Course Overview

Traditional (Trad) climbing is a leader placing protection as they climb by using specialized gear and natural rock features. Placing protection with trad gear opens up so many climbing opportunities, but requires focused time and study in order mitigate risk.

This course is for experienced top-rope and/or sport climbers that want to start learning trad leading under the guidance of a climbing professional. You will learn how to place three types of trad equipment: cams, tri-cams, and nuts. You will also be given guidance on how to practice and build confidence placing protection so that you can eventually move on to bigger objectives. We recommend that you schedule a private day to learn trad, but we also offer limited slots in one of our public courses.

What you need

All gear rental for this course is provided, but you are free to bring your own as well. This gear includes standard climbing equipment (helmet, harness, shoes), as well as a “single rack” of trad climbing gear. This includes:

• 6 cams, one of each size: 0.4, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, and 3

• A set of 11 nuts

• 4 tricams: black, pink, red, and brown

If you have any of your own gear, we recommend that you bring it so that you can get comfortable placing your own gear. We will supplement any missing pieces.