Tips on practicing setting pro

Okay, aid climbing. Does anyone know of any useful resources for the basics? Just so I have an idea of how to do this without getting tangled up in gear, or doing something really wrong.

Also (and I'm sure some will say no), would it be at all acceptable to build an anchor that I trust for TR and then use my ATC extended on a PAS with a third (and maybe even fourth) hand prusik to do short pitches (30' at most) solo? It seems like if I kept the slack out it'd be okay, but I'll defer to more knowledgable and experienced minds.

Thanks Jake. I'll do that.

Being a n00b and new to trad myself I would like to throw my thanks to all for the feedback/suggestions on threads like this. The suggestion of learning to trust pro through aid is an interesting one and etriers have been purchased.

As Jake said the supertopo videos are worth watching and there is also some reading to go along with it on the site. Just google "how to big wall climb".

Mathias wrote:Also (and I'm sure some will say no), would it be at all acceptable to build an anchor that I trust for TR and then use my ATC extended on a PAS with a third (and maybe even fourth) hand prusik to do short pitches (30' at most) solo? It seems like if I kept the slack out it'd be okay, but I'll defer to more knowledgable and experienced minds.

Are you suggesting a TR solo while practicing aid? I had the same idea but I am not sure if I would trust a prusik to catch a fall. Not to mention the annoyance of having to manually feed slack. You would be better off with a microtraxion or ascender, or two of either. Plenty of threads out there about TR solo setups.

DSweet,

Yeah, my thought was basically a rappel setup, but ascending whilst aiding. Hence the thought of 2 prusiks. Seems like it'd be annoying though.

Solo TR while aid practicing is probably the best for the first two days or so - there are not that much belayers patient enough to give a belay to a novice aid climber. There are some articles on solo TR setup, e.g.,

• supertopo.com/a/How-to-Set-…
• petzl.com/en/Sport/General-…

Personally I use Cinch as my lower piece and Microtraxion as my chest harness piece. It is very convenient when running laps - climb to the top, inspect the anchor and the rope, weight and lock the Cinch, open Microtraxion, rappel down, close Microtraxion, climb a bit, jump off the wall to check the setup, get back on the wall, climb to the top, etc

Anyway after initial aid laps (slow is smooth, smooth is fast) one needs to aid lead some vertical or gentle overhanging (not too much!) crack. Leading on gear makes the magic - this is the way to learn how to trust (at least your bodyweight) your placements being dozens feet off the ground.

Pavel, thanks. I guess I'm buying yet more gear! :D

Jake Jones wrote:Go to Youtube and search for Supertopo Chris McNamara aid climbing. He has great instructional basic vids for aid climbing.

x2. I basically learned how to climb El Cap using his videos. I watched all the videos and then went to the crag and practiced what I saw on the videos over and over until I had it down. His videos do a great job covering all the basics of aid climbing, leading and following.