Post by gregggagliardi on Mar 22, 2013 10:46:06 GMT -8
Photos and diagrams of good and poor gear placements help, and on the spot inspection of placements by more experienced climbers also helps. However, eventually a new lead climber needs personal experience with placing gear before knowing when, and how much, to trust it. The best learning strategy is real world feedback, but that takes time and falls and it's a highly risky method of learning.
Bounce testing gear is typically discussed in presentations on aid climbing. However it is also an excellent general method for getting real world feedback on the quality of one's gear placements.
What is the safest way to bounce test gear? There is a nice piece on the Mazamas website including a video of Chris McNamara bounce testing gear from SuperTopo.
Learning to lead is a developmental process. Many novices take off on the sharp end with surprisingly little skill or experience. There are some natural progressions to become a rock leader that are worth sharing in Freedom 9. Some of this can be found in Heidi Pesterfield's excellent book "Traditional lead climbing: Surviving the early years". AMGA requires experience leading 40 trad rock pitches, 5.6 or harder, as a pre-requisite for enrollng in their single pitch rock instructor certification course.
With the advent of climbing gyms and the growth of sport climbing there are abundant opportunities for new leaders to get some experience leading in safer environments before taking the sharp end in a less forgiving alpine setting. I think Freedom 9 ought to encourage this developmental approach to lead climbing. Lead first in the gym, then lead sport climbs and finally lead trad climbs several grades lower than your highest no-fall grade on top rope.
Bounce testing gear is typically discussed in presentations on aid climbing. However it is also an excellent general method for getting real world feedback on the quality of one's gear placements.
What is the safest way to bounce test gear? There is a nice piece on the Mazamas website including a video of Chris McNamara bounce testing gear from SuperTopo.
Learning to lead is a developmental process. Many novices take off on the sharp end with surprisingly little skill or experience. There are some natural progressions to become a rock leader that are worth sharing in Freedom 9. Some of this can be found in Heidi Pesterfield's excellent book "Traditional lead climbing: Surviving the early years". AMGA requires experience leading 40 trad rock pitches, 5.6 or harder, as a pre-requisite for enrollng in their single pitch rock instructor certification course.
With the advent of climbing gyms and the growth of sport climbing there are abundant opportunities for new leaders to get some experience leading in safer environments before taking the sharp end in a less forgiving alpine setting. I think Freedom 9 ought to encourage this developmental approach to lead climbing. Lead first in the gym, then lead sport climbs and finally lead trad climbs several grades lower than your highest no-fall grade on top rope.