TCS Aid Climbing

Aid Climbing is employed when the climber can no longer ascend the route using only one’s hands and feet. In aid climbing, the climber places some protection and then uses that protection to aid the ascent.

In this introduction to aid climbing. We will cover basic aid gear and basic technique using aid gear. We will not cover/practice any climbing above the grade of C0/C1 (Beginner Clean Aid). Clean Aid means the climber places and removes all pro without damaging the rock (no hammering or drilling).

We will not cover more advanced gear such as pitons, rivets, and copperheads. We will not cover big wall climbing, hauling, and portaledges. However the techniques learned in basic aid will certainly be used on a big wall.

The intent is to provide the climber with tools that allow the climber to more easily aid through a tough section of a trad/alpine climb or start on a path to more serious aid climbing.

There is a wide array of aid climbing tools and techniques available to today’s climber. This class will not attempt to provide a comprehensive review of all these tools and techniques. In the interest of simplicity, we will introduce the student to a basic set of tools that allows the student to more easily absorb the material in the time we have.