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Czech climber Adam Ondra climbing El Capitán in Yosemite National Park (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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[–] 24 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Yeah what we see here is called "trad climbing" and specifically it seems like he's lead climbing here (first one up and putting in the rope as he goes along).

Adam is a fucking beast btw for those that don't know him he's one of the best in the world.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

    Nah; it's actually sport climbing, not trad. You can see in the higher definition photo that he's got a quick draw attached to a bolt below him. Trad (traditional) climbing means climbing without prebolted routes where you place pro(tection) as you climb, like cams, nuts and hexes to name a few. If he were climbing trad, you would see a bunch of pro hanging off his belt because he'd need to place it as he climbs. Also pretty sure there's not even enough going on on the dawn wall to climb trad which is why it's generally looked down upon to bolt a wall if pro can be placed. Trad climbing the same wall would be much harder than sport climbing the same wall because placing pro is so more more involved than placing a quickdraw. Also you have to carry it up. Also if you place pro incorrectly and you fall you can die. Sport climbing in practice is much safer.

    To clarify further, the quickdraws are already placed for him. This is likely because the dawn wall is just that hard that you really don't have a chance if you have to spend the energy placing quickdraws as you climb.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Oooooh right you're right trad is placing the anchors etc yourself, I'm still learning. So is this still lead climbing (while being sport climbing) since he's going up with the rope?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Thanks for explaining it in a way that a noob like me could understand. So the wall has prebolted routes? Does that mean someone with a drill climbed the wall trad and attached them or how the heck is this done?

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Usually when you bolt a route like this (routes that are impossible or near-impossible to trad-climb) you'll go up some other route and rappel down while placing the bolts. Especially when the bolts are hand-drilled, because that requires both hands.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Also pretty sure there’s not even enough going on on the dawn wall to climb trad which is why it’s generally looked down upon to bolt a wall if pro can be placed. Trad climbing the same wall would be much harder than sport climbing the same wall

    IIRC, Tommy tried to keep the route in as good of style as possible by only bolting where there was no possible pro, and there are several pitches on the route which are protected only by beaks and brassies.

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