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General Climbing Discussion

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leading confidently on trad 1-Feb-2012 At 8:25:36 PM citationx

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I have fallen (ie, lobbed off, not just resting or slumping) onto trad gear... 4 times? That's climbing up to 22 on gear.
When I first went to araps I was confident at leading 18 on sport but only jumped on two 16s, all the rest were easier. As next couple of years progressed I pretty much climbed at least 40% of the climbs at each grade between ~7 and 18 at araps (and lots in the blueys). I was onsighting 24s on sport before I had a single go at a 21 on trad (i onsighted that, too).
Basically by the time I came to that point I was more willing to trust my gear, know I could place it quickly and know my body's limits because I'd climbed so much trad at the time. Mental edge also increases the more you do it.
Having positive and enthusiastic (but not necessarily tools that think they know evrything) climbing partners helps. Perhaps partners that encourage you to, but don't abuse when you don't, do things harder.