I stood at the bottom of that 40 foot 5.5 crack with my full double rack up to a #5 cam. My friend and climbing partner looked at me with a wry smile, pointed at my excessive gear, and said with a laugh, “What’s all this? Is there a whole other mountain up there?”
I laughed and replied, “With the exception of the #6 (or larger) cam and some spare nuts, I carry my full trad rack on every climb.”
His face contorted into the expression of, “whaaaa?”
To ease his clear confusion and discomfort at the embarrassing notion that I would actually climb this “easy” climb with a monster rack, I stated, “I do this because I view every climb as training. And, I should warn you, I’m going to place a lot of gear too.”
“Uh, Ok?” he responded with that little curl of questioning and confusion at the end of the word and followed up with, “Whatever makes you happy.”
He looked around, as if hoping no one else would show up to see this fiasco that mimics that humorous video of the trad climber placing a piece of pro every foot. In order to ease his discomfort I explained my reasoning. I carry my full rack, the same way, on every trad climb because:
I laughed and replied, “With the exception of the #6 (or larger) cam and some spare nuts, I carry my full trad rack on every climb.”
His face contorted into the expression of, “whaaaa?”
To ease his clear confusion and discomfort at the embarrassing notion that I would actually climb this “easy” climb with a monster rack, I stated, “I do this because I view every climb as training. And, I should warn you, I’m going to place a lot of gear too.”
“Uh, Ok?” he responded with that little curl of questioning and confusion at the end of the word and followed up with, “Whatever makes you happy.”
He looked around, as if hoping no one else would show up to see this fiasco that mimics that humorous video of the trad climber placing a piece of pro every foot. In order to ease his discomfort I explained my reasoning. I carry my full rack, the same way, on every trad climb because:
- It’s weight training. People buy fancy weight vests to increase their strength, I just wear my rack. (Maybe I’ll start wearing it to the gym…)
- It keeps me familiar with my gear locations. When you are on a longer multipitch climb, with tons of gear, and need to move fast, I need to know exactly where the #2 is.
- It keeps gear frustration down. Gear ALWAYS gets in the way when climbing. It catches on rock or jams into your ass at the most inconvenient times. I want to be acclimated to those annoyances when I’m in a more high-pressure situation. The more I climb with my gear in different situations the more I get used to the variety of annoyances of the gear.
- It trains my eye. By placing lots of gear on short, non-committing climbs, I can place the pro faster and more confidently. When you aren’t placing pro regularly, you lose the eye (i.e. the ability to look at a crack and know whether you need a nut, cam, or something else, and what size). When I’m at my peak, I can look and correctly place a piece in one try. If there is too much time between trad climbs or not enough practice, it can take two or three tries to get the right piece.
- It increases confidence. By placing lots of pro on a non-committing climb my confidence increases because I’m forcing myself to experience many different climbing circumstances and seeing how the gear behaves in a low-risk environment. I can get creative in unusual or less than ideal placement situations and then have that mental toolbox to pull from on a bigger climb.
- It trains endurance in stances. By placing lots of gear on a non-committing climb I’m training my body to stand in one position (usually it’s an uncomfortable position) for an extended period of time. I would venture to say that anyone who has lead a trad climb has been in a tenuous, awkward stance with a challenging gear placement, then your calf starts burning, or maybe it even starts shaking – not necessarily from fear, but from exhaustion. Training for stance endurance, including keeping the mental game solid when your body feels weak, is helpful.
- I (almost) always have what I need. I remember once I allowed someone to convince me I didn’t need certain gear because the guidebook said I didn’t need it. He went into this long diatribe about “climbing light.” Then, when I was the one on the sharp end, I desperately needed a piece I didn’t have. I was pissed – not at him, but at myself for not sticking with my guns, what I know works for me. Most of the time I don’t even pay attention to what the guidebook says is needed for gear – except to see if there are any offwidths requiring anything larger than a #5. What the guidebook says about gear just doesn’t matter. The guidebook author is going to place gear when and where s/he wants and its going to be different than me. And, unless the crack is a splitter – same size all the way up – there is almost always a need for a variety of gear. And, if you don’t have it, well, you are running it out.
- It calms my mind. When I carry all my gear, the same way, every time, and I know I have plenty of pieces for whatever is thrown at me, it calms my mind. Every climber knows a calm mind leads to a smooth, enjoyable climb.
