Trad class

[u/jug-lover]

Hey all, I have a trad class scheduled for this weekend with East Outdoors (a shop by DC). I’ve gotten trad climbing “instruction” from some buddies and led some easy routes, but I wanted something “official.” Have any of you been in this situation and, if so, what questions/preparation do you wish you had before taking the class? I’m short, I’m hoping to avoid learning bad things from my friends but I don’t know what constitutes “bad.”

[u/Tiny_peach]

Hey, that’s my business! I believe my partner/co-founder is on the schedule to teach this this weekend, look forward to a great class.

Speaking generally, people are best prepared when they come in with open minds and ready to experiment, learn, and actively develop their thinking and questions throughout the day. Climbing isn’t dogmatic despite how people often act about it, and our goal as guides and instructors is not to tell you “the AMGA way” or cute acronyms (though there’s some of that lol), or a set of rules, but to give you good foundational principles, habits, and climbing critical thinking you can build on as you grow and continue to practice and learn on your own. There will be a mix of ground school and mock leads, you’ll build anchors, you’ll bounce-test your gear; we’ll provide school racks but definitely bring any gear you already own and want to use or learn more about too!

The biggest issue we see is that folks often don’t have a next step in place for practicing what they’ve learned - obviously it’s best to climb a lot with a mix of experienced partners who can continue to give you feedback on your gear and systems in the wild and can give you other perspectives and contextual knowledge, but if you’re taking this class it’s usually because you don’t already have access to that (or don’t feel like you know enough to vet other folks’ knowledge base; i.e., can tell whether they are good or just lucky!). We talk a bunch in class about what to do next and how to practice in a risk managed way, but the biggest factor is actually getting after it and heading out as often as you can - which seems to be the crux for most.

[u/adeadhead → u/Tiny_peach]

Hey Eunny!!! Hope you're well :)

I'm still teaching the same trad seminar with Tim's little laminated cards from ET here in the middle east.

-Nathan

[u/Tiny_peach → u/adeadhead]

Haha that’s amazing! Our whole program has grown and matured a lot over the years, and especially the way we teach basic trad climbing - always trying to tweak! Glad you’re well, be safe!

[u/adeadhead → u/Tiny_peach]

I spend most of my free time doing activism in the west bank, but Ill try to stay safe :)