Traditional climbing

Traditional climbing, or Trad climbing, is a style of climbing that emphasizesthe skills necessary for establishing routes in an exploratory fashion. Before the advent of
sport climbing, the normal style of unaided rock climbing was what is now referred to as"traditional". Trad climbing usually involves the leader ascending a section of rock while placingtheir own protective devices as he/she climbs. Route finding,effective gear placements, self control, and good climbing skills are essential. Normally, such climbsare not previewed or rehearsed on a top rope (with or without tension), and emphasis is placed onpassing difficult sections on the first try. As a form of free climbing, only the limbs and bodyof the climber are used to effect upward progress, and protective devices are placed solely to catchthe climber in the event of a fall.

Types of protection

The majority of the protection placed while leading a traditional line does not consist of permanentlyinstalled bolts or pitons, but of removable protective devices such as

* Aluminum or steel nuts
* Hexagonal-shaped chocks
* Slings
* Spring loaded camming device
* Tricams

Carabiners and slings are then used to connect the protection gear to the climber's lead rope, so that in the event of a fall, the rope can be used (by the belayer below) to 'catch' the falling climber. Modern traditional climbs very rarely have placed bolts, except in the case of difficult lines that lack the features necessary to place adequate removable gear. It is also considered extremely bad style to install new protection bolts on existing climbs that can be completed without them.

Commonly used knots

A number of knots are required for traditional climbing, to create anchors, to tie in the climbersand even to be used during the climb.
* Figure 8 is commonly used to tie in the climbers at both ends.
* Clove Hitch is used when building an anchor using the rope and sometimes to make a climber safe quickly at a belay ledge
* Alpine Butterfly can be used to tie a climber into the middle of a rope.
* Munter Hitch is commonly used to belay without a belay device
* Slip Knot or girth hitch can be used during a climb to sling a protrusion of rock known as a chickenhead or any trees that may be on the route.
* Lark's foot is used to attach slings to trees or spikes and also to a climbers harness

Anchors

:"Main article: Anchor (climbing)"

When a climber has reached the top of a climb an anchor must be set up to allow the leader tobring up the seconder safely. An anchor has a number of different componentswhich should be put together in a redundant way to make the anchors safe.

* Protection - An anchor typically consists of 4 pieces of protection with the minimum being 2 pieces.
* Cordelletes/Web-o-lettes/Rope - These are used to tie the pieces of protection of the anchor together using the above mentioned knots
* Carabiners - Are used to connect the pieces of protection to the rope and also to attach the belay device and lead climber to the anchor.

Bailing

In some cases a traditional climb may be too difficult or there might not be enough time to complete the climb before dark. The lead climber may decide to abort the climb (or "bail") and descend to the ground before reaching the top. To do this an anchor is set up mid-climb and whatever protection that is required to ensure a safe descent is left on the rock after the climbers abseil to the ground. [Long, John, "How to Rock Climb!" 4th ed., Falcon Publishing, Inc., 2004, p. 168. ISBN 0-7627-2471-4]

Typical sequence

* Leader places gear on his/her harness
* Leader ties into the rope using a Figure 8 knot.
* Seconder ties into the other end of the rope.
* Seconder puts the leader on belay using a belay device or munter hitch.
* Leader climbs up and places the first piece of protection. The first piece of protection should be multi-directional. This means that it should not be able to be pulled out if it moves up or down.
* Leader uses a quick draw or extended draw to connect the first piece to the rope.
* Leader climbs upwards and places the second piece of protection and repeats until the top of the climb.
* Leader creates an anchor and clips into using a screw gate carabiner to become safe.
* Seconder takes leader off belay
* Leader pulls up all the rope until there is no slack between the leader and seconder.
* Leader puts seconder on belay
* Seconder climbs up and removes the protection the leader has placed on the way up.

Types of rock

A number of types of rock are climbed on each with a varying degree of suitability for traditional climbing. Some examples are Sandstone, Granite and Limestone.

Ethics

While it may be more dangerous than sport climbing, traditional climbing leaves little or no trace of climbing which preserves the natural environment of the cliff face (though many significant first ascents in the U.S. done with a combination of permanent anchors or bolts and crack fitting hardware were termed "traditional" when the term was first coined - see climbing styles). Sport climbing, on the other hand, requires bolts to be permanently drilled into the rock face providing the exclusive or primary means of protection. The difference between sport and traditional or "trad" styles has caused some periodic contention in the rock climbing community as the respective camps debate the relative merits of the differing styles.

See also

*Rock climbing
*Climbing equipment
*Sport climbing
*Climbing styles

References

External links

* [http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/whatyouneed/tradclimbinggearlist.asp Traditional Climbing gear]
* [http://www.racksimulator.com/101_trad_gear.htm 101 Trad Gear]
* [http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips.htm Chockstone Tech Tips]