniques that you could employ that would make you a desirable following partner? I only get a couple of sessions with them so it will be a crash course and I just want to set them up as well as possible so they can have a fun time in the valley with more experienced climbers. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Know how to clean gear well so they can deal with tricky pieces without coaching, climb efficiently, rack gear to their harness well for tradeoffs, belay well, and be a reliable and fun person to climb with.

rgold wrote this in 2015.  It's still worth reading: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/110204013/how-to-get-asked-out-on-a-second-date

•  Follower should carry a nut tool at all times and understand how to use it. 
• Follower should communicate clearly with the leader (on belay, halfway point of the rope approaching, etc). 
• Follower should know how to use their PAS to keep themselves safe on a traverse and on roof moves. 
• Follower should understand when to resort to pulling on gear if they're failing to get the move multiple times. 
• Follower should study the topo and have a general idea of what to expect. Don't show up completely clueless. Download the route pics. Contribute to finding the wall, help the leader with pitch description as needed. 

All great advice above, and lots of good past threads on this. Here's one. https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/117281164/what-makes-a-good-trad-followerstudent

I wrote a long thing years ago on rockclimbing.com but it's gone. The gist was to be eager and reliable (say yes and don't bail if your mentor invites you to climb), be good stoked company, and do whatever parts of the work you can -- carry at least half the load, do the driving, bring the snacks, apply the skills as you learn them, etc. 

Just being consistently available and having an appreciative attitude goes a really long way in my neck of the woods. Way too many people flake or take climbing for granted. It's no fun to climb with someone who isn't having fun themselves.

One of my early mentors emphasized always doing something to help the team, rather than waiting to be told what to do. Take care of yourself first so you're not a drag on the team, and help take care of the leader / gear / other climbing tasks as you are able. Eat and drink proactively to avoid bonking. Put on layers or sunscreen as needed. Know what's on your harness and be able to access it efficiently. Try to be ready to climb or unbuild the anchor by the time the leader has you on belay. Help manage ropes and changeovers. Learn to rerack gear the way the leader prefers. Learn to communicate the way the leader prefers. Ask good questions so that you understand the systems the leader is using. 

3 main reasons I wouldn't invite a follower out for a second outing:

1) They're bad at belaying. Most beginners and a lot of veterans don't understand nuance here. Many assume that the Gri Gri will think for them, give too much slack down low, not enough up high, and don't understand dynamic belaying. Eagerness to learn is crucial here, i.e. "Did I short-rope you anywhere on that pitch?" "How was that catch?"

2) Climbing is not their 1st priority. Let's face it, most people approach climbing as a social outlet, and would be happier at a coffee shop. While I try really hard not to moralize this issue, I don't get much climbing done with such people. The best way to demonstrate that I'm here to climb is to put on my harness the second I get to the crag, snack while I'm racking up, etc.

3) Related to 2: they're overly talkative and loud. I recognize that this doesn't bug everyone, but chatter can be distracting and unnecessary noise can be downright dangerous (i.e. partner is yelling about what he wants for dinner while I'm yelling "Rock").

Hey Cosmic,

I’ve been climbing for 20 years and I don’t know what you mean about using a pas for traverses and roof moves. What skill set are you referring to? I’m always leading so maybe I missed out on something. 

Jon Hartmannwrote:

Hey Cosmic,

I’ve been climbing for 20 years and I don’t know what you mean about using a pas for traverses and roof moves. What skill set are you referring to? I’m always leading so maybe I missed out on something. 

Hey Jon my bad, I'll explain. I'm almost always leading too, rope guns for life! The situation is where you have a pretty inexperienced follower who's feeling spooked at the idea of following a traverse or roof because they worry about a pendulum or swinging out from the roof if they fall.

What can be helpful to show them is that they can use a PAS to clip to the next piece before they remove the piece they're at. This assumes of course that the leader is thoughtful in placing ample protection. Same idea on a roof, if the follower clips the piece at the roof or just above the roof before pulling the lower piece, if they blow the moves they'll be less likely to swing out into space.

Does that make sense? It's kind of the same idea as re-aiding a traverse, similar in my mind at least. It can give a newer person a little more confidence to make each move.

Hey Cosmic,

Totally makes sense. Just like while in aid climbing. I feel bad for my free climbing followers because I usually punch it when I’m under roofs or traverses for fear of rope drag and forget about their safety. I usually have very strong followers. I’ll try to remember to leave enough gear for my next inexperienced follower to be able to use that method. 

I've seen even people with a solid chunk of trad leads under their belt struggle to clean tricams efficiently, only for the same tricam to come out with about 30s of just the right fiddling.  The same can be said for newer climbers with things like stoppers and ballnuts.  I'd say give your partner some of the gnarliest panick-set overcammed placements you can muster to practise on.  An experienced second should be a ninja with the nut tool who knows exactly the right amount of violence to apply to clean gear quickly without damaging it.

Belaying is a skill to be refined just like footwork or any other.  Once you get past the early days of asking for feedback, there's always self evaluation.  (When using an ABD) Did the device ever lock up when I didn't expect/want?  Did I have to fight the device more than I should have?  At any point did I catch myself with too much slack?  Did I ever feel the leader having to pull rope up?  A yes to any of those questions is an opportunity for refinement.

Observation of the leader's systems is also important.  If everything on a gear loop is clipped gates in/out, match it.  If part of the leader's system of racking doesn't make immediate sense i.e. larger cams to the back smaller in front, don't mess with it, and hang the cleaned gear on a nice tidy sling from the anchor where it's convenient to get to.

I'll add a plus 1 to the clear communication and take care of yourself, contribute what you can, mentioned above.  A lot of the rest comes down to preference(maybe the partner finder could add a conversation preference like BlaBlaCar) so maybe talk about communicating expectations?

Rack all cleaned gear on a shoulder length sling in a manner that minimizes dangle length.

Actually have a detailed discussion with them about cleaning gear, and what to look for before attempting to remove it. 

- Basic understanding of common ways gear can get stuck, and some techniques for unsticking, especially using a nut tool on cams. It's a huge bummer when a follower going into ape mode and welding gear that was retrievable mid route, as it wastes even more time than them dropping the gear off the mountain entirely. 

- A huge consideration here is not having your follower climb & clean pitches that are near their max level, or they won't have the bandwidth to pause and think before ripping gear out. 

- Emphasize the squeeze and wiggle technique for removing small & bendy cams, where they can get hung up on a crystal or other small features that they need to carefully navigate around. Small gear often needs surgical precision to both place and remove. 

- Beginners are very likely to only think about pulling cams straight out. If you had to slot it in from above or below like in some inward flaring cracks, ripping it straight out is likely to get it stuck. This has happened to me several times on placements that I made and I had to rap or lower down mid route to retrieve. It often took way longer because after the follower got it stuck they then got it MORE stuck by continuing to yard on it unsuccessfully. 

- I tell them that the first rule of unsticking gear is DON'T MAKE IT WORSE. As soon as it feels stuck, if you don't have the skills to safely unstick it without damaging the gear, leave it and let me try later. 

- Many nuts especially asymmetric & offset nuts, should really be removed with a nut tool as the FIRST attempt, not after yanking upwards hard 10 times, kinking the cable and getting it stuck worse from rotating it. Just like a cam, how did it go in? Reverse that process exactly, or risk getting it stuck. 

I haven't read the linked threads, so maybe this is mentioned there. 

In addition to attentive belaying and a solid mindset (psyched, safe, efficient, communicative, good timing on jokes), I'll add ascending ropes and knowing how not to drop things. (One loose thing in your hands at a time. Carabineer connected to belay device=one thing, etc. Keep gear clipped to the rope while cleaning.) I can learn a lot about a partner by watching them load a belay device (do they keep it clipped to the belay loop or do they hold the carabineer and device in their hands).

For gear to support the team on multipitch. Small pack to carry layers, water, snacks, small first aid kit. They should offer to carry the leader's shoes up a MP for a walk off. Comfy harness and shoes that can be worn all day but still send in. A cooler with cold drinks at the car. 

Lastly, they should have some tools to subtlety evaluate a leader. Are they placing good gear? How are they belaying from above? Have they done their homework in the route? Do they have self rescue gear on their harness (prussiks, extra sling, knife)?

Cosmic Hotdogwrote:

Hey Jon my bad, I'll explain. I'm almost always leading too, rope guns for life! The situation is where you have a pretty inexperienced follower who's feeling spooked at the idea of following a traverse or roof because they worry about a pendulum or swinging out from the roof if they fall.

What can be helpful to show them is that they can use a PAS to clip to the next piece before they remove the piece they're at. This assumes of course that the leader is thoughtful in placing ample protection. Same idea on a roof, if the follower clips the piece at the roof or just above the roof before pulling the lower piece, if they blow the moves they'll be less likely to swing out into space.

Does that make sense? It's kind of the same idea as re-aiding a traverse, similar in my mind at least. It can give a newer person a little more confidence to make each move.

I was also wondering about this. Obviously dependent on having pieces pretty close together. The other option for protecting your follower on a traverse is to use double ropes and “back rope” as explained on this page: https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/runout-routes/ — though it requires leaving a piece behind. I’ve done it before and it felt worth it to sacrifice a nut and a draw. (Cosmic’s method would not have been possible in that situation.)

Jon Hartmannwrote:

Hey Cosmic,

Totally makes sense. Just like while in aid climbing. I feel bad for my free climbing followers because I usually punch it when I’m under roofs or traverses for fear of rope drag and forget about their safety. I usually have very strong followers. I’ll try to remember to leave enough gear for my next inexperienced follower to be able to use that method. 

Exactly, same idea. And I’m right there with you, I'm not trying to hang out and stitch it up in those situations. I tend not to have to worry about it but this has come up recently while taking my much less experienced gf out.

Ideally you pick a route that avoids stuff that your follower would have a likely issue getting through, but in my situation it was 5 pitches of relatively cruiser stuff and 1 pitch with a hand traverse. Showing her how to do the hybrid free/re-aid with her tether helped enough so that she could get through it.

Edit- also acknowledging that yes it does require you to place more gear than you probably would normally since your follower would need it to be within arm's length. Very much the same idea as following an aid traverse if you had somebody newer who couldn't truly place gear effectively and re-aid it in the sense that we're familiar with. I.e., a horizontal "gear ladder" in the case of a traverse. It's not something you want to do across a whole pitch. I'm talking a 10-20' stretch at most, ideally. 

No post was needed after the rgold how to be asked on a second date link.

Tony Danzawrote:

No post was needed after the rgold how to be asked on a second date link.

Is this post needed that contains zero effort to be helpful?

Cosmic Hotdogwrote:

Is this post needed that contains zero effort to be helpful?

If anyone is reading this they might start from latest posts and see that all you need is to adhere to what rgold says. 

Gotta have clean nuts. Oops. Gotta be able to clean nuts. Nothing else really matters.

Tony Danzawrote:

If anyone is reading this they might start from latest posts and see that all you need is to adhere to what rgold says. 

Thank you for confirming that you've contributed nothing helpful

Cosmic Hotdogwrote:

Thank you for confirming that you've contributed nothing helpful

Except I actually did. You can try and reinvent the wheel, or you can listen to rgold. Both might get you to the same place, but one will do so a lot quicker.