Traditional climbing is both a challenging and rewarding discipline, demanding the leader to place removeable gear and anchors to ascend and descend. The follower, or second, “cleans” the gear as they ascend, leaving the rock mostly unscathed outside of ghostly chalk handprints. Learning to trad climb pulls the curtains back on a lifetime of new routes, yet it also requires a base knowledge of how to choose and place gear, an intimate understanding of where you’re climbing, route-finding and navigating the appropriate line, and anchor/self-rescue systems.
From Eldorado Canyon to Boulder Canyon and the Flatirons to the South Platte, the Front Range is stacked with world class traditional climbing for greenhorns and seasoned pros alike. History drips from our little corner of Colorado, with luminaries such as Layton Kor, Royal Robbins, Roger Briggs, Duncan Ferguson, Tommy Caldwell, and so many others authoring unimpeachable classics and daunting test-pieces. Although we at Wilderness Exchange endeavor to destroy our sport’s gatekeepers and invisible barriers, there will always be one sentinel standing guard in front of every trad crag on the planet: Knowledge.
Our informational Crag to Trad Clinic offers a glimpse into the tools you’ll need to build that trad climbing knowledge, hosted by a couple of our own trad warhorses with an accumulated 35+ years of experience. This informational clinic covers the basics of traditional protection and how to build a trad rack, the inimitable characteristics of our local crags, gear placement and safety considerations, and additional resources for the “trad curious” such as instructional books, local guiding outfits and schools, and the value of personal mentors.
Although we can’t get into all the finer details of specific anchor builds or proper “brassie” placements like in a skills course in the field with an AMGA guide, we’ll introduce you to the wide world of trad climbing and everything you’ll need to know or prepare for in service to that first life-changing trad lead! And after the presentation ends we’ll open up the floor for a Q & A, addressing all of your questions and concerns as best we can. And hey, you might just meet your next climbing partner!
Where: Wilderness Exchange, 2401 15th Street, Suite 100, Denver, CO
When: Thursday, August 18th @ 8pm
