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Crag & Route Beta

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Author

Routes for new leader / Your 1st lead.

psd

18-Mar-2009
4:02:59 PM

Thanks all for the suggestions. Some very useful ideas there.

hero

18-Mar-2009
4:09:41 PM

In the style of Rockkwiz? What was the first route you ever lead?

I climed with a woman recently whose first lead was the second pitch of Dream of White Horses at Gogarth after she had an argument with her boyfriend and just wanted to get as far away as possible from him.


billk

18-Mar-2009
4:21:25 PM

On 18/03/2009 hero wrote:
>In the style of Rockkwiz? What was the first route you ever lead?
>
>I climed with a woman recently whose first lead was the second pitch of
>Dream of White Horses at Gogarth after she had an argument with her boyfriend
>and just wanted to get as far away as possible from him.

Nobody is going to top that one!

For what it's worth, American Dream (Gr11) at North Jawbones.


bluey

18-Mar-2009
4:43:27 PM

Some random grade 14 at Black Ian's. A good start, then my grades went backwards!


wallwombat

18-Mar-2009
5:10:47 PM

On 18/03/2009 hero wrote:
>In the style of Rockkwiz? What was the first route you ever lead?

Carezza at Booroomba.

It was the first time I'd tied into a rope, so I actually led a route before I seconded one.

gfdonc

18-Mar-2009
5:11:21 PM

Ha! The ultimate first lead for anyone .. Bridge of Sighs (8 ish) at Hanging Rock.

The highlight was a large semi-detached 'rib' of rock that you had to climb up the front of until it rejoined the cliff. (Those who remember the pinnacle that was at Cliffhanger will know what I'm thinking of).

I pity the current generation who will never get to experience the horror when budding leaders found the semi-detached rib was actually fully detached and would 'pivot' as you moved up the front of it.
For more excitement, you should know that a sling around the rib was the only decent pro, so if the rib came loose it was definitely taking you with it!

Tlockwood

18-Mar-2009
5:17:09 PM

Off your bloc grade 7, was my first lead at the Western Bloc in the gramps, although my dad was scrambling up beside me on the abseil rope looking over my shoulder.
My first proper lead was exodus at araps a few weeks later.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

18-Mar-2009
5:18:41 PM

On 18/03/2009 hero wrote:
>What was the first route you ever lead?

Some obscure ground-up onsight Gd 14 to 16-ish depending on if you fell like both my second and I did(!) of a new line that has not been written up (unless someone else has since discovered, climbed and done so); somewhere near Mt Elimbari in PNG. It was my first leader fall !!

You wrote about one of your 'clim' (sic), partners first lead experience hero, ... but what was yours?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post edit 2210 hrs:
Upon further reflection I realise that what I wrote above was actually my second lead.
My first lead was the first half of the third pitch, on a four pitch (Gd 18) granite route, on Tahquitz Rock (California).
On the first pitch I encountered slab climbing and it proved not very confidence inspiring with me trying to learn smearing in my brand new climbing boots. The bicycling my feet were doing was very poor technique considering there was snow on the ground for the approach march and the cold should have been ideal friction conditions.
On the second pitch I confidently thugged my way up a short layback section which was not dissimilar to my prior extensive cave thrutching experience, however I don't remember the rest of that pitch.
I was quite surprised when my experienced partner insisted on handing over his lead rack to me at 'lunch ledge' after watching these performances and my unfazed attitude. He obviously felt more comfortable in my ability than I did!
The line above was obvious and consisted of following a crack system till it petered out. The crack went well but the slab it finished on was too intimidating for me, considering it was steeper than what I had trouble smearing on down lower. I plugged most of my remaining rack into the end of the crack as an enthusiastic belay, and handed over the lead to my partner upon his arrival, to let him top out the runout finish past a few well spaced bolts.
Given the trouble I had smearing on the first pitch I was fairly surprised that I managed to get up that last-half-pitch without physical drama, though my head was spinning with the location.
The final pitch was more appropriately classified as scrambling.
I was now hooked on the exposure and the wild climbing environment. It was also the beginning of my developing 'gear lust' as a result of gaining confidence in the equipment and wanting to do more!
~> After many intervening years I am now an older but well satisfied trad/aid climber; ... and interestingly, ... my climbing grades have never really improved much since then.

18-Mar-2009
5:20:09 PM

On 18/03/2009 gfdonc wrote:
>Ha! The ultimate first lead for anyone .. Bridge of Sighs (8 ish) at Hanging
>Rock.

Ha! Ha! Not sure it was my very first lead...but was close to it. Bridge of Sighs, Long Rib and Doc's Dilemma. Climbing in gumboots. Couldn't afford a pair of Dunlop Volleys. Compared to the other two routes, the pro on B of S was pretty good :-)

Not sure why I'm still alive :-/


Eduardo Slabofvic

18-Mar-2009
5:23:46 PM

1st lead was Olos Corner at Kangaroo Point; and the stupididt thing I've ever lead was Olos Corner at
Kangaroo Point.

Winston Smith

18-Mar-2009
5:48:37 PM

Anal Interruptus, 15, Rocky Cape, Tasmania.

hero

18-Mar-2009
6:51:59 PM

My memory is not that good but it was probably a thing we called the Fortress at Nowra. It's never had a second ascent probably. No idea how hard it was, 12 maybe.


evanbb

18-Mar-2009
7:12:21 PM

I think my first lead was Cobb and Co at Bushrangers, Arapiles. About a 4 I think! Followed by most of tiptoe ridge the next day, which represented a huge step up in difficulty.

Then the nex week I lead my first sport route, which was at the Dam Cliffs in the Blueys. At 16, then 18 I think.

Wendy

18-Mar-2009
8:20:12 PM

I think Evan and Tim win for having the most sensible friends/family/climbing partners!

My first lead was actually Hero's reccomendation of Keyboard. Which in and of itself is not a bad choice, except it was about my 4th climb ever, my second assured me all my gear was worthless, but at least my belay was good. I had walked the rope around the big block up there. After that I was sent off with another person who'd just done their 1st lead to do Diapason with the sage advice of "just be more careful with your gear" whilst the advice givers ran off to do something more interesting. Such was the joys of uni clubs in the dark ages.

I would hope that our new leader toddling up multiple super easy leads is getting good advice on their gear placement and belays by a competant teacher and given extra lessons on the ground if necessary thus they wouldn't get through all those easy routes still placing gear that was going to fail.


cruze

18-Mar-2009
8:23:10 PM

Drunken Delight (8) Booroomba when I was 16. I backed off after our "leader" backed off. We all had no idea. We had borrowed the gear from a mate and the one cam we had looked way to complicated to work.


ambyeok

18-Mar-2009
9:27:46 PM

Mesa (10) at araps, under the watchful eye of my mentor. Followed by Didgeridoo, Mantis, D Minor and Sundance.. all in one day... nah not really. All well recommended to new leaders


muki

18-Mar-2009
10:03:13 PM

18 & 20 FFA, borrowed a rack from a mate, we had the run of an old quarry in Lismore.
Good times.


ajfclark

18-Mar-2009
10:29:12 PM

On 18/03/2009 evanbb wrote:
>I think my first lead was Cobb and Co at Bushrangers, Arapiles.

That grade 6 corner was my second lead. Great little climb. My first was something up Trooper wall.

>Followed by most of tiptoe ridge the next day, which represented a huge step up in difficulty.

I also did tip toe ridge the next day.

psd

19-Mar-2009
9:14:52 AM

My first was the towering mega-classic Yesterday's Heroes (17) on shiny rings at Berowra in Sydney

On 18/03/2009 Wendy wrote:
>I would hope that our new leader toddling up multiple super easy leads
>is getting good advice on their gear placement and belays by a competant
>teacher and given extra lessons on the ground if necessary thus they wouldn't
>get through all those easy routes still placing gear that was going to
>fail.

For sure Wendy - we've been climbing trad together for many years so she has done a lot of seconding but has just never been keen to lead before. Will kick off placement training this weekend and do a bit more each weekend we go climbing before we come down. Will save the first lead for Araps though - a lot nicer than the easy routes in the bluies or sydney. My question was aimed at finding short, single pitch, well-protected routes that don't have the exposure of the starred classics. Bushrangers bluff looks an excellent starting point. It's also great to hear everyone's different points of view which keeps me entertained when I should be working!


Cranky

19-Mar-2009
9:23:15 AM

My 1st lead was Refusal at Mt York. Fortunatly it was not on sight. But that was a younger and even sillier Cranky 20 years ago.

There are 59 messages in this topic.