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General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

2 thumbs = good; <2 thumbs = less good 29-Oct-2010 At 1:40:37 PM hargs

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On 29/10/2010 Miguel75 wrote:
>Any thoughts, comments, complaints?

You're working on 2 different things at once here: building your confidence placing gear, and learning fall with "good posture". I'd keep those exercises separate.

Practice placing gear on top-rope by standing on each piece as you place it (Mikl suggested this in a previous thread). Clip a sling, or aiders if you have them, to your gear then weight it. Jump and down, more than you'll initially think is sensible. (There's a vid on supertopo somewhere with Chris McNamara demonstrating; it's worth a look.)

Practice lead falls in the gym first. Don't use a top-rope (it'll get in the way.) It's easy in a gym (bolts!), harder outdoors. Use a crag with bolts if you can. Back them up and equalise them so you can hang a truck of the master point. As suggested above, do this at the top of the route, not the bottom. Start small, then work up: runner at waist, then thighs, then knees ... you get the idea. Eventually you'll be comfortable falling with the gear below your feet.