I'm looking for a club member with Aid Climbing experience that would be willing to take a couple of experienced lead climbers out for a day of "Intro" Aid Climbing.  If you're willing to take four of us then we could post it as a club course.  Sharing your knowledge would be very much appreciated.  Paul :-)

I have been thinking about running a one-day session of this kind. However it was meant for mountaineers, not rock climbers. The main difference is using alpine gear that's already available. No pre-made aiders or daisy chains. No fifi hooks either. Once this climbing summer season is over and if everything else has been worked out (no work schedule conflicts and else) I may conduct one starting end of September, no hard promise, of course. :)

Photo: Alpine Aid Climbing Practice. Smoke Bluffs, Squamish.

Early Fall can work for my schedule.  I suspect it's more applicable to technical mountaineering anyway since aiding a very short section may be the crux to completing an otherwise moderate route.  Plus I know from experience that staying on-route can be much harder on "new" alpine routes... where aid-climbing skills could get the lead climber out of a very stressful situation.  I'm sure there are lots of other good reasons for mountaineers to learn basic aid climbing skills using "regular" rock climbing gear.

Thanks,

Paul

I like this-- any way I can help with organization?  And Paul-- would you be interested in a guide-led course this summer?

Not interested in a guide-led aid-climbing course this summer.  And I like the idea of learning the basics using "regular" climbing gear... it'll be practical for more situations.

Excellent book by Chris McNamara of Supertopo "How to Big Wall Climb" is available on-line (http://www.supertopo.com/packs/howtobigwall.html )... Step by step exercises to hone your skills and speed in aid climbing. It's more geared towards getting up El Cap (or similar) than a few moves in the alpine, but it's all about systems for aid. Very interesting. The principles aren't hard, but getting faster at it takes practice and often makes the difference between making it up vs bailing because the pigs are too heavy to haul up for a very slow party.

FYI there will be a static rope available to be used for this course if you so please, Serguei.

Aid training is a superior way to practice placing cams. Unlike leading on rock, every single placement will be loaded (and be cleaned shortly after). Will make one think twice before moving on.

Is there an experienced "aid climber" in the club that would be interested in spending one day sharing their knowledge with a small group of club members that have lead-climbing experience and wish to learn how to aid-climb through trad (crack) route crux moves when necessary.  The application could be for local crags (exploring a difficult route) or technical alpine climbing. 

Paul :-)

I did an aid climbing course with Jason Wheeler few years ago. I'm not sure if he's still a member, but I would email him. He loves teaching. He was also an instructor for our ice climbing and rock climbing courses few years ago. 

I second Radmila's comment: Jason Wheeler is really good.  He covered both aid climbing with all the gear as well as aiding through a crux while free climbing.

What would be beneficial is to have some follow-up practice sessions (light rain is great so you don't feel you are missing out on a great climbing day).

I agree with Radmila and Winifred

UPDATE: I emailed Rob Simzer, BCMC Courses chairperson, a couple of days ago suggesting he contact Jason Wheeler about instructing an Aid Climbing Course.  Rob replied this morning that he has now done so.

All,

Jason is interested in doing one for Spring 2016.  We will be setting something up in February in prep for spring.  Stay tuned!