Goto Chockstone Home

  Guide
  Gallery
  Tech Tips
  Articles
  Reviews
  Dictionary
  Links
  Forum
  Search
  About

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

  Shop
Chockstone Photography
Australian Landscape Photography by Michael Boniwell
Australian Landscape Prints





Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

 Page 1 of 5. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 80 | 81 to 91
Author
Aid Climbing Help

shaneftr
29-Sep-2007
10:36:28 PM
Hi all. I am trying to find someone to guide me in learning to aid climb. I am hoping to gain experience here then travel to Yosemite when I'm up to it. But for now I need to learn aid climbing techniques, so if you are someone who can do this, or you know of someone, or if I can hang with a group and learn the ropes, please reply.
Thanks heaps,
Shane
FTR

Macciza
29-Sep-2007
10:50:29 PM
G'day Shane,
If you are up the Blueies anytime, drop us a line and we can work something out . . .
Or just hang out at Buffalo as much as possible this season and you'll find people . . .
Good luck and welcome to a 'brave new world' . . .
Macciza
julian.A
30-Sep-2007
11:26:16 AM
Hey Shane,

We run a few Aid Climbing Courses each year in the Blue Mountains, and have run guided instructional courses on climbs like Ozy at Buffalo.

check the website - www.australianclimbing.com.au

cheers
julian

rhinckle
9-Oct-2007
7:41:35 AM
i've yet to do an aid climb, but i'm sussing the techniques by 'boulderaiding'.

get out and see whats possible in places where you're not going to die if you fall.
at least you will get familiar with equipment and techniques (without having to include rope management as well).
just make sure that yr in a lonely place, you'll feel like a dick if there's anyone around. (Well i do.)

i am curently playing with
couple of bird beaks, couple of cam hooks, skyhook, talon.
either some slings (or if feeling flush, etriers) and a daisy chain (tubular tape with alpine butterfly loops works for me. essential if its overhanging) then...
you find what else you need with practice.

(btw, i find hanging on hooks scarier than leading, not the soft option that i had imagined)
you can't feel the rock.
bit of practice to begin to establish what will pop and what will not.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
20-Oct-2007
2:59:44 PM
Hey shaneftr, if you are up Buffalo way sometime I can point you in the right direction, and/or put you in contact with others.
Like Macciza says
>welcome to a 'brave new world' . . .

... also good to hear you are still 'doing it' rhinckle.

[ODH you are welcome to join in on this thread too if you care to, as us minority partakers are not above being disrupted by genuine input ! ... heh, heh, heh]
:)

GravityHound
21-Oct-2007
9:23:51 AM
had my first aid climb yesterday and I have a few questions;

i felt like an absolute clusterf#ck. grunting and groanings, ets swinging around while i tried to get balanced. is this normal for a beginner or am i doing something wrong?

can anyone suggest a nice easy aid climb in the upper BM for a beginner?

cheers






ampedandwired
21-Oct-2007
9:42:40 AM
On 21/10/2007 GravityHound wrote:
>i felt like an absolute clusterf#ck. grunting and groanings, ets swinging
>around while i tried to get balanced. is this normal for a beginner or
>am i doing something wrong?

lol, yep sounds exactly like my first aid climb.


>can anyone suggest a nice easy aid climb in the upper BM for a beginner?

You could aid up any of the nice cracks at Piddo (just don't hog the line *all* day). I went out to Booroomba Rocks when I was learning to aid, there's a single pitch aid line there (can't remember the name), gently overhanging on small wires, great practice for Ozy.


ecowain
21-Oct-2007
10:24:23 AM
Probably Vertigo at Tower Rocks, Orroral Ridge, not at Booroomba. There's a few other lines worth looking at just round the corner from Vertigo that are a bit harder.

Be as organised as you can possibly be. It pays to spend some time thinking stuff through and where things go beforehand, and not spending a greater amount of time later fixing the worsened tangles. Maybe M9 and macca have a different view on this, but I've never found the "hope it all works out later" method to be of any help when aiding.

As krunglebungle said, pick a nice clean crack somewhere like piddo. It'll give you solid placements each time, and just let you concentrate on working out a system. Go mid-week, and you won't have many people around.

ampedandwired
21-Oct-2007
6:07:23 PM
On 21/10/2007 ecowain wrote:
>Probably Vertigo at Tower Rocks, Orroral Ridge, not at Booroomba.

Yeah, that was it.

Macciza
21-Oct-2007
10:11:06 PM
On 21/10/2007 GravityHound wrote:
>had my first aid climb yesterday and I have a few questions;
>
>i felt like an absolute clusterf#ck. . . . am i doing something wrong?
>
Probably not - you just need to work on your systems and efficency - it takes practice and like most
climbing, things get f---ed up every now and again even when experienced - being under-geared
leads to all sorts of weirdness as you attempt to compensate and still reach the belay . . .

>can anyone suggest a nice easy aid climb in the upper BM for a beginner?
>
Like the others said - pick one just don't get in the way on popular routes. The first little alcove as you
walk down - slanting crack facing path - will surprise the punters thats for sure . . .

Maybe get in contact with Penguinator as well . . .

Cheers

penguinator
22-Oct-2007
7:49:55 AM
The slanting crack facing the path at Piddo? Next to Bonatti?

This would be Taurus would it not?

I would love to come out and experience the awkwardness of starting trad with you Gravity!

ampedandwired
30-Oct-2007
9:55:58 AM
On 22/10/2007 penguinator wrote:
>The slanting crack facing the path at Piddo?

I think macciza might be referring to Last Chance. Was looking at it on the weekend, looks like it would be a tricky lead, whether it be aid or free.


penguinator
30-Oct-2007
10:04:43 AM
Oh jeeze... not the one opposite Great Unwashed?

Thats scary.... wouldn't mind having a muck around aiding it, but it looks a little scarce for freeclimbing for me!

I think its a 19, 2 star

MisterGribble
30-Oct-2007
11:53:53 AM
Go down to a climbing store and buy 'Big Wall Climbing' by John Middendorf. It's a good humoured, readable and I found quite inspirational instruction book on how to get started and some of the pitfalls of the sport.
Venues round Melbourne, Adam at the You Yangs is a classic RP aid crack for around 8m with a wide crack to finish. Great practice for doing Ozy at Buffalo (which is a bit longer!)

wallwombat
30-Oct-2007
12:06:11 PM
On 30/10/2007 krunglebungle wrote:
>On 22/10/2007 penguinator wrote:
>>The slanting crack facing the path at Piddo?
>
>I think macciza might be referring to Last Chance. Was looking at it on
>the weekend, looks like it would be a tricky lead, whether it be aid or
>free.
>
>

Yes, it's Last chance and it's perfect for an aid lead. It was my second aid lead after Helen, on the Helen Boulder. I strongly recommend it as it takes a variety of pro and takes some thought too. It is also nice and vertical and I have never seen anyone else on it.

penguinator
30-Oct-2007
2:36:16 PM
And from memory, you can solo the chimney in the corner to access the top of Last Chance, and set up a solo top rope for a bit of aid practice!

ampedandwired
30-Oct-2007
4:22:17 PM
On 30/10/2007 MisterGribble wrote:
>Go down to a cimbing store and buy 'Big Wall Climbing' by John Middendorf.

Has anyone read "Big Wall Climbing: Elite Technique" by Jared Ogden? Any good? It may be a little more up to date than Middendorf's book which is 13 years old now.

Here are links to both books:
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Walls-How-Rock-Climb/dp/0934641633
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Wall-Climbing-Technique-Mountaineers/dp/0898867487


IdratherbeclimbingM9
30-Oct-2007
6:07:53 PM
>Has anyone read "Big Wall Climbing: Elite Technique" by Jared Ogden? >Any good?

I have read it.
It's OK.

Link to my review of it
here

Another aid climbing book with multiple Authors
also worth checking out


>It may be a little more up to date than Middendorf's book which is 13 years old now.

The techniques in all these books are tried and true, as they have stood the test of time.







Macciza
30-Oct-2007
7:24:19 PM
On 30/10/2007 penguinator wrote:
>Oh jeeze... not the one opposite Great Unwashed?
>
Yeah that's the one - we did GU with our packs and hexs to get out - seriously . .

Anyway I was going to traverse in on the good rail below the ledge but Zac insisted I start at the very
bottom. I than promptly got stuck on the left side of the crack, could not transition over easily so
stayed left and managed to yake a nice fall on my single wire.
Take two kept me on the rightside but I still ended up punching into groundfall above the ledge in order
to get good gear - classic old-school climbing.

Definitely aided on the first ascent so worth doing on aid again - have fun . . .

wallwombat
31-Oct-2007
1:38:03 PM
I mucked around , aiding it years ago but I have always thought Last Chance looked harder than 19. Has anyone climbed it? What's it like as a free climb?

 Page 1 of 5. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 80 | 81 to 91
There are 91 messages in this topic.

 

Home | Guide | Gallery | Tech Tips | Articles | Reviews | Dictionary | Forum | Links | About | Search
Chockstone Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography | Landscape Photos Australia

Please read the full disclaimer before using any information contained on these pages.



Australian Panoramic | Australian Coast | Australian Mountains | Australian Countryside | Australian Waterfalls | Australian Lakes | Australian Cities | Australian Macro | Australian Wildlife
Landscape Photo | Landscape Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Fine Art Photography | Wilderness Photography | Nature Photo | Australian Landscape Photo | Stock Photography Australia | Landscape Photos | Panoramic Photos | Panoramic Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography | High Country Mountain Huts | Mothers Day Gifts | Gifts for Mothers Day | Mothers Day Gift Ideas | Ideas for Mothers Day | Wedding Gift Ideas | Christmas Gift Ideas | Fathers Day Gifts | Gifts for Fathers Day | Fathers Day Gift Ideas | Ideas for Fathers Day | Landscape Prints | Landscape Poster | Limited Edition Prints | Panoramic Photo | Buy Posters | Poster Prints