Where to practice aid climbing techniques in SoCal

I recently bought Chris Macnamara's how to big wall climb and it is fantastic. i would like to try some of his beginner techniques, one of which is leading using two aiders on a less than vertical wall.

i have a double rack of trad gear, solid 5.6 leader at jtree (actively working on increasing grades) and i have a bomber top rope solo setup (two lines, micro trax and microascender) that i use frequently at jtree so practicing leading aid would be a nice fit.

So my question is, where is a good place/route/wall to practice aid in SoCal? maybe something 30-50' high, slightly less than vertical, and ideally the ability to setup my solo top rope. so far i haven't been able to think of a good place in jtree.

anyone have ideas, jtree or elsewhere in SoCal?

thanks, david

Stoney Point has the bolt ladder on the Jesus Wall, 18 bolts, 2 of those are hanger-less and require you to sling with a wired nut or you can also just put one end of a quick draw without a biner in it. I go out about once a week and solo it with a Grigri, it's pretty casual and the anchors are solid. For hooking and practicing with hawks and peckers there is a small boulder at the end of Wildwood Canyon in Burbank about 50 yards past the end of the road on the right. Just bring your aiders and hooks, no need for rope or even a harness really. It's good practice just traversing the wall on hooks and peckers.
Those are the two areas i frequent the most and are great for the beginning aid climber.

Oh, BTW, really try hard to practice using two aiders only with no daisy chains, daisies on anything vertical or less are a waste of time. The Stoney ladder is easily done sans daisies. A fifi girth hitched to your waist will suffice if you need to hang or high step in 90% of placements.

Aid solo with grigri at Stoney Point's Jesus Wall

David.....try bigwall.com. Lots of nice choss to practice on in S. Cal.

The Pirate on Suicide Rock is a common aid-practice route. There's also a bolt ladder out in McCain valley in San Diego Co if youre in SD.

alleyehave wrote:The Pirate on Suicide Rock is a common aid-practice route. There's also a bolt ladder out in McCain valley in San Diego Co if youre in SD.

http://www.bigwall.com/scag_lac.html#anchor2843066

"Kuehner Kave" in Simi Valley is no longer in operation. 4 of the "bolts" were pulled out. Two of them pulled out on me a few months back and my gf popped two as well. When those were put in someone used Ø1/4" concrete anchors and they need replacement. You cannot finish the 30+ bolt traverse without adding a few replacements and I bet you will pop some of the old ones. All of them need replacing and I would be willing to donate 10 bolts and hangers to the effort and show up and rebolt it.

Because people steal hangers I could make burly angle iron hangers to use instead if given a weeks notice.

Kuehner Kave "bolts" and "hangers"

It's near criminal that no one's said Riverside yet. (Though the bigwall link will give you info)
Here's a thread from last year with socal aid info.
MP Thread Link

Here's my first post from that thread.
If you want to get your systems dialed and practice aid, you're not going to find anything in your area that works as well as Riverside Quarry. Since I got a significant other down in Burbank, I've been climbing there during the day on weekends while she DPs various projects.

Various reasons why Riverside Quarry is so good for aid practice.
#1: Bolts everywhere.
You can practice a hook move here and there with a nice bolt right at your waist, same with trying out various levels of C1-C3 placements. It's really hard to trust a C2 and reeeeally hard to trust a C3 placement when you're up above a bunch of gear that seemed great when you were on it but somehow feels less and less sound, the higher above it you get.

#2: Multipitch.
Many of the routes that can be easily aided have intermediate bolted anchors that you can practice your hauling and docking of your haul bags. In addition, you can learn how to then rap with your bags attached to you which you'll need to do to get down the east ledges or the Leaning Tower Chimney Gully.

#3: Granite.
I've looked all over the hills north and south and west of Burbank and most of what you're going to find is sandstone. It's not appropriate to hook on if it's established as a free route, and the feel of the rock is not really going to prepare you for what's possible in the C3 range on granite.

#4: Approach
5 mins on flat ground with stairs if you want to climb on the upper sections.

#5: Soloing
There's plenty of massive boulders around the base that you can use for your bottom anchor if you can't find a partner to practice aiding with (probably the hardest part of aiding)

#6: Nailing
If you're looking to get on the hard thin nailing lines in Yosemite, Riverside Quarry has lines for that as well that are not currently free lines so you wont get in anyone's way (rurp romp and pucker power in the bigwalls aid guide come to mind.)

If you're only looking for clean practice then I would suggest Vertical Vee, Stay of Execution, and Unexpected Difficulties (in that order) all found in the Bigwalls Aid Guide

thanks for the advice guys!

i'll definitely try the bolt ladder on stoney. i can set up my top rope solo gear and have at it.

just ordered the petzl ascenders and yates big wall aiders. basically just gonna hunker down and do what chris macnamara says. that will help me focus.

kevin, i thought about the quarry, i only went out there recently a few months ago to sport climb and i loved it. i have louis anderson's book and read up on some of the history, sounds like lots of aid practice back in the day. thanks for info from your previous post, i'll give that a shot.

thanks again everyone for the help!

I went out to Mt. Woodson when I first started aiding (clean!). Lots and lots of cracks of all different shapes, sizes, angles and heights. It gave up lots of options for practice in a single area. We could even sometimes do aid traverses just a few feet off the ground.

Kevin,
The only downside of the Quarry is the potential for rockfall is higher. I have a one friend who left his pack on a bench there and came back an hour later to find the bench smashed from a large boulder.

I have been there once and aided stay of execution. Great area to practice aid but the story told by my friend didn't instill the warm and fuzzies.

+1 for what KD says about the quarry.

+1 for what Randy says about the quarry.

:)

I was placing and hanging on med to large cams behind this large feature, after I got higher I could see the thing was held in place with two 3/4 or maybe 1" diameter by at least a foot long bolts. :)

Rocky Peak roof is a fun bolt ladder as well.

Have fun

Wes

PS I've done some of those arch routes in Box cyn. and spent a couple nights above the roof on our portaledges too. Fun!

The quarry out there has a GREAT "2" pitch bolt ladder. It's got hauling bolts as well as plenty to set up you ledge. Maybe 100ft total.