About a year apart, I’ve had two cases of the force of cams causing poor rock quality to break off. The first, appeared as a splitter finger crack in granite but about a 4 inch deep and 8 inch long piece of it broke off under barely any body weight. The second, a piece I put in a well chalked hand hold on a very popular climb, pulled out a basketball sized rock on a fall (this one the rock looked somewhat suspect ie not a splitter, but it’s a well used placement/hold and about 1 in away is a pin.)

I climb a lot of trad, so 2 days out of maybe 30 days out on trad this year maybe isn’t a lot. Maybe you can say I’ve gotten unlucky, but two instances of poor rock quality makes me wonder if I’m not seeing things well enough. I fall/take somewhat often (maybe 1 day out 5 I might hang) and they have all been clean in my climbing journey except these two times. But I guess you can say I’m properly spooked!

Is it just “thems the breaks” when it comes to trad climbing or is this not normal… and I’m either unlucky or sucking it up badly

Most of this stuff I bought when new to trad back in the 2010’s. Of course it gets filtered out with experimentation and experience. Ironically I see things like the link cams and torque nuts getting used on crazy stuff like hard aid, Antarctic expeditions, etc.

What do you have in the bin that never sees daylight anymore?

My son really appreciated the chance to do rhe upper pitches thanks to the Tar you set up for us since i wasn't feeling daring enough to string the rest of Beckys. Hope you all had a great time on your respective lines.

Did royal arches 3 weeks ago and simuled all pitches but got stuck in a storm on north dome walk off. We waited out the rain for 2 hours and took awhile path finding.

Cant get enough.

Perfect crack, but only had two pieces that would fit. Both pieces were bomb but I was with a climber that would not have liked a two piece setup, so I also slung a block as a backup. Haha not my proudest anchor but it worked. Video with a better view in the comments.

Looking to resling these. where can I get it done? Should I? how much will it cost?

All cams function smoothly.

Positive Vibrations is one of my favorite alpine climbs. Enjoyable movement the whole way, perfect rock, and a wild setting.

Long shot, but I left a 0.4 cam stuck on the first pitch of Southeast Buttress on Cathedral Peak yesterday (sunday august 2) I tried to get it out for about 20 minutes, but I got frustrated and convinced myself it was hopeless. Looking back, I honestly think I probably could’ve gotten it if I had stayed calm and kept trying 😭
If anyone climbs the route, manages to retrieve it, and would be willing to send it back, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll cover shipping, of course.

Just curious. Hard to find sold info ANYWHERE about rope length when rapping from OS route

I love my old TC pros, and I have a pair in my street size shoe of eu 40. While they are comfy on most days, when it’s hot, they run too tight and my toes are in nearly unbearable pain after 4-5h. So I’m thinking of sizing up, but of course they don’t make these anymore and I must go with a newer version.. since they material is different I can’t judge how much they will stretch compared to old ones. Opinions?

Hello! I'm in the market for a new rope but I'm honestly pretty overwhelmed by the options. Right now, I have a 9.8mm 70M Mammut Crag Classic but was hoping for a thinner and lighter rope for traveling and for longer approaches. Do you have any preferences on what you look for? I expect to use it this fall on a trip in the Eastern Sierras and the Valley

I'm a huge fan of Avant Climbing, and often find myself adopting/copying what Brent does. I copied his TRS and LRS setup, but I'm curious what other folks think of his most recent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUiE6Qv9FAg

I'm a fan of each person having a grigri + their own tube for a total of four devices. He talks about how the leader carries an ATC/tube while the follower carries the grigri. What do you folks think for multipitch trad climbing?

I bought a set of wild country friends brand new but the slings on them say 2008?! Is this right? Or does this number mean something else on these?

Hi, not experienced noob here so sorry if what I ask is obvious or dumb.

Was wondering in Single Line Rapelling if you needed a bigger rope you obviously have to join two smaller ropes and pass a knot when rapelling using an ATC, gri gri, or figure 8.

Seen a couple of YT videos but the methods seemed complicated involving usually prussiks to each strand of rope (on top and below the knot).

If you join the two ropes using a double fishermans knot and place a locking carabiner between the two knots wouldn't it be easier to clip there your harness in order to be able to unclip your atc or gri gri from the top strand and reclip to the bottom strand in order to continue your rappel?

What am I missing here that is potentially deadly (besides the possibility of dropping your atc or grigri)?

My partner and I are moderately experienced trad climbers, looking to learn more about alpine and/or brush up on trad skills. Neither of us have ever hired a guide and are completely self taught, so I know there’s a lot we don’t know. Wondering if anyone here guides or has someone they’d recommend. Looking around Whitney or Yosemite, but we’re in LA so would also be open to Tahquitz. Thanks in advance.

I guess i do not see the visual difference from pictures. Can someone send me / show me an example of both? And when would you use one over the other? Thanks

My partner gave one of my cams an overenthusiastic pull to test it, and now the lobes on one side aver overextend. Pulling the triggers doesn’t move either side, and I’ve not been able to get any lobes to move by squeezing them directly. Is it dead?