Aid Climbing Big Walls - How to Lead

Big Wall #8 of 14 - www.bigwalls.com
Leading is a methodical and repetitive motion if done correctly. Get as high as you can on your aiders, place your gear, bounce test it, commit to it, get off your last piece and clip your rope to it or back clean it, and repeat. Fear or exhaustion can make you do stuff out of order or take unnecessary steps. If you have 30 pitches of climbing and you can save 30 minutes of each pitch because you can aid faster, this is an entire day you can save which means less water and food to haul which also makes you faster.
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Intro
04:53 Chicken or the egg?
07:56 Jeremiah Leads
19:53 Ryan Leads
38:38 Falling and whip-ology

[@HowNOT2]

Check out our new store! hownot2.store/

[@robsradicalrides]

I often promoted aid climbing first to teach trad placements. My reasoning is that trad climbers usually don’t really test pieces to the failure point and therefore develop misconceptions about the strength of what are often marginal placements. Additionally, the mindset of pulling on pieces when you get yourself into tenuous places is empowering and can reduce accidents. Finally, aiding develops a large skillset that provides the basis for self-rescue for dealing things like storms and getting off route.

[@Oclb]

Is this video considered aid?

[@zhenrad]

iF yOu HaVe To AsK, iT's AiD

[@fire_n_ice1984]

It's only aid if you are watching this while climbing El Cap figuring out what to do next.

[@iansolberg6228]

It is

[@Yose7492]

​@@fire_n_ice1984😂

[@RickyHarline]

"I would so much prefer a 40' whipper than a 5' whipper" -- Ryan "What The Fuck" Jenks, 2022

[@HowNOT2]

Short whips hurt and I'm sticking to it! :)

[@ryenschimerman2127]

@@HowNOT2 I mean if your whipping, you're by definition NOT sticking to it.

[@ShortyJenkans]

I think aiding makes you comfortable with placements and trusting your gear!!

[@RickyHarline]

Pete does two separate hauls on a 2 to 1 system, each haul comprising multiple pigs and piglets. As someone who had the "privilege" of seeing the junkshow up close and personal (not to mention spending five days getting the junkshow down from base of the wall when we bailed) you are in right to be in awe of the junkshow. Pete is an artist, and taking way too much shit is his medium.

[@HowNOT2]

As I slow down as i get older and like spending my time on walls more than prepping, hiking to or getting off of them, i can see the appeal for taking everything and the kitchen sink but it also looks like it sucks!

[@hummerchine]

Superlapaduper video! I’ve been an avid climber for 45 years including multiple El Cap ascents including 2 solos… I still learned a lot!!

[@bonefishboards]

Being a solid trad climber is very important when stepping into the world of aid/wall climbing. Being able to protect sketchy pitches with trad gear goes a long way to climbing big walls in a (very) clean manner.

[@johtso1]

Love that you shout out so many other resources! Great attitude.

[@samuelfindley3490]

Absolutely the BEST way to learn to place gear as you learn to trad is aid your way up a climb. On toprope. I've never aid-climbed, except when teaching/learning to place gear.

[@adolfouruburo439]

I missed Jeremiah pointing at the timestamps tbh. Great job guys and thanks a lot for all the videos and info you are putting together!

[@EverettWilson]

From experience: when it's windy and you can't see your leader, don't yell "halfway!" They might crap their pants. (This comment is not but maybe should be sponsored by Rocky Talkie.) (I now yell half rope.)

[@adriansalas3951]

Yeah usually I'll just yell "THATS HALF!" But I can see if I were climbing with someone new and didn't talk out our verbal/rope calls before hand how things could get a little mixed up.

[@skydiverninetysix]

One comment about always trying to top step and get each piece "even one inch higher'. That's 100% solid advice. But you always need to be looking a few moves ahead. You might be a LOT quicker to take the solid cam placement 1 foot low from your highest reach rather than fiddling with a less secure placement 1 foot higher at top of your reach, especially, if say, the next section has a placement 3 feet above and then a long stretch. You end up linking the placements just like linking holds in a free climbing sequence, not always just stretching to the max. The other scenario where it makes sense (to me) to avoid top stepping is when crack jumaring and running up a crack with cams. The extra effort to fully top step can sometimes be negated by taking a super quick slightly lower placement from the 4th step and then running up the next aider to the next 4th step and slamming the next cam. That said, as a default, always try to get your pieces as high as you can :) Great video. Edit: Oh shit, you addressed my point at 33:30.

[@BryceU]

I learned trad climbing first, and then aid. But I had a friend who also learned trad first, and he never actually learned to trust his placements until he started aid climbing. Immediately his trad climbing improved significantly as he was much less worried about his pieces holding.

[@alexfletcher5863]

I've climbed about 15 bigwalls now including El Capitan, Half Dome, Zion, multiple Grade V routes in a day and Grade VI in a day. More folks should attempt to climb with only their ladders and fifi hook like Scott Richards suggested. It saves tons of time not having to touch the daisies, just leaving them on the side of the harnesss. If i really think a piece might blow, then I might grab out 1 daisy but try to revert to daisyless climbing again soon. It's much faster once you get used to it. If I was using daisies, both of the methods shown look good to go! Thanks for the video

[@ctbsancho2516]

I cut my trad teeth on all the 5.7s, 5.8s and did Jamcrack 50 times and a bunch in J-Tree (which was way sketchier than the Valley imo) before attempting any aid.

[@angelvis9]

Best "worst intro" so far. 20:29 LOL

[@adriansalas3951]

I bouldered first 😄. After being a strong confident boulderer on all angles, even cracks, I did some top rope indoors for a couple months to build endurance. During these months, I followed some friends on weekends to learn gear placement. The transition from bouldering to 5.11 trad projecting 5.12- was a blink of an eye. To all you rope climbers out there a wise man once told me "bouldering is like eating your vegetables! Do it, it will make you stronger 💪🏾 "

[@irakperez]

"...Pee now or forever hold your peace..."🤣 Man, You are the best!

[@Name-ot3xw]

"If they're going to blow, just give them a tug and move on with your life" Quality life advice, both on and off the wall.

[@Jwynne_]

It’s time for spring semester class sign up so the amount of times u said pre rec about killed me

[@mikelarin8037]

I was taught to aid when learning trad climbing. Just like andrea I did some harder climbs on aid to learn weighting and placing the gear. I really want to see some of the dark horse of climbing. I've been getting into rope soloing, mostly top rope if I can access the top. I've also been practicing lead rope techniques and would love to see your take on it. I'm using camp goblin held vertical with a chest sling. I've also tried the grigri and a petzl asap(only as a backup) in different closed and controlled setups until I'm comfortable.

[@dains2967]

…ima boulderer but somehow so into watching these big wall vids

[@nandiroc4969]

Gracias por estos fenomenales Vidios os agradecería si podéis poner subtítulos en español gracias 🙏

[@tristanlasley8030]

Hey so I found a comment you made on a yt video 4yr ago. On a lead Solo video. Definitely would appreciate your version. 💪🍬

[@canadianfreerider13]

Please test the personal anchor “device” and how it affects the webbing if you push the release while weighted. Great idea but room for improvement?

[@johtso1]

Would be interested in getting more comparisons between using just a petzl dual connect adjust, vs using an alfifi or other webbing based PASs. I know the alfifi is the easiest to release, but are there some that prefer the simplicity of just the connect for all attachment?

[@alexnone5720]

What are your thoughts on using something like a Kong Panic quickdraw as part of your aid rack to get extra reach in a section with bolts? Is it against ethics or Yosemite tradition? If that is in, where is the line between a little extra reach and stringing aid ladders together and using a stick clip to reach up 12 feet or so?

[@ASNIV_]

Very helpful!

[@olivermitchell7526]

I started on trad but aid might be better to start because you know what placements are bomber

[@Ondrejridesbikes]

Ouestion: Why do you use that fifi if you can use your adjust on daisy? Is it because of the space that fifi saves? For me having one more "daisy" is more tangle hustle than just use regular fifi only for highsteping. I'm just curious... My scenario: Two adjusts (different colors of rope) one regular fifi measured for highsteps. That way I 'm saving time untangling daisy each two steps.. thank you for tips! You guys have lots of naild systems!

[@1onfire619]

had the exact same questions, hope you get an answer :)

[@dustybottoms2780]

I’ve never climbed, but I’m gonna buy a full aid set and climb el cap next month. How much would just the rack cost?

[@sail4life]

With the discount? Just your life...

[@RickyHarline]

Also, Ryan, get an alfifi. The future is now, old man.

[@HowNOT2]

I officially got one now

[@vampire909011]

i want to hear more about your time in index 🤣. did you guys aid up city park?

[@Nathan-ko8um]

do i see a horseshoe canyon ranch sticker? classic

[@MSchon-qf3fl]

Cinching up the aider ever time is a very slow way to aid. Better to just walk right up to the second step and clip in the fifi.

[@tristanlasley8030]

I've been hearing the first 7 sec is the most important in a video now....

[@markmikolajczak8513]

Great video again. Jeremiah keeps calling his chest sling a harness. Which it’s not. Could be confusing to a newbie. I would hate to see someone tie into that👍

[@richardsmith9918]

This might be the only way a 220lb person using the red x la sportivas can get up the manchester climbing wall in rva. It's a mortared granite block old railroad system of structures, I need to pick up a alfifi and those ladder accenders from your store I think next Friday in fact

[@bagoeswm]

Aid is a totally different discipline than what I'm familiar with. Out of curiosity, does the belayer have to keep belaying during the time the leader reaches the next anchor station, just like a normal multi pitch? Or is there more practical way to let go of the rope but still be able catch a lead fall with a hitch or some other method (say, the next pitch would take an hour or so, or even longer)? I imagine it would pretty much suck to have to belay for more than an hour at a time, or even more.

[@lucaslothbrook5388]

My personal opinion is to learn to freeclimb b4 aiding. Aiding is very expensive also rope logistics are more complicated.

[@barongerhardt]

100% ropes are expensive. Chalk bag and pair of shoes is all you need.

[@adriansalas3951]

@@barongerhardt free-climbing is using ropes and gear my guy

[@barongerhardt]

@@adriansalas3951 Too expensive, pass.

[@adriansalas3951]

@@barongerhardt yeah I bouldered for years and then climbed with friends on their gear for almost two years before I picked up my own rack 😅. Was fortunate enough to have strong friends willing to let me project hard shit on their gear with them. Agreed though free-climbing is expensive and aiding ten fold!

[@joshherndon1957]

Algorithm comment

[@ryenschimerman2127]

I vehemently disagree!

[@Jwynne_]

Wdum this is the best opinion ever

[@Me1234utube]

When you top step, the loaded angle of the piece changes , does this create problems ? or is it something just to be mindful of.

[@HowNOT2]

If you’re stepping down on it, it’s with your full weight and your pulling outward on the piece with a lot less than your full weight so it really doesn’t move that much.

[@rickcheckland]

I have managed to pull a rivet out of limestone. Thankfully the piece below was a good peg

[@daviddroescher]

What came first chicken or the egg? Don't ya know the rooster came first. The real question is did the rooster have scales or feathers.

[@EricSheffey]

Maybe “Yanked off the wall” would be better than “jerked off” if you’re looking for a more PG phrase 😂. Super informative stuff though, and so much new info for me as someone that doesn’t do any aid climbing yet.

[@alvarilloquetepillo]

Another algorithm comment

[@olegmakarov3097]

For the algo

[@dirtbagsinc.1689]

Move the camera backkkkkk

[@SILVERSTRIPE_]

Fake ? If not hope you ok.

[@jayvanover4130]

Fee fee is the term of a sex toy you can make in prison or jail from a hand towel, a rubber glove, a rubber band or tape and lotion.

[@alakazam482]

Then it's a good thing that the aid tool is called a fifi