Free climbing vs trad reddit If you are single pitch climbing, it's probably fine, but multipitch climbing with a full double rack, draws, anchor material, atc/grigri, and water bottle/packable jacket gets really tight without a lot of gear loop space. As well as keylock noses for cleaning the draw off of steep routes. He asked how far the anchor was and I said, 25 ft. Equipment is used to protect against a fall, but not to advance on tbe route. As far as brands go, I absolutely recommend the mammut dyneema slings. Have you tried the Butora Altura high tops? I think they run a bit wider than La Sportiva. Trad climbing A fair chunk of trad climbing in the UK is face climbing. Free soloing, made famous by climbers like Adam Ondra, means climbing without ropes or harnesses – it’s extremely dangerous. Am I wrong with assuming that lead climbing and top roping are encompassed within sport climbing? How do the easy routes (5. So almost everyone who gets on there is going to aid at least a little. Absolutely don't buy quickdraws of any length for a trad rack! Reddit's rock climbing training community. Hopefully most people try to minimize their impact when out climbing or developing areas. 9. And yes we are scared of falling. Which is why I think TRing is a complete waste of time. How do you plan to get to your sport anchor or set up your trad anchor? Do you know how to rig - and pass - redirects around any rope-threatening edges? Reddit's rock climbing training community. The main difference between trad climbing vs. free climbing: using only your body and the rock's natural features to climb, while having ropes as backup in a fall. My SO and I got into an argument about sport climbing. Moreover, climbers are less eager to climb exposed route, and thus a big part of the climber is either climbing well bolted sport route or trad route where you can put a pro every 2 meters if you want. Normal VS Offset trad gear. Trad climbing standards and practices change over time. You now have added a dynamic component to the anchor and this can greatly mitigate the risk of high shock loads on the anchor. They do soften a lot over time though, but you can always buy a new pair. Love'm. Being a noob (still May 1, 2022 · Short for traditional climbing, trad climbing is a form of free climbing where the lead climber places temporary protection equipment into cracks and other features of the rock while ascending the climbing route. Trad climbing is often thought of as a more dangerous form of climbing because the gear placements aren’t permanent. 20K subscribers in the tradclimbing community. My question is: Have you personally lost a friend or loved one climbing? If so, how long had you been climbing at that point? In my second year of climbing my best friend died in a top roping accident. Their concern is rightly placed in the development of climbing in developing countries. I wasn't sure if there was a good rule of thumb about lead climbing adding a certain amount of grades of difficulty or not. . Any suggestions on what a good “starter pack” would look like as far different cam/nut sizes? and then I can experiment and add to it based on need from there. It's more of a marathon, single moves aren't usually the issue, but having the body endurance to sustain climbing for a long time is. I owned a set black-green and sold them because I preferred my ULMCs. 2, and 0. Yeah I think that’s totally valid. Totems vs Friends vs ??? I've got a whole double rack of WC friends (except singles in the 0. It has a lot of attachment points, zippers that open half way and internally so you don’t drop stuff, and can be hauled with the straps tucked in. What do you like about hexes? What are your favorite hexes? What features do you look for? I am interested in them and want to learn from people with experience (and no one I know is into them or uses them). Climbers use the term 'climbing' as a catch all, but non-climbers are more likely to be familiar with "rock climbing" (which usually means top roping), and boulders will use rock climbing to mean climbing with a rope to differentiate it from bouldering, although to a newbie it seems like bouldering is also be a form of rock climbing. If no strong trad ethic exists there, it's a bolting free for all. Trad climbing, short for “traditional” climbing, is considered by many to be the purest form of climbing. The slings for alpines are fairly cheap on their own. So although you'd probably be better at super technical individual moves, bouldering doesn't make you better at flowing through easy bits without losing much stamina. I mostly climb in the Northeast, predominantly trad, but with some sport occasionally. 1, 0. You must have been talking to some old dads from Yosemite or the gunks. I wasn’t thrilled with how the Infinity held up, even though I know it’s a favorite. Why wouldn't you be climbing multipitch trad on one rope? I've done plenty of long granite routes with one rope and everything was peachy. No hanging on the rope to work out the moves (hang dogging). 12+/5. I intend on taking a course this summer and would like some advice for climbing training. I love TC pros but have always had them sized for comfort and can wear my current size all day on long multipitches and alpine routes. Bouldering is similar, but I think boulderers and trad climbers are driven by different things. I’m looking for recommendations for a shoe for hard single pitch trad. I'm assuming limited rack so one sling per cam. g. You can share carabiners between your quickdraws and alpine draws and just swap them out depending on if you're trad climbing and sport climbing. up. The main difference between the two is that in trad climbing, you place your own gear (such as cams and nuts) into cracks and spaces in the rock to hold your rope, thus establishing the route as you climb. (Topo). I was leading up to about 5. 7, but it took so long to get here that it feels like I’ll never be a 5. There are a I'm looking at buying my first rope and the information on if dry treated is important or not is all over the place with regards to trad climbing so I thought I'd ask y'all. IMO, it's the best allrounder on the market. How do you feel about free-soloing? When I read about free-soloing, for the most part I think, "Whatever floats their boat. Sized big, they're great for all day comfort with the padded tongue. Totems are overhyped for free-climbing IMO. 10b sport outside when I started getting into trad, then kinda had to start over when learning on gear. You're a superhuman freak if you can do that in two years. Logistics play a huge part! If you have experience with trad climbing, it will certainly be easier, but you really have to study the ideas and techniques behind how everything works. Nov 4, 2024 · Sport climbing uses pre-placed anchors, while trad climbing requires placing your own protection. Until then, BD Momentum is a good default starting point. Finally, lookout for ledges and other objective risks especially on those easy climbs. Something between 9. 691 votes, 162 comments. Oct 3, 2023 · Learn about the exhilarating world of free climbing and free soloing. Sport draws tend to be burlier, heavier, and have thicker, and often times shorter, dogbones. The problem with free soloing is that if you do die, best case scenario you're creating a horrific mess somebody else has to clean up; worst case scenario you're damaging the global climbing community with a high-profile accident that will make people think climbing is more dangerous and irresponsible than it is, inspire private landowners to I love trad climbing, hence why I created this subreddit, but ultimately, it's different strokes for different folks. Hi anyone have a recommendation for a climbing harness for mountain trad use? Needs to be fairly packable and light for carrying (about 300-350g) but also reasonably comfortable for multi pitch use and hanging stances etc. In principle, any E-grade can also be perfectly safe, it just needs to be physically harder than a scary route of the same grade. 10 trad climber. Climbing is permeating the culture at the moment. [1][2] Free climbing, therefore, cannot use any of the mechanical tools that are widely used in aid climbing to help the climber overcome the We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Maybe the community can help me out on a question I have on trad vs sport climbing and the definition of a “true send” In trad climbing you need to place all of your own gear in order to accomplish the send In sport climbing you do not need to place all of your own quickdraws to accomplish the send, why not? Not for beginners. We’re going to I think trad has ruined sport climbing for me I've been climbing 10 + years, 5 quite seriously, and have clipped bolts all over North America. A thing about trad-climbing is being able to improvise with what you got, in the most efficient and safe manner. See full list on climbinghouse. Hi all, with the release of the Petzl Neox I've seen a lot of discussion about the best application for different devices and was surprised to learn some people even use a different device for belaying a leader vs follower. I wear a 40/40. I have friends who say that they have been climbing for a decade but refuse to learn new things and change their systems. 11 and 5. Very overwhelmed on where to start. free soloing: same as free climbing minus any and all protection. Don't be afraid to *sew up your routes for awhile til you take a few falls and/or have an experienced climber watching your placements. sport climbing is that the latter is a bit more focused on the physical climb, whereas trad climbing asks you to be more mentally prepared, using technical climbing skills and more. Or concerned about weight because you're climbing 5. Hey man, Bouldering is climbing without a rope and you do not climb nearly as high. As far as active equalization, I think you and I have both seen climbers spending time at a belay building a macrame project. Nov 19, 2025 · “What is free climbing?” That was a question on my friend’s mind when she was at the rock climbing gym for her first time. Short answer: No, in terms of functionality, you can use any draws for sport climbing or trad climbing. Im sure you’re aware of the consequences of sandstone (Don’t climb after rain please!!) so I won’t get into that. You should try on shoes that are intended for multipitch trad climbing. more. Vs else where (mainly American climbing) once you get above your 1st or second piece, there isn’t much ground fall risk (unless a route is labeled X or R). You can climb a route clean on TR but it doesn't count as being 'done' until you've lead it clean. 5-9. The only time I do the single carabiner sling is on alpine climbs and I'll put the sling trad draw style using the racking carabiner directly on the cam. you could make it much simpler. 5 (which seems to have replaced the Mammut Infinity, which appears to have been Okay quick little story about Trad in RR (might not apply to all trad in RR, but hopefully you’ll learn from my mistakes) Red Rock is sandstone. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Definition of free climbing and free climb ascents. Modern usage of the term trad climbing is where you place your own protection (nuts, cams, etc. Quickdraws have no place on a trad rack. 2 extra trad draws for nuts. Long answer: In terms of features, yes. ;) Reply reply is_907 • Yes, I am talking about the Solution Guide. this all comes up when googling either one, so I don't really see any additional value of the website. " But when I was climbing outside awhile back, while rappelling after cleaning a climb, I saw a man free-soloing past me. Traditional climbing: use at your own risk. Different routes take different protection. Weights? Style of session? Small technique tips for equipment? Tell me how to make the switch as smoothly as possible. You give a soft catch in sport to stop violent swings into the wall, but in trad when it isn't usually as steep (unless you are nails), its better to just stop a falling climber asap, because theres usually a lumpy rock or ledge or something nasty you want to stop TRing doesn't count because it's not free climbing. I'm headed to Leavenworth with my friend, who is also new to both trad and crack climbing, so we're looking to do the easiest possible routes so we can get solid on gear placements I am somwhat confused about the places of hexes in a modern trad setting. The old school meaning of trad was to always climb from the ground up. Likely hanging some TR as well and harder multipitch. 51 votes, 73 comments. We have all kinds of really cool cams, and other styles of chocks/nuts/whatever. 11 on gear. I do notice the interesting resulting behavior is that in America you might as well try for the on-sight of what you’re trying since consequence of failure is (generally) low. I'm looking at 2 ropes: The Mammut Crag Classic 9. Sport climbing is the most popular style now, and when climbing starts to invade the minds of people like the Hungarians, they want to sport climb. May 8, 2023 · Trad climbing is another common form of free climbing, eschewing fixed bolts as protection, instead using removable traditional gear, such as cams, nuts, hexes, and tricams. The harness becomes a lot more important when you're going to be wearing it all day, loading it down with 15lbs of trad gear, and doing hanging belays in it. Been trad climbing for a while now, and have slowly built up a decent trad rack. One of the reasons I like mythos for crack climbing is the thick, stiff toebox. 54 votes, 56 comments. May 29, 2020 · New to trad climbing? Our Beginner's Guide to Trad Climbing breaks down everything you need to know to get started trad climbing today. 4M subscribers in the climbing community. I was leading up to about 5. As to trad climbers leaving gear, it is very rare unless you are puting up new lines or adventure climbing. Find out which climbing method suits your adventure style and start conquering new heights today! Jun 13, 2025 · Trad, sport, and aid climbing, while just climbing rocks, are vastly different from one another. Curious what folks use and are happy with. Route climbing demands you to move efficiently through the easy bits with efficient technique to allow as much energy as possible for the crux sections. I personally dont like using sport draws for trad climbing so I carry 10 regular shoulder length slings and 2 double length slings on longer stuff, all racked with 2 carabiners on my harness. Let's say a route is set at a certain difficulty for top rope. Trad opens up more adventure-style climbing, tackling big walls and being out there on the wall for hours. Also surprisingly durable for a high performance shoe, lasted 8 months before I resoled them could have probably pushed it another month or 2. If you alpine climb, size'm even bigger for socks. Leading sport/trad or free soloing do count because the rope is not used in that way. You use the rope to aid your progress, like aid climbing. imported? Brands to look at, brands to avoid, etc? Free climbing is a form of rock climbing in which the climber can use their rock-climbing equipment only for their protection, not as an artificial aid to help them in ascending a climbing route. 5 and 5. Commiting to a crux 5m above poor wires with solid groundfall potential if they rip feels very different to a crux above some 12mm I’ve been climbing about 8 years, leading trad consistently for maybe 3. 12 votes, 48 comments. I am considering a sized down TC pro or The best shoe is the one that fits your foot and meets your needs. Learn the pros and cons of each style, essential gear, and tips for beginners. He is adamant that top-roping is absolutely NOT sport climbing. Honnald wears them doing free That's not how UK trad grades work. If you fell you would lower to the ground, pull the rope and start it again. This being said, it depends whats holding you back. From what I’ve been hearing, don’t place nuts in horizontal cracks and place cams instead. In short, trad climbing, more formally known as traditional climbing, is a form of rock climbing that requires placing your own gear for protection, rather than solely relying on pre-placed bolts. I totally get why people may not really get stoked on trad climbing, but as others gently pointed out, they're wrong. Trad and sport harnesses can be different with the padding and gear loop layouts. Trying to master my gear placement though. 6, 5. Some consider it the purest form of climbing, but it is also extremely dangerous since a single mistake can mean almost certain death. Since watching The Dawn Wall film and reading about the climb and some of the interviews from Tommy, Kevin, Alex Honnold, Beth Rodden, and other involved with the first ascent I’ve got a few questions about free climbing vs aid and what constitutes a first free ascent. I guess I went into the conversation as a somewhat ignorant climber that almost exclusively boulders, I consider climbing with ropes and safety gear (non-trad) to be sport climbing. Or wearing it over lots of layers while ice climbing. Understand the distinctions between these two challenging forms of rock climbing. 26 votes, 114 comments. For climbing I use the north face route rocket 18 and it’s amazing. There are E9's that are French 7c death routes - Indian Face the obvious example - and there are E9's that Should I consider lightweight draws if I want to transition to trad in the future? Should I keep sport and trad gear separate -- double down and get sport-only quickdraws that heavy but sturdy with thick dog bones to hangdog? Should I pay a little more for the US-manfactured biners vs. I’ve always had dedicated PAS but am leaning toward ditching it entirely and primarily anchoring with the climbing rope (I mostly do multi-pitch trad). All this exposure has a lot of people wondering about free climbing vs free soloing. Before you dismiss a harness as too expensive, think critically about what it really costs over its lifetime. This past weekend -- for the first time in 2 years -- I went on a short sport climbing trip to a classic area, and was -- frankly -- bored. I’ve been trad climbing for 3 years now and am starting to break into 5. We were probably 30 ft. Trad gear (placing, bouncing, falling) absolutely damages sandstone, and other rock to a lesser degree, but it’s only a contention because those cracks are also used for hand/foot placement, whereas in sport climbing the holds aren’t affected by the protection. Discover the differences, and maybe you’ll learn what type of climber you want to be. Reddit's rock climbing training community. The easiest free route on El Cap is 3,000 feet of free climbing on trad gear, has multiple 5. I was in your shoes about 1 year ago at Red Rock and had the same reservations/questions about the gradings. As someone who pretty much uses the grigri2 for everything, I found this interesting and want to know what r/tradclimbing uses. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to better improve at our sport. Especially if you plan to do multipitch and end up getting high lace up shoes, which are a real pain to take off between pitches. I can generally tell which of the two styles I'm climbing or have just climbed, but I really want to know how to articulate the distinction At this point, just get what's cheap and fits. Mar 21, 2022 · Trad climbing, or traditional climbing, and sport climbing are both types of free climbing. I've been trying to figure out what the differences actually are between competition and traditional style. Because trad climbing relies on placing removable gear, it gives climbers the ability to access inaccessible places without scarring or permanently damaging the rock. You need to be thoroughly versed in all aspects of climbing ropework systems. The only time to have them is if you already had them from sport climbing and you don't want to get runners to replace the dog bones of your existing quickdraws. And no don’t downsize for leading easyish trad. 6 is a good start if you supplement with sport draws for long pitches. Needs 4 good size gear loops for trad rack. In fact I can't think of anyone who uses two ropes unless they are ice climbing, real alpine climbing, or climbing in England. I prefer rope for swapping leads, and just use slings other times so I don't have to carry a cordelette. Academy award-winning films, medals in the Olympics, and indoor gyms popping up in every town in the country. Trad climbing with quickdraws is not ideal, but it works if you bring a few alpines as well for strategic extensions. May 11, 2025 · In this article, we’ll break down the key differences between sport climbing vs trad climbing, including gear, techniques, and overall experience, helping you decide which style suits your climbing goals best. Reply reply Apr 11, 2021 · Trad Climbing In trad climbing – aka traditional – you use devices like cams, hexes, and nuts that are wedged or placed into seams in the wall. ). Hi folks, I'm starting to get into trad climbing, and I've been reading various different accounts of how people have been gotten injured on the wall and their partners have been able to retreat with them safely, which got me thinking about the rope skills you'd need to know to get out of a hairy situation. Was wondering what my ideal trad rack would be if money wasn't an issue. I read Big-Wall Climbing, by Jared Ogden to get started, and also read lots of material on internet forums, including Chris McNamara's How to Big Wall Climb. com It wasn't until sport climbing became popular that trad climbing became the older style of climbing. aid climbing: using ropes and gear to pull yourself up the mountain. The skillets aren't exactly the same (trad is more endurance, and sport is more power endurance), but if you get good at one, you get good at the other. it's dangerous. Build the anchor and tether yourself using the climbing rope with a clove hitch to the master point. The solution is still my favorite sport climbing shoe that I have tried, precise and makes me feel confident on even the smallest feet. Even climbing on Little Cottonwood Granite with weird flares and pin scars, one of my Metolius cams or an offset cam/nut fit the same or better than an equivalent Totem. Oct 27, 2021 · This includes everything from top roping, bouldering, traditional climbing, and multi-pitch climbing, where ropes are used for protection, to free soloing where no protective gear is used. I would say trad climbing at the crag or a regular multipitch isn't alpinism, but if I were to climb a mountain via the south face or south facing ridge/pillar/buttress in summer (so basically only rock), so basically a trad multipitch that brings me to the top of a mountain and that required a glacial approach, than yes I would call it alpinism. Climbers either take a variety of different types and sizes or find out what pieces to take from friends or guidebooks. Been trad climbing with some buddies for a while now and ready to commit and buy my own rack. There is also trad climbing where you do not use anchors, but put your own gear into the wall. 5 in my approach shoes and my TC pros are 39. Big wall climbing is a science and an art. Do you guys notice a huge difference as far as ease of placing or how well they hold in the rock when comparing offset stoppers, nuts, and hexes to your basic ones? Would you choose to use one exclusively over the other or a mix of both? Cheers. 3) up to 3 and haven't felt the need for anything more (stoppers and tricams fill gaps for me). The gear loops are tiny compared to my dead bird harness. Jul 13, 2016 · Free soloing is a type of free climbing that involves climbing routes with no aids or protection whatsoever – no trad gear, no bolts, no rope, nothing to catch a fall. 13- crux. In normal multipitch id much rather have trad draws with 2 biners than single biner. Al's has totems on sale for $71 bucks a pop right now. Discover the key differences between sport climbing and trad climbing. On top of the trad basics (anchor building, rope management, gear placement, etc), what You'll probably have it for several years and you might try a lot of different climbing styles in that time - get 4 full sized gear loops in case you want to learn to trad climb. 7). Burlier heavier draws make sense when you're falling a lot more often and want them to Here’s the general breakdown: * 1 “piece”: there’s a big ass healthy tree * 2 pieces: there is a stout chicken head or rock wedged in, or you have perfect placements, or bolts * 3 pieces: the most common, 3 bomber placements is no worries * More than 3: usually comes up when you’re rigging sub-anchors and linking them — usually due to terrain making you spread out "Free climbing" means climbing the natural features of the rock, as opposed to climbing aids (e. Any grade can be so bold you're practically soloing, the climbing just needs to be really physically easy for the grade. Established routes will usually have some sort of walk off or rap stations, even remote and low traffic climbs. 7) at Leavenworth compare to those at Index? I've climbed a couple of easy routes at Index, such as Pisces, Great Northern Slab, Corner Flash, Hag Crack, and Senior Citizens in Space. 12 pitches, and has a 5. The home of Climbing on reddit. Two years ago, though, I got into trad and haven't looked back. My go-to trad multipitch shoe is the TC Pro. The intended use is for single pitch trad and sport climbing, at the project level. All brands fit differently as well so maybe offering to purchase one in your budget is a good idea. It's not just a question of rote learning one system and off you go. Kinda curious about what everyone else has in mind for their own dream rack. Check out the poll and feel free to This is the only correct answer, and should get added to browsers as an autocorrect replacement for every variation of "Best Trad Harness" , "What is the best Trad Harness", etc. Sport or Lead climbing is when you attach your rope, using quick draws, to fixed anchors in the wall as you go up. Now I’m comfy to around 5. Trad belaying usually requires "hard" catches rather than soft sport catches. Trad placements So I’ve recently started trad climbing and have only led 2 very easy ones (5. With that in mind, could also check out the Scarpa Vapours - the velcros are a great all round shoe for me, haven’t tried Not to mention the media has made everyone think we’re always free soloing (thx honnold) and painted climbers as suicidal maniacs. My question is, if I’ve used all my cams earlier on a climb. Could lead climbing that same route increase its grade in theory? In my gym there are walls where you can climb top rope or lead with the permadraws along the same routes. Crack climbing is a lot different than face climbing and 'easy for you' grades can be tricky at first. 5. etriers or mechanical ascenders). I mentioned early on that I was specifically addressing "trad climbing gear anchors" because I thought that someone would immediately apply what I wrote to a two bolt sport anchor. 1. Hello Climbing, I am an advanced level boulder climber and I am really looking forward to jumping into Trad climbing. 14+. I've been climbing for 10+ years, have had lots of shoes, and the TC pros do crack in comfort, slab with ease, edge like champs, and heel hook well. ywd yhh xalo ofwtmt yqe clt yux fmn mvofbu mmudrtso fjkf zkhys ylhtld pdtxlx vsp