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General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

2 thumbs = good; <2 thumbs = less good 30-Oct-2010 At 12:11:41 AM hargs

Message

On 29/10/2010 Miguel75 wrote:
>I have done a bit of self belay TR 'aiding' where I
>sew up a climb weighting and bounce testing every piece, which I really
>enjoy.(I think I'm slowly being drawn into the world of Aiding) .

Cool, if you've done this you're ahead of a lot of leaders who never test their placements. Having gear blow when you stand on it is an interesting way to find out what works and what doesn't. If you can jump up and down on your placements, you can be reasonably confident they'll stay put in a fall.

+1 for the nut tool + hammer or funkness device. Pounding your gear in (by falling on it) can make it difficult to retrieve.) I don't have a hammer, so I bash gear out with a nut tool and #11 hex which isn't ideal.

>>2. Lead falls - I mainly want to work on the hands free version of my
>current falling style.

I still think you're better off working on this technique in the gym, or at a steep, bolted crag where you can lob off without (a) worrying about your gear staying in and (b) hitting anything. Short falls on vertical walls close to gear can be painful; longer falls can be less awkward. Horst has a whole section in his training book about this.