Placing Gear Efficiently

Placing Gear Efficiently

The ability to quickly identify possible gear placements and then choose the right piece of gear first time, all whilst placing it from an optimal position will save you energy. This energy-saving can then be spent on more challenging climbs. As such this attribute can be a mix of the technical aspects of finding rest and even the reading routes tactic, it is also about looking for a place that will take trad gear, analysing the options, choosing the type of gear to place, selecting the right size of gear, placing it well and finally extending it appropriately.

It can also include placing a cluster of gear as a bomb shelter below a crux or even placing a cluster of poor gear as a psychological tool to help you commit to a section of climbing. What we focus on here is generally the nuts and bolts of this rather than the relative risk involved. Trad Climbing makes the risk very dynamic and even on easy routes, you can risk ground fall, as such your personal judgement is key here. That judgement takes time and effort on the sharp end to develop. Even with proper coaching in lead climbing you still need to take time to amass that experience which leads to excellent judgement.



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