Trad climbing is an awesome sport. Conquering the largest rock faces while relying only on your own placed protection, the way that rock climbers did years ago. Now referred to as traditional climbing, it was once the only way to climb – before the sport climbing bolts were ever installed.
While trad climbing can be a lot of fun, it’s far more dangerous than sport climbing. Trad climbing requires a lot more knowledge and experience in properly placing protection during the climb. It’s important to keep the safety of all climbers first and foremost while trad climbing.
Keeping the following safety points in mind will help to ensure that everyone stays safe and has a great time climbing.
Only Climb in the Right State of Mind
All climbers must be alert and clear headed. It’s important that every single member of your climb are both mentally and physically ready for the climb. If there’s anyone who’s tired, sick or otherwise – they need to sit this climb out. This is vitally important for every member of the climb that all of their fellow climbers are up to the task at hand.
Have a Game Plan
Just like when boating, hiking or any other sport that might involve some risk, it’s always a good idea to tell someone your entire plan for a climb. Make sure someone who’s not hiking with you knows where you’re planning on climbing and how long you’ll be there. If you’re not back by your planned return time, they can start getting help on the way to you.
Only Climb at Your Skill Level
Never climb above your skill level, period. It may not seem like a big deal when it comes to a given climb, but that could change in an instant when a climb doesn’t go as planned. It’s never worth risking your life over any climb.
Even if a given climb is above your level right now, it won’t always be. You’ll be able to take on that climb sometime in the future. Did you know that the American Alpine Club lists climbers who are exceeding their abilities as one of the most common causes of accidents and injuries.
Only Use High Quality Gear
Another common cause for accidents is people climbing with inadequate gear. Sure, you could save a few bucks by buying used gear on Ebay, but do you really want to put your life in the hands of that used gear? The sellers could have misrepresented their gear, it may not have the same structural stability that it did when it was brand new.
You really have no idea how the previous owner of that gear used, or abused it. You also don’t know how old it is, or if there have been falls involved with it that they didn’t tell you about.
Let’s face it, climbing gear isn’t cheap, on the other hand – it gets downright expensive. We all want to save money on gear, I get it. But there are some places in which you just don’t want to cut corners.
Your personal safety and the safety of those you climb with is not one of those places.
Besides, you can still save plenty of money by buying brand new gear on Amazon, and many of their prices are well below those of your local climbing store. The local climbing store in my area charges on average about thirty to as much as fifty percent more on some items than what I could get them for online.
While I think it’s good to support a local store – I also think that’s only the case when their prices are reasonable. And for those climbers who are trying to get quality gear on a budget, I’d much rather see them buy brand new, safe gear online – rather than possibly risking their life by using cheap, used gear that they bought on Ebay, sight unseen.
Bring More than Enough Cams and Nuts
When it comes to trad climbing, you’ll never know exactly what you need until you get up there – so always bring more protection than you think you’ll need. Bring extra cams, nuts, slings and quickdraws. Always over pack a bit for a climb, those few more ounces of weight might just come in handy.
Make Sure You’ve Climbed a Few Sport Climbs First
If you’re new to trad climbing, it’s a good idea to at least practice by climbing a few outdoor sport climbs before attempting your first trad climb. Also, if you’re capable of leading a five point nine sport climb, you should start with a five point four trad climb. What, five whole grades lower? Yes, five grades lower to start.
There’s a lot more that you’re going to have to deal with when you start climbing your first few trad climbs. Many climbers think that they can blow this off, especially if they’re pretty confident when they’re sport climbing.
You’re going to have a lot more things that require your careful attention in a trad climb, and this is especially true of your first few trad climbs – Don’t underestimate this.
Not only will you have to use all of the skills that you’ve developed on sport climbs, you ‘ll also have to manage rope drag, stuck pieces of protection, cams falling out and all while carrying your heavier trad rack.
Take it all seriously and only climb at lower levels until you’re ready to move up levels, one at a time. This isn’t just about you, you owe this to your climbing partner as well.
Practice Placing Protection
If you’re looking to start trad climbing, you should start by placing practice protection while you climb a sport climb. Lead the climb and practice placing cams and nuts as you go. Just be sure to carry plenty of quickdraws with you.
Use the bolts as your actual protection, but also be serious about the practice protection that you’re placing – as if it really was your only protection on the climb. This allows a climber who’s new to trad climbing to get to place lots of protection, and the more practice, the better.
This lets a new trad climber get a good feel for using cams and nuts, and you’ll also see if your protection stays put or comes loose as you continue up the climb. Do this on several climbs before you attempt your first trad climb.
Learn Placements from an Experienced Trad Climber
Another great way to learn how to be safe on trad climbs is to follow an experienced trad climber on a climb and clean their gear. This will give you lots of up close experience with protection placements. You’ll also get a feel for how easy or hard it is to remove each piece of gear.
Only Climb with Experienced Belayer
You’re only ever as safe as your climbing and your belayer. Inexperienced belayers have been known to cause many injuries to climbers. Just a belayer not paying attention or “spacing out” can be deadly. Just a few seconds can be the difference between a safe fall and an injury.
Have a Game Plan with Your Partner
One of the most common causes of accidents and injuries to climbers comes from poor communication between climbers. It could be windy, or the sounds of a nearby interstate might be making it difficult to hear your partner – either way you and your fellow climbers should all know and agree on the plan for the climb before you set out.
Your partners should clearly know what you’re planning on doing when you finally reach the anchors. Will you be rappelling or not? A wrong guess by your partner could be deadly. You should all be on the same page as to what exactly is going to happen on the climb before you start.
Don’t ever assume that a fellow climber is going to rappel and not lower. This is a very common cause for injuries while climbing.
Extend Your Protection When Necessary
It’s important to extend your protection when you’re climbing traversing routes, to cut down on your rope zig-zagging. You want the rope to go straight down as clean as possible, without winding up and down around the rock.
It’s always good to bring plenty of slings in several different lengths whenever you’re trad climbing. A few shoulder length slings, some double length runners and a handful of quickdraws will allow your rope to fall as straight and unhindered as possible.
Have a Backup Plan
It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan with your partner before you set off for any climb. What if you get to the anchor and somethings wrong with it? What will you do if you get pounded by a torrential storm. What about lightning?
Have a plan in place if for some reason you can’t continue on with the climb for any reason.
Make Sure All Climbers Have Access to a Mobile Phone
Whether hiking, boating or climbing – it’s important to have access to a mobile phone whenever you’re out in the wilderness. Even the smallest of injuries become much more dangerous when out in the wild. Each climber should have their own phone, one might get service while the other doesn’t. You want as many options as possible if you need to call for help.
Always Have First Aid With You
Get a small first aid kit and take it with you on every climb. These days there are many different first aid kits available that are small, hardly weigh anything, but still have plenty of important things for any accidental injuries.
It’s even better if you or a fellow climber have been trained in first aid and or CPR. If you have a regular climbing partner or group of friends who climb – a quick first aid class could be invaluable. A simple one hour class can make you and your partner a lot more ready for any unexpected injury.
If nothing else, you should at least have some type of antiseptic cleaner, clean wrap-able bandages and some painkillers. Even if you don’t want to carry a first aid kit (as some climbers don’t), you should have those three things as the absolute minimum.
Always Double Check Your Belay and Knots
When you’re belaying, always double check that the rope is properly threaded through the belay and that all of the locking caribiners that you’re using are indeed locked. When you’re climbing, Always double check your knot. Make sure that it’s not only tied properly, but that it’s also been tightened and threaded correctly through the harness. And while you’re at it – always double-check all of your partner’s knots as well.
Always Bring a Headlamp
Even if you’re heading out on a climb where you’re absolutely sure that you won’t need one – bring a headlamp anyway. That little light could make all the difference. Besides, most modern climbing headlamps are super small and light weight anyway. Seriously, just bring one, you never know when you’ll need it.
Always Carry a Lightweight Raincover
Again, even if you don’t think you’ll need it…
You get the idea. Even the most clear sunny day could turn into a torrential downpour while you’re out there. A small, lightweight rain poncho or jacket will stay out of the way when you’re climbing, but come in handy when you need it.
Trust me, at some point you’ll need one, and you’ll be glad if you pack one in with your climbing gear right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait…
Have you packed one yet? Seriously, it’s one of those things that should travel with you on each and every climb.
So there you have it. If you take notes and follow all of the above tips and tricks for climbing safety you’ll be safely trad climbing in no time. Remember, trad climbing is inherently more dangerous than sport climbing. Do not take that lightly.
It’s not only about you, it’s you’re responsibility to anyone else that you’re climbing with that you’re doing so as safely as possible. Climbing is a fun sport, but it’s also no joke. Seriously planning ahead with safety in mind is an essential trait any any good trad climber.