Friction Hitches
• Basic Mule Knot
• Munter Mule
Fundamental Techniques
• Rope Ascent
• Belay Escape
• Assisted Raise
• Assisted Descent
Leader Rescue Overview
9—Knot Craft & Gear Tricks
Knots & Hitches
• Figure-Eight Follow-Through (a.k.a. Rewoven Figure-Eight)
• Figure-Eight on a Bight
• Clove Hitch
• Overhand on a Bight
• Girth Hitch
• Double Fisherman’s (a.k.a. Grapevine)
• Ring Bend (a.k.a. Water or Tape Knot)
• Double Bowline
• Flat Overhand
Improvisation Techniques
• Carabiner Brake Rappel
• Munter Belay
• Hip Belay
• Bowline on a Coil
• Rope-Equalized Anchoring
• Double-Rope Lead Technique
10—Common Know-How
Ratings
• Class Ratings
• Yosemite Decimal System
• Protection Severity Ratings
• Grades
• Rating Translation & Style
Climbing Etiquette
• Common Cragging Courtesy
• Leave No Trace
• Access
Afterword
Appendix 1: The Clean Climbing Revolution
Appendix 2: Lead Ascent Styles
Appendix 3: Developments Before Sport Climbing
Appendix 4: The Fixed-Line & Drilled-Bolt Controversy
Glossary
Endnotes
Resources
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without the gracious assistance and never-ending support of the following individuals, this book would have never been possible: Carl Davis, Catherine Davis, Lisa Dearing, Doug Robinson, and the staff of Wilderness Press, especially Paul Backhurst, Jaan Hitt, Jannie Dresser, Roslyn Bullas, and Laura Shauger.
Additional thanks to: Jeff Achey; Julie Anderson; The Backcountry in Truckee, California; Brian Bax; Phebe Bell; Noah Bigwood; Maureen Bokeland; Tom Carter; Pete Chasse; Beth Christman; Ann Clemmer; Scott Cosgrove; Mike Davis; Steph Davis; Mimi DeGravelle; Joe Dolister; Topher Donahue; Heidi Ettlinger; Chris Falkenstein; Sharon Forsythe; Sue Fox; Patience Gribble; Regan Grillig; Steve Grossman; Sunshine Sunday Hansen; Jan Holan; Myrna Johnson; Ron Kauk; Bridget Kerr; Tim “Shaggy” Kipp; Tami Knight; Allison Kreutzen; Susie Lancaster; Elaine Lee; Bill McChesney; Billy McCollough; Dave Nettle; The Outdoor Industry Association (previously the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of America); Sarah Patterson; Mike Pennings; Holly Samson; Alia Selke; Hans Standtiemer; Squamish Fish; Peter Thompson; Greg “Thor” Tirdel; and Abby Watkins.
FOREWORD
As I hung from the sloping hold, my sweating fingers began to slowly grease off. My oversized hiking boots skated across the rock futilely searching for purchase as my right leg began a steadily increasing sewing machine Elvis twitch. Looking to the right, I could see the big hold I had to get to, but it seemed impossibly far away and with that first specter of doubt my arms immediately turned to Jell-O. As I awkwardly shifted my clunky rack of Hexes off to the side, I accidentally flicked the rope and watched in dismay as all the nice shiny stoppers and hexes I had placed lifted out of the crack and slid down the rope taking the last of my hopes with them. Below me, tucked in the midst of a jumble of boulders, my best friend clutched the rope in a hip belay with all my protection hung out like laundry on the long loop of slack. If I harbored any illusion of confidence at that point, it vanished as the look on my friend’s face summed up my grim situation. I looked down into that maw of granite blocks 80 feet below and made the most broken promise a climber makes: “If I get out of this alive, I swear I’ll never do it again.”
For a brief moment, I actually started to calculate where I would hit and what my chances of survival would be when something deep and powerful within me arose of its own accord and took over. I felt both a surge and a calm that magically welded my mind, body, and desire into a single point and, in a move that took only a second but formed a memory that has lasted a lifetime, I reached across and climbed to easier ground. As I pulled myself onto the summit—physically and emotionally spent, I was already breaking the promise that seemed so reasonable just seconds earlier. It was 1974 in Joshua Tree National Monument; I had just survived my first epic lead and I wanted more.
“Play for more than you can afford to lose, and you will learn the game”—Winston Churchill could have just as easily been talking about traditional lead climbing as World War II. In the 30-plus years since that transforming lead at age 16, a blend of fear, elation, confidence, and uncertainty has drawn me to the mountains and rock walls of the world. Again and again, I risk a life I cannot afford to lose but equally cannot afford to live without a journey that excites my soul.
While learning the game of traditional lead climbing, I have formed my finest friendships, discovered my strengths, and found myself perched between rock and sky in some of the most amazing places on earth—not to mention being treated to many grand, memorable, and suffering epics. My traditional climbing and life have been shaped by great climbers of the past in their writing and images, bold climbers of today with their inspiring accomplishments, my partners who have shared both challenge and adventure, and, of course, by mother nature who can be wonderfully gentle or surprisingly harsh.
“The best way to avoid epics is to gain experience and the best way to gain experience is to have a few epics…”: this saying is a blessing in disguise to a traditional lead climber for it promises that the learning curve will last a lifetime and that the excitement and discovery you unlock as a beginner will always be there. With its wealth of technical information, safe procedures, and excellent firsthand advice from experienced climbers, Traditional Lead Climbing is the perfect book to help you lead out on many fine climbs and give you a base of knowledge that will help you turn
