Intro to Trad Climbing Course

Group Size

4 people per guide

Duration

8 hours

Traditional (Trad) climbing is a leader placing protection as they climb by using specialized gear and natural rock features. Placing protection with traditional gear opens up vast climbing opportunities, from new top rope anchors, mixed routes, single pitch cracks to big walls! Traditional climbing requires significant focused time and study in order mitigate risk. This course is for experienced top-rope and/or sport climbers that want to start learning traditional leading under the guidance of a certified climbing professional. Students should already understand the majority of the material in our Intro to Top Rope Course and be very familiar with advanced top rope and sport courses, as well as .

You will learn how to place three types of trad equipment: spring loaded camming devices (cams or SLCD’s), tri-cams, and stoppers. We typically run this course at Hammond Pond, Crow Hill, Mormon Hollow or Red Rocks. Times 8AM - 4PM. 4:1 Student to Instructor Ratio. Bring your own gear and/or try ours. All necessary equipment is included.

Course Topics Include:

• Leave No Trace / Stewardship
• Traditional Climbers Harness Setup
• Equipment Overview
• Route/Terrain Selection, Reading and Strategy
• Placement Criteria and Practice
• Traditional Anchor Building
• Mock Lead / Live Lead* / Lead Falls* *if appropriate
• Lead Belay / Communication
• Supervised Practice and Instructor Feedback