First Big Wall

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Good question, I keep my adjustables daisy and my aiders on the same biner as many (most?) people do. If I have to high step to get to the next placement, but it is a dicey placement, I will often crouch down and step back down a step after placing the piece before fully committing to it. This way you are in a better position to absorb the shork with your body and closer to the lower piece if the upper one blows. If it doesn't blow you are now at a good level to quickly clip the rope and unclip your daisy from the lower piece and move on.

 

You don't want to waste time and energy with this on every placement, but it's good to think about how you will absorb the shock when you are bounce testing. You don't want to just go limp and fall on the daisy, instead use your arms and legs to cushion the fall onto your daisy and aiders.

[Sol]

Just my .02 here but it seems that many folks get bogged down in carrying way too much bullshit up each pitch while aid climbing.

Minimize the cluster. On any pitch A2+ and easier, two yates adj. daisies, one set of ladder style aiders. Each daisy and each aider on their own keylock non-locking carbiner.

 

Get er done. Quit fucking around and move. Place your piece of gear. Clip daisy to highest point of gear (thumb loop on cam). Tighten adj daisy, bounce test with you waist, 1-3 times only (and only if it isn't bomber, otherwise don't bounce test, just move). If your gear holds a bounce test. Hang off your top daisy and move each aider up. Each aider carabiner gets clipped directly into the daisy biner on each side of the daisy (so your daisy doesn't move when you top step). Start moving up your ladders (get er done, second step minimum, top step preferably). When you waist gets near the lever of the gear clip the rope in. Repeat.

 

 

[ARob]

Thanks again to everyone for pitching in their thoughts. I thought this one of the more enjoyable threads to read since everyone was so informative and encouraging. I got a lot to learn ahead of me, but I'm as stoked as ever. I hope to run into you lot out at the crag. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Weekend. I did.

[tvashtarkatena]

Wow, I've been on that "how to aid" guide for at least an hour now. Thanks for the link.

 

I have one question that I haven't found yet. Say you're top stepping a piece and keeping daisies connecting to aiders so they don't fall off. Your daisy chain is stretching out under you. If you move onto the next piece and it blows during the transition, you take a daisy fall. This seems especially present to me when making a hook move above a bolt. However, if daisies are not kept connected to aiders, you risk dropping an aider and more time is sucked up clipping and unclipping with every piece. What is the best way to avoid this?

 

Some folks unclip the lower daisy, then clip in a draw before they step up the top aider to minimize this possibility. Adding a shortie screamer to your daisies is also an option. That might be a good plan when there's a bit of hooking involved.

 

Just got my new SpeedWall aiders today. Goodbye, clusterfuck.

Edited June 1, 2011 by tvashtarkatena

[Alex]

I think I went through this phase, like alot of climbers, where my "big walling" was just climbing routes at Index in the rain with aiders in the off season. That single-pitching eventually led to doing a few legit aid routes, like Town Crier.

 

Town Crier is a good first aid line.

 

Eventually, the next step was Yos-like territory. At that point I decided I liked hauling not so much and focused more on higher-end free climbing, to help me get up my objectives in the alpine faster and with better style. I was at a point where alpine 5.8 was all good, but I wasnt up to alpine 10d.

 

I love the technical aspects of aid climbing, they made me a MUCH better trad climber.

 

[Mangoramos973]

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