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General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

First time to the Gramps / First time on trad! 12-Nov-2008 At 7:13:48 AM shiltz

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If you are learning to climb trad then you're not going to need RPs straight away, especially climbing 10-13 in the Grampians (or Arapiles for that matter). Nor will you need micro-cams. These routes were climbed long before either were available.
You might find a second set of nuts useful on longer routes. A few more cams will be handy if you can afford them. Wild country (or equivalent) sizes 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 will take you a long way. Get half a dozen slings (60 and 120cm) for belays, extending runners (especially if all your quickdraws are sport style ones) and threads. Hexes will also be very useful at the grades you're considering although they aren't very fashionable.
A good length of tape can be handy for fast belay set-ups but, so long as you're leading everything and not setting up top ropes, you can always use your rope in the belay. The routes in summer day valley are mostly well short of a rope length and single pitch. Setting up top ropes can involve a lot more time, gear and energy than simply leading them. If you do expect to top rope then take a second rope, preferably static as the bollards/gear placements are often well back from where you need them.