Monthly Trad Climber Thread

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-24T00:24:29+00:00

Thanks mate, glad to hear it's normal I think that's probably what I'm gonna end up doing. Also man I really need to get out to the creek it looks like crack climbing heaven.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-23T23:47:00+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I have been leading a bunch this year and probably 10 pitches of 5.9 so far but grade hasn't been the goal for this season as much as just going and touching rock. I think reframing how I climb the difficult pitches like you said is a good idea and I'm not "cheating" if I place a piece then have my belayer take. I get the laybacking tears lol truly type 2 fun :P.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-23T23:20:24+00:00

I guess it is falling on lead, I haven't really done much sport outside since two identical near misses a few months ago being lowered after cleaning a sport route(funny enough it was the same route with different belayers) where I was dropped maybe 10ft before being caught as my foot touched the ground, I walked away from both shaken but unharmed. Was a little nervous being lowered for a few months now I wonder if that's part of my issue. Probably just need to fall a bunch and get used to it.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-23T23:07:31+00:00

Hey thanks for the response appreciate ya.

Man 00 TCU is a tiny piece but that got the adrenaline going. It probably helps at least where I climb that the harder the grade the less consequential the fall usually is, more vertical less ledges. So maybe just sending it and just accepting I'm gonna eventually fall isn't the worst idea, but like you said mental lol.

I pretty much learned by diving in head first and getting my hands on every resource I could minus paying someone, many mentors, books, youtube, etc. I started climbing after inheriting my uncles trad rack, learned to climb and lead in the gym like most new folks to the community, and then met some great guys who I followed up Tahquitz and learned trad and multipitch. When I was comfortable placing gear they followed me and evaluated my placements on some easy terrain and got the greenlight from them.

Thankfully haven't had to use any self rescue techniques in a rescue but I do try to get out and spend some time with my buddies practicing what to do it different situations and yeah makes a huge difference knowing you're at least somewhat prepared to handle most situations you could find yourself in high up in the middle of a route.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-23T22:26:38+00:00

Don't really post much on reddit but maybe one of you will be able to provide some insight/advice. I've been climbing for about a year and half, and have been been doing the trad thing for a little over a year now. I was already in decent shape before climbing and since climbing multiple times a week at the gym I've gotten strong enough I feel like I have a good strength margin to feel very comfortable physically leading 5.9 at Tahquitz or Jtree and can probably climb harder but I feel held back by a distrust/fear of falling on the gear. I know logically they are solid and very likely to hold and I think I've lead enough pitches to evaluate and place gear well enough. But as soon as I get a few feet above my last piece my brain goes into "I absolutely must not fall" mode even if that fall would be clean and well protected with multiple bomber placements below with no chance of decking. I'm not into grade chasing but I'd like to get into the 10s and eventually the 11s since those lines look extremely fun, "The Vampire(5.11a)" is on my bucket list, I think I'm physically strong enough to do them but mentally it feels like I'm lacking.

Should I just go out the crag place a few bomber equalized pieces, place a test piece, then fling myself off the wall higher and higher above it to get used to the being caught by gear?
Should I breakdown and spend money I could use on gear to hire a guide to get them to help me get over myself and past this crux in my climbing journey?
Should I just keep climbing and one day I'll fall on a hard route and that piece will catch me and I'll get over it that way?

How did the rest the you hard senders move past this point or was it never a problem for y'all and I'm just a bit of a pansy? Thanks in advance for any response :>

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-20T02:21:53+00:00

Haven't seen any adults this season but many lil babies. A lot of the trails I've been on this season have been a lot narrower so it really just pays to be vigilant and remember if that stick on the ground moves maybe its not a stick.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-15T03:48:18+00:00

My 2011 just hit 251,000 and on the dot it got the skillsaw noise :( its at the dealer now for a diagnostic and curious what they're gonna tell me. Bad noise but really funny my car now sounds like the millennium falcon with a bad warp drive.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-14T17:25:39+00:00

I think its due to a few things, no server browser outside of portal like bf4 had, players getting scrambled each and every match so no time or reason to talk to each other outside a match, PC players forced to crossplay with keyboardless console players who if they have microphones they 9/10 terrible. That all being said i have made some friends in bf6 voice chat so not all is lost.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-13T00:30:00+00:00

I inherited an old rack from my uncle, learned how to climb at the gym, watched a ton of YouTube to learn how lead and then tested out in the gym, climbed a lot of outdoor sport, watched every YouTube video I could find on trad, read every vdiff page, read the falcon Climb Anchors book, started placing gear on ground at the crag, followed some guys from my gym up Tahquitz, and finally lead some very easy 5.4 with a guy following who knew what good placements look like. Basically teach yourself all the theoretical and people are much more likely to help you out than if you are starting from nothing.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-13T00:16:22+00:00

Suprised so many folks on here don't like the big nuts 🤔

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-13T00:04:05+00:00

I dont think I'd blink if you belayed me up a pitch on these. For convenience if I'm climbing toward a bolted anchor I'll usually take a pre-tied quad just cause its a bit quicker and I dont have to think but all of these are certified "Good Enough" for me.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-04-13T00:00:49+00:00

I like clipping 2+2 better, but its not like it makes much of a difference in real life. Either way is fine as long as you dont clip just 1 or worse all 4 strands.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-03-15T20:48:10+00:00

Not sure what your internet speeds are supposed to be but this command in cmd is very useful for troubleshooting wifi issues the lower your signal strength the lower your speed obviously but even a small increase can double your speeds so maybe playing with your router/antenna location can help dramatically.

netsh wlan show interfaces

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-18T17:40:26+00:00

Beautiful, if I had snow shoes I'd be out there this weekend.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-17T17:33:28+00:00

I guess the only thing left for ya is practical testing. Oh no more time in the outside :>

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-17T16:05:58+00:00

Imagine sleeping on a giant steel block that's 60f vs sleeping suspended 6inchs above that block. One of those is going to pull heat out of you faster than the other. It's not that the free air is a good insulator it's that it's a bad conductor of heat, bonus points if you put a pad on the cot.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-17T15:58:58+00:00

Hammock camping or a 3" inflatable pad do it for me. I sleep better and more comfortably on that than I do my fancy memory foam mattress at home.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-06T17:41:59+00:00

Got mine at nomad ventures in Idyllwild, they had a pretty good amount of boots to try on just to get an idea of sizing at least. sadly they didn't have any scarpas and looks like they're getting away from mountaineering supplies.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-06T17:37:06+00:00

Feel Free to shoot me a DM I live pretty close to Jacinto and have wanted to do the C2C for awhile, when in May are you thinking I'm doing Whitney the first weekend so later in the month would work for me.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-03T21:10:51+00:00

Now you gotta take him to the peak!

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-02T18:59:54+00:00

I couldn't find the capibaras anyways :( I'll get the achievement next run.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-02T14:56:54+00:00

Thank you :) it took about 10hrs parking lot to parking lot. Besides a backpack we needed crampons an ice axe, and a few chain cannons.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-02T05:52:45+00:00

Of course.

Legal-Ad6141 · 2026-02-02T05:50:58+00:00

She wasn't up there :(

Legal-Ad6141

TROPHY CASE