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General Climbing Discussion

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Definition of Onsight 3-Mar-2009 At 9:05:51 PM harold

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All of the hardest first ascents of trad climbs of the last few years that I know of were lead placing gear on lead. That seams to be the standard for trad climbs at the cutting edge of difficulty. It seams that the runners are removed, and then placed on lead for each attempt. Meltdown, Cobra Crack, Walk of Life to name a few. I think that when Sony Trotter first did Rhapsody the gear was already in, so he went back later and did it again placing his own gear. Dave McCleod even lugged a No 4 Camelot up his insane Echo Wall climb.
The point is that placing gear is a major part of trad climbing, but it has next to zero importance in sport climbing. They are two completely different styles of climbing.
Myself, I'm quite happy to be a pink pointing fairy on trad if the climb is beyond me or my mate has just lead it. There are also the classic climbs that look so good that I really want to save for good onsight attempt.