 Many
climbers are intimidated by big walls with good reason.
The commitment is huge, the labor and logistics can be
overwhelming and being a couple thousand feet off the deck
with another thousand to go can put a Navy Seal into a
panic attack. So what’s to like about big walls? Lots of
incredible climbing, that’s what. Once you’re on a route
without other parties, you can just go for it. There is no
standing in a queue to get on a classic line, no moving to
another crag to search the guidebook anew, there is no
dilly dallying around. It’s time to focus, test
your body and your nerves on the proving ground
that has always demanded everything from climbers.
Get
ready
Before you launch out to climb big
walls, you’ll need to practice big wall skills and to learn
what your big wall will require. Keep in mind that you will
need to know a lot of skills: complex anchor set-up, hauling,
rope management, hanging belays in high winds where verbal
communication is nearly impossible, exchanging gear at belays
without dropping anything, wall bivying - sometimes where you
had not expected it, self rescue techniques in case things
don’t go as planned and of course aid climbing.
Most of the technical skills can be learned at short crags.
What can not be learned there is what to do when things go
wrong. For that, your cool head and ability to think out of the
box will have to step in. When you handle one of those
situations and pull it off, you will have gained something - a
certain confidence and self mastery that no outdoor leadership
course ever could teach.
Many a successful big wall climber started out by having a
solid foundation of trad climbing and learned the details of
wall routes from books like, How to Climb: Big Walls (How To
Climb Series) by John Long or Big Wall Climbing: Elite
Technique (Mountaineers Outdoor Expert Series) by Jared Ogden,
as well as Climbing Anchors Field Guide (How To Climb Series)
by John Long and Bob Gaines. It is possible to practice at a
small crag and then try an easy first wall, like the South Face
of Washington Column in Yosemite (probably the most heavily
trafficked big wall in the world).
Nevertheless, an apprenticeship with an experienced wall rat
will keep the beginner from getting in over his /her head.
Going on a trip to Yosemite and meeting climbers in Camp 4 will
create link-ups in an instant, but be careful. There are plenty
of fakers and sand baggers who just want a belay slave to leech
from for a few days.
Essential info for big wall success: Check out Advanced Wallcraft By John Middendorf.
This is a great freebie written by one of the true wall
climbing masters in the world.
Aid climbing
grades
Aid climbs are rated on the American
scale from A0 to A5. The climber uses ropes and equipment to
support his or her weight and aid climbing progress. A0 climbs
are generally easy and protection is solid. A5 climbs are
extremely difficult and have a high potential for deadly
falls.
With the push for ever more extreme climbs a new, more defined
system of grading has emerged, particularly in the USA, where
world standards for aid have always been set.
The original grading system:
• A0: A free climb with an occasional aid move that does not
require specialized aid gear ("aiders" or "etriers"). Pulling
on gear during a free ascent is often referred to as A0.
• A1: Requires aid gear but all placements are solid and
easy.
• A2: Good placements, but sometimes tricky.
• A3: Many difficult aid moves. Some of the placements might
only hold body-weight, but the risk is still low, with
occasional solid placements.
• A4: There are several placements in a row that will hold
nothing more than body weight.
• A5: Numerous body-weight placements in a row. A fall might
result in a fall of at least 20 meters.
The new aid grading system:
• A1: Easy aid
and easy placements.
• A2: Moderate aid. Solid gear, but difficult to place.
• A2+: Up to 10m fall potential but with little risk of hitting
anything.
• A3: Hard aid. Many tenuous placements in a row. Fall
potential up to 15m.
• A3+: Same A3, but with dangerous fall potential.
• A4: Serious aid. Continuously tenuous gear placements in a
row with up to 30m ledge fall potential.
• A4+: More serious aid. Longer fall potential. Each pitch can
take many hours to lead.
• A5: Extreme aid. Nothing on the pitch will hold a fall. A
fall will almost certainly end with death.
• A6: Same as A5, but with belay anchors that won’t hold a
fall. A fall will kill the whole team.
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