ClimbingQTs The Art of Trad Climbing
- Duration: 2 Days (approx.)
- Location: Blackheath, New South Wales
- Product code: CQTsATC
The of Traditional Lead Climbing
(Introduction to Trad Lead Climbing)
Traditional (trad) climbing involves placing removable protective equipment in the rock, allowing you to venture into uncharted territory. This course covers the essential knowledge and skills required to place trad gear and tackle all the extra considerations that come with the territory.
This course will enable you to:
Securely place, assess and remove trad gear
Assess and utilise natural features like threads, bollards and chocks
Build basic multi point anchors using natural and removable gear
Recognise specific trad climbing hazards and address them
Key facts:
3 days
Small group (max 4 QTs)
All personal equipment provided including ropes, helmet, harness, climbing shoes, belay devices and carabiners. Traditional gear provided: cams, hexes, nuts/wires, prussiks, slings and a variety of other software and hardware
Meet at 8am in Blackheath, Blue Mountains
Key facts:
3 days
Small group (max 4 participants)
All personal equipment provided including ropes, helmet, harness, climbing shoes, belay devices and carabiners. Traditional gear provided: cams, hexes, nuts/wires, prussiks, slings and a variety of other software and hardware
Meet at 8am in Blackheath, Blue Mountains
Day 1
A chock-full day of placing gear in a range of natural features and building a variety of anchors.
Revision of pre course notes and pre course quiz
Basic belaying/safety assessment
Refresher of Single Pitch Lead Climbing
Introduction to gear placement and removal
Assessing and rating gear placements
Principles of multi point anchors
Building, directing and equalising multi point anchors
Racking up and how to avoid dropping trad gear on lead and seconding
Practice placing gear on lead, protected by a top rope belay
Day 2
Trad climbing is a long and rewarding process of refinement and small advances. Today is the beginning of that journey.
Practice placing gear on lead
Preventing the “zipper” when using trad gear
Assessing a route – racking, stances, rests, placements and seconding
Retrieving stuck gear
Belay considerations in trad climbing
Practice with in depth feedback from your instructor on the quality of your gear placements
Limitations of the systems covered so far
Day 3
Putting it All together.
Planning a Multi Pitch Trad route
Packing and racking for the route
Protecting the second
Cleaning the route to setup for Swinging Leads
Swinging Leads at the Belay
Practice with in depth feedback from your instructor on the execution of your plan
Before the course starts we’ll send you some pre-course notes. The notes can either be used to brush up before the course, or as reference material.
Topics covered include:
Overview of trad gear
Appropriate equipment selection and understanding equipment limitations
Planning for trad climbing including crag and route selection
A review of the key safety checks
Throughout the course your instructor will give you personalised instruction on developing your skills and technique, covering areas such as:
Moving efficiently over rock
Optimal body position
Getting the most out of different types of holds
Finding creative stances to rest while climbing
Other useful applications of skills covered in the course
Recommended next steps and routes to tackle after the course
All of our courses cover:
Basic principles of cliff edge safety
Development of climbing technique
Climbing ethics
Caring for the cliff environment
Prerequisites:
Multipitch Climbing Course or evidence of equivalency
While this course has no other specific requirements, we take the time to talk to all of the participants prior to the course to ensure that they are at an appropriate skill level before joining. We’ll ask you about your experience, interests, abilities and aspirations to make sure that the course is right for you.