Trad Climbing for MTN Athletes

Two Day Fundamentals Course | $550

Well rounded mountain travel fundamentals

These courses are meant for those seeking the high peaks.  While Trad climbing is the basis of most other alpine skillsets it’s important to keep the fundamentals rooted in the alpine context.  Many trad climbers learn in environments that are not representative of the alpine setting. Climbing only on clean well traveled 5th class faces we become preoccupied with the protection we use in those environments. With easy access to solid bedrock splitting cracks we become reliant on cams and nuts.In alpine settings–on ridges and exposed 4th class terrain we tend to find a looser more worn geology. In these environments cams and nuts are challenging to use and terrain based solutions are preferable. Many strong experienced trad climbers struggle in these environments. For instance, putting a force multiplying cam under a 500 lbs boulder that only needs to shift 3mm to fail is a recipe for disaster–while wrapping rope around or sitting behind this boulder can be really secure.  This program is meant to keep trad climbing rooted in elegant classical alpine techniques while still including modern innovations.

Summer 2025 Programs

June 11-12 Boulder, CO

These programs are run at a 2:1 ratio as this is the only way to provide the alpine oriented learning outcomes.  Because of this it is easy to organize these programs on a fairly flexible basis.  Please get in touch about setting up a program if the listed dates don’t work for your schedule.

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Program Basics

This might be more correctly called intro to adventure rock climbing.

There are many kinds of rock climbing, some focus more on fingers of steel while some focus on exploring the vertical world.  Multi-pitch traditional climbing or what we might call adventure climbing is a far cry from what you will see in the climbing gym.  We refer to this as “trad climbing”. 

In many ways trad climbing is the foundation of all other forms of alpinism.  You will not find a skilled alpinist who does not have a strong proficiency in traditional climbing.  Not only is it a necessary skill for many alpine objectives but it’s the best place to develop the skills necessary to begin climbing in more remote alpine areas without the exposure and time pressure of the high alpine.  

This two day course will focus on developing skills that will be applicable across all climbing disciplines but is focused on a rock environment.  We will focus on climbing strategies for rock environments that don’t have frequent use of bolts.

Technical Skills

We will cover a variety of rope-work and climbing skills starting with:

  • Picking objectives and big picture strategy
  • Multi-pich Strategy
  • Mountain hazard assessment and awareness
  • Employing effective anchors 
  • Gear anchor construction and use
  • Terrain anchor use
  • Lead climbing considerations
  • Place quality protection
  • Protecting your follower
  • Considerations for following
  • Cleaning anchors

Prerequesite

To get the most out of this program:
The best way to get the most out of your time with a guide is to arrive with a basic understanding of the topics to be covered.  You will benefit more from focusing on when and why to use these techniques instead of how to use them.  We want to focus on refining skills.  I would recommend coming prepared with:

  • Fluency with lead belay systems in a single pitch environment. 
  • Conceptual understanding of multi-pitch climbing systems. 
  • Basic climbing knots: figure 8, overhand on a bight, clove hitch, bowline.
  • Understanding of basic principles of anchor building.
  • Comfortable climbing up to 5.7 YDS.
  • Recommended to have your own traditional climbing gear.

 

Interested?

Please drop me a line with the contact form.  I can give you some more information and we can talk about if this program is a right fit for your goals.

 

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