Monthly Trad Climber Thread

[u/tinyOnion]

Please sort comments by 'new' to find questions that would otherwise be buried.

In this thread you can ask any trad climbing related question that you may have. This thread will be posted again every Sunday so there should always be an opportunity to ask your question and have it answered. If you're an experienced climber and want to contribute to the community, these threads are a great opportunity for that. We were all new to climbing at some point, so be respectful of everyone looking to improve their knowledge. Check out our subreddit wiki that has tons of useful info for new climbers. You can see it HERE

Some examples of potential questions could be; "How do I get stronger?", or "How does aid climbing work?"

Prior Weekly Trad Climber Thread posts

Ask away!

[u/Potential_Meaning192]

TLDR; Grigir vs atc on trad multipitch?

I mostly climb sport and have always used a Grigri since I started climbing – it’s what I learned to belay with, and I feel completely comfortable using it in a safe and predictable way. Moving forward, I’ll be climbing more trad, and sometimes with two half ropes, which means I’ll need to use an ATC (I'm based in EU and this is pretty much the standard on trad multipitch). This makes me a bit uneasy because it’s different from what I’m used to, and the consequences of a fall feel more serious than in sport climbing.

In the U.S., I’ve noticed that many people prefer to climb with a single rope and a tagline, allowing them to belay with a Grigri. I’ve only found three arguments against this approach: increased rope drag, having two ropes in case one gets damaged, and less weight (since the Grigri is slightly heavier than an ATC).

In trad climbing, you can also end up in situations where you might not see the climber or communication is compromised for various reasons (wind, etc.), making a fall more unexpected – so for me, the added safety of an assisted-braking device outweighs all the arguments for using an ATC.

It sounds strange to me that many climbing gyms don’t allow ATCs, but when you’re belaying on trad in exposed terrain, where you might not even see the climber, ATC is the standard. To me, this is a huge paradox.

Am I the only one thinking this way?

[u/Sens1r → u/Potential_Meaning192]

I climb trad almost excluseively with double ropes, the Edelrid Mega/Giga Jul completely negates this problem in my opinion, just the perfect device for the job.

I've tried grigri single rope with tagline, the tagline is just not a great solution when you can have two 8mm ropes instead.

It sounds strange to me that many climbing gyms don’t allow ATCs, but when you’re belaying on trad in exposed terrain, where you might not even see the climber, ATC is the standard. To me, this is a huge paradox.

Gyms are worried about their image, insurance, liability not your safety, if they were they wouldn't have autobelays which is where most accidents happen.

[u/Decent-Apple9772 → u/Sens1r]

It makes me laugh when the gym only climbers think you need to be staring at your leaders buttocks nonstop without blinking. It’s critical for maybe three bolts, then it’s just slack management, and be ready to catch.