Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Sport grades 'higher' than trad? 18-Jul-2012 At 5:00:21 PM ARidgley

Message

Good thread.

I agree with a lot of what others have said. A well protected trad route is much less scary that a sport route because protection can be above your head and it's generally not as steep so you can take your time.

To me, what sets the two apart is that on a sport route (or any bolted route) you KNOW where the next piece is. There's always a small incremental objective that draws you on. On trad you typically just don't know. Arapiles is a classic example. You can see steep ground ahead and have no idea where the next piece is. This generally invites procrastination (the best part of climbing), mindworms and unnecessary pump. You don't get drawn on, you need to push on. To me, that's the one big difference.

And the weight of my oversized security blanket of a rack.