WOMEN'S trad lead climbing

Our 1 Day trad course was specifically designed to enable female climbers to safely progress in the discipline of Trad Climbing, where climbers place specialized gear in natural rock features to protect themselves. This course is suitable for beginners and for indoor climbers transitioning outdoors.

Your guide will use a customized lesson plan and systematic approach to introduce and refine the critical rock climbing lessons specific to outdoor trad climbing over 1 day.

• Review Climbing equipment and its use
• Outdoor climbing safety and hazard management
• Knots
• Review safely tying into the rope, belaying
• Rock climbing terminology and commands
• Rock climbing movement
• Rope management
• Anchor building and assessment – bolts
• Top-rope set up
• Rappelling skills
• Threading the anchor for lowering
• Trad climbing equipment overview
• Trad gear placements
• Trad gear racking and removal
• Route selection and climbing grades
• Overall skills practice, coaching and refinement

With this course our goal is to ensure that all participants are able to independently begin trad climbing by building a strong foundation to allow for ultimate safety, excellent technique, and a rapid progression.

As you progress in the future, you may consider our excellent Intro to Multi-Pitch Course to enjoy the soaring multi-pitch routes. The Squamish Chief is home to many of North America’s best multi-pitch Trad Routes. Consider also taking the Rock Rescue course to learn essential rope rescue systems.

Check out our Rock Progression Academy program for an in-depth program to all aspects of rock climbing.

8:30am: Meet your guide at Squamish Adventure Centre.

The guide will ensure you have signed your online waiver previous to course start, provide a safety discussion and gear check. She will then discuss the day's objectives and lesson plan which will focus on placing trad climbing gear, racking it on harness and the second climber removing the trad gear. As well as continuing refinement of rock trad climbing techniques and outdoor rock.

4:30pm: The day will end at approximately 4:30pm with a debrief, discussion of the course and next step recommendations.

Individual Equipment:

• Rock climbing shoes
• Harness
• Helmet
• Belay device (with 1 locking carabiner)
• Prusik 1.5-1.7m, 7mm
• Anchor building equipment (2 locking carabiners, 2 non-locking carabiners & 120cm or 240cm sling)
• Trad anchor building prussic (2 x 5 meter prussiks of 7mm cord)
• Chalk bag

The above gear can be purchased from MEC, Climb On (37873 Cleveland Ave, Squamish) or Escape Route (40222 Glenalder Pl, Squamish).

If you do not have any climbing gear you can rent a Rock Climbing Essentials package for $5.00.

Clothing (Plan ahead, check the weather forecast, and dress accordingly):

• Climbing pants (light pants that allow maximum mobility)
• T-shirt
• Mid layer fleece or wool top
• Weatherproof shell jacket
• Down or synthetic insulating “puffy” jacket
• Warm hat
• Light gloves
• Sunglasses and sunscreen
• Approach shoes
• Daypack 25-35L

On this day, apart from instructing the trad climbing items, your guide takes a careful but more supervisory and coaching role in order to encourage skill mastery which every participants needs in order to undertake safe independent climbing after the course.

Topics Covered:

• Equipment
• Trad climbing movement terminology
• Introduction to trad climbing movement skills
• The trad climbing equipment rack and racking the gear
• Trad gear placements
• Trad gear anchors
• Trad climbing considerations and strategies for route start placements, traverses, cruxes, horizontal cracks and more/li>
• Mock Trad Leads
• Threading the anchor and lowering/rappelling off review