Best Way to learn how to Aid

[markwebster]

What everyone else said, and then visit this website:

 

http://www.supertopo.com/a/How-To-Big-Wall-Climb-Table-of-Contents/a139n.html

 

My buddy Phil had not done much aid at all 3 years ago. He read all that stuff, watched the videos, and then started putting it into practice around Vantage, Leavenworth and Index. He went solo when he couldn't find partners, getting his systems wired. Now he's done a bunch of big walls in the valley.

 

For me personally, I love freeclimbing too much to aid...figure I'll get back into aiding when I start really sucking wind at free climbing

[dberdinka]

+1 for Marks link to Chris Macnamaras website.

 

If you start and learn to aid climb without daisies you will be far more efficent and fast.

[obwan]

Way back when, I taught myself aid climbing on a chain-link backstop (in a baseball field). No pro needed--just clip the backstop. You can work out various systems without messing with protection.

 

Lowell - Shows how old school we are, chain-link backstops are cool.

 

I've used them for dry-tooling also, doesn't F up the tools as bad and one can use boots/crampons.

[JoeR]

[video:youtube]

 

But really though, it is best to learn how to aid before you head up the pioneer route please. The bolt ladder is the chokepoint for a couple popular routes. It always sucks to head out early to do West face variation and get stuck behind a slow party heading in from the notch.

Edited October 1, 2012 by JoeR

[ivan]

the pioneer route ain't really an aid route and everyone should leave there etriers at home for it - french freeing w/ a fifi hook is best - if you want to aid at smith, bubba's in bondage is better, or if you want the monkey, then the west face route, which is mostly a bolt-ladder anyhow...

[jeb013]

So feeding off this thread, does anyone have any suggestions for places to practice in the portland area. Trying to get more comfortable setting gear while having a fixed rope up, to be safe.

Tying a set of aiders seemed like a good way to set a bunch of gear, while not having to focus on the moves, and when I am a little more comfortable start tying the two together. Should be right about the time the weather turns to shit.

 

Also if anyone knows of bolt ladders around here so i can get used to the aiders and fifi that would be cool too.

 

Jeb

 

 

[keenwesh]

Skip the bolt ladder, most any free climbing crack can be aided, as long as the gear placements are bomber and you can fend off the crowds of angry free climbers below you.

 

Placing your own gear is good for establishing a pace. Reminds me of the first time I went trap shooting. I was hitting doubles every time, but as soon as my buddy had me flip the safety off before bringing the gun to my shoulder I couldn't hit jack shit. Practice the whole thing the first time, and eventually you'll get even with the glacial pace that is the level of proficiency.

[matt_warfield]

I'll go back to City Park. No bolts, mostly nuts (not plug and go), steep, clean, and relatively local to Seattle.

 

And at every placement you can imagine what it would be like to free climb it.

[ivan]

So feeding off this thread, does anyone have any suggestions for places to practice in the portland area. Trying to get more comfortable setting gear while having a fixed rope up, to be safe.

Tying a set of aiders seemed like a good way to set a bunch of gear, while not having to focus on the moves, and when I am a little more comfortable start tying the two together. Should be right about the time the weather turns to shit.

 

Also if anyone knows of bolt ladders around here so i can get used to the aiders and fifi that would be cool too.

 

Jeb

 

beacon or broughtons can both work well - if beacon (best option), climb free 4 all or dod's jam p1 and set your top-rope for aiding on free for sum - right gull to 2nd anchor, then rap down and set up a tr on wrong gull works too - if broughton's, try classic crack (fuck all those free-styling bitches) or one of the steeper lines to the right

[rocketparrotlet]

I'm at college with no access to aid climbing/nobody at my college aid climbs. I'd like to learn haul systems and following traversing pitches. What are some good ways to rig this using the stuff I can find around college? (trees, rafters, etc.) I suck at just reading about systems online and understanding them, but I want to come back and do El Cap this summer, so I need to get these skills down.

[jeb013]

So feeding off this thread, does anyone have any suggestions for places to practice in the portland area. Trying to get more comfortable setting gear while having a fixed rope up, to be safe.

Tying a set of aiders seemed like a good way to set a bunch of gear, while not having to focus on the moves, and when I am a little more comfortable start tying the two together. Should be right about the time the weather turns to shit.

 

Also if anyone knows of bolt ladders around here so i can get used to the aiders and fifi that would be cool too.

 

Jeb

 

beacon or broughtons can both work well - if beacon (best option), climb free 4 all or dod's jam p1 and set your top-rope for aiding on free for sum - right gull to 2nd anchor, then rap down and set up a tr on wrong gull works too - if broughton's, try classic crack (fuck all those free-styling bitches) or one of the steeper lines to the right

 

 

Thanks Ivan, this is what I was looking for . Although I am pretty sure I have read multiple posts about your "free-styling" antics out at beacon.

 

Jeb

[keenwesh]

I'm at college with no access to aid climbing/nobody at my college aid climbs. I'd like to learn haul systems and following traversing pitches. What are some good ways to rig this using the stuff I can find around college? (trees, rafters, etc.) I suck at just reading about systems online and understanding them, but I want to come back and do El Cap this summer, so I need to get these skills down.

 

Sounds like you gotta drop out!

[ivan]

I'm at college with no access to aid climbing/nobody at my college aid climbs. I'd like to learn haul systems and following traversing pitches. What are some good ways to rig this using the stuff I can find around college? (trees, rafters, etc.) I suck at just reading about systems online and understanding them, but I want to come back and do El Cap this summer, so I need to get these skills down.

might find a tall dorm building you could use railings/pillars as anchors for? might want to back'em up a bit?

 

you can sort out the basics of rigging a haul system in your living room, w/ a book in front of you, but most hauling locations on a big wall end up being a bit unique (and usually hanging), so pretty hard to reproduce on terra firma

[fgw]

if you're just looking to get the sequence down, a tree will do fine:

[matt_warfield]

Doing a wall with an experienced aid climber is worth a thousand books or a thousand hours of screwing around on anything other than rock or with another newbie.

 

Reinventing the wheel is time consuming and dangerous.

[ivan]

Doing a wall with an experienced aid climber is worth a thousand books or a thousand hours of screwing around on anything other than rock or with another newbie.

 

Reinventing the wheel is time consuming and dangerous.

true, but doing a wall w/ a guy just as clueless as you also has its charms - there are many paths to mecca, and i liked mine: first wall w/ an experienced guy, next several walls w/ a novice like me, than from there on out a mixture of partners all over the map

 

it's only a handful of skills that are critical, and after that its more an art of finding ways to save time/increase the fun - the basics: aiding itself (pretty damn easy, at least if its c1), following (especially super-steep or traversing pitches which require lowering out or re-aiding), building good, non-cluster-fucked anchors, hauling, and setting up camp

[matt_warfield]

Well my first aid climb with a fellow newbie was one pitch and took nearly all day. Of course that was in the day of bongs (not that kind Ivan) and pins but the point is El Cap would take weeks at that rate.

[keenwesh]

This is how Mark and I learned how to aid.

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1015149

[rocketparrotlet]

This is how Mark and I learned how to aid.

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1015149

 

That was a ton of fun. Now you're a badass aid climber. I've gotta catch up!

Edited October 6, 2012 by rocketparrotlet

[octopuswithafez]

Way back when, I taught myself aid climbing on a chain-link backstop (in a baseball field). No pro needed--just clip the backstop. You can work out various systems without messing with protection.

 

Lowell - Shows how old school we are, chain-link backstops are cool.

 

I've used them for dry-tooling also, doesn't F up the tools as bad and one can use boots/crampons.

 

Hmm. I may have to find my way down to a couple of old baseball fields to try this...

[JDCH]

Way back when, I taught myself aid climbing on a chain-link backstop (in a baseball field). No pro needed--just clip the backstop. You can work out various systems without messing with protection.

 

Lowell - Shows how old school we are, chain-link backstops are cool.

 

I've used them for dry-tooling also, doesn't F up the tools as bad and one can use boots/crampons.

 

Hmm. I may have to find my way down to a couple of old baseball fields to try this...

 

I took the advise, and learned to aid! It was awesome!

 

[JDCH]

And now I have a great drytooling practice spot just down the road... Still elicits strange looks from the local vagrants when I start unpacking my gear and ascending the backstop though...

 

[octopuswithafez]

Way back when, I taught myself aid climbing on a chain-link backstop (in a baseball field). No pro needed--just clip the backstop. You can work out various systems without messing with protection.

 

Lowell - Shows how old school we are, chain-link backstops are cool.

 

I've used them for dry-tooling also, doesn't F up the tools as bad and one can use boots/crampons.

 

Hmm. I may have to find my way down to a couple of old baseball fields to try this...

 

I took the advise, and learned to aid! It was awesome!

What kind of system for rope did you use?

Edited January 23, 2013 by octopuswithafez

[JDCH]

Not sure what you mean...

 

But I made two etriers from webbing, used my metolius PAS's for my daisies, brought out a rack of Quick draws, and aided up the backstop!

 

I think you might be asking how I attached the rope to the backstop... Quick draws!

 

let me know if you have more questions!

[octopuswithafez]

Not sure what you mean...

 

But I made two etriers from webbing, used my metolius PAS's for my daisies, brought out a rack of Quick draws, and aided up the backstop!

 

I think you might be asking how I attached the rope to the backstop... Quick draws!

 

let me know if you have more questions!

 

did you play around with soloing as well? (e.g. silent partner, continuous loop ).