Trad Climbing

The filmer breaks down exactly what happened—and what went wrong.

We’ve gathered experience-driven tips and tricks to create a foolproof recipe for success on pumpy layback pitches.

Ever.

'Love as a Weapon' is a stiff new route in Squamish, BC.

Have a kid and life as you know it is over. Retire those kneepads and downturned shoes, welcome to strollers and diapers and poos.

Aid climbing is the one sure-fire way to accelerate the trad climbing learning curve

Although the correct process to cut a rope is very simple, there are two things to keep in mind when you’re done.

Harnden worked Bladerunner (5.14; 3 pitches) for 25 days before sending. Then he returned with a photographer and sent it again.

We climbers love our labels, but figuring out just what type of climber you really are begs defining.

This one's got to hurt.

About as clean as any gear-ripper can be, anyway.

An ice climber, a trad climber, a boulderer, and a sport climbing visit a fortune teller and learn their fates.

"It took me a few attempts of climbing higher and higher above the last two pieces to eventually feel confident to commit to the final runout."

Originally graded 5.15a, it’s still considered one of the world’s hardest trad pitches.

From the first women recorded in mountaineering in the late eighteenth century to the first 5.15c female ascent

Terminally pumped? Follow these tips to achieve a restful stance on vertical rock, steep caves, corners, and more.

"Other than almost decking this is a phenomenal route."

A small cam provided a secure catch for five sessions. The #0.2 was bomber, until it wasn't.

Climbers often neglect limbs that can be especially useful for climbing, like the head, shoulder, knee, and hip. These seven tips show the importance of keeping an open mind and using any body part, no matter how ignoble a figure you cut.

Racking them, placing them, threading them, stacking them, trusting them. Here's what you need to know about using nuts.

We hate to lay blame. But it couldn't have hurt...

Learning how to try hard is hard. And it’s so easy to be stupid.

This is a contender for "best whip of the year."

A visiting Brit arrived in this country just as sport climbing did, and witnessed the war between trad and sport.

Many climbers settle into a niche discipline in the vast expanse of the climbing universe. Some—for better or worse—get so stuck at their grade that their personalities begin to mimic the rocks and routes they choose to climb. 

When your rope is stuck, you ain’t going nowhere. Here are my hard-won tips for getting your rope unstuck and—even better—preventing it from happening in the first place.

Climbing is a skill sport and resting is a skill. Better learn it.

Progressing from weekend cragging to long alpine routes can be intimidating for anyone, even strong and competent traditional climbers.

Eight tips for climbing safely in loose terrain.

When tackling trad routes, every piece of protection counts. Use this quick, easy hack to reduce the risk of cross-loaded carabiners on your slung cams, keeping your fall as short and safe as possible.

This six-week program will hone you to climb the classics, whether it's a mountain, wall or long free route.

A directional is a piece of gear, be it a bolt or a cam or a nut, that places your climbing rope in the most appropriate location for zigs and zags on a climb.

The 5.14 crux is firmly situated in the no-fall zone, but that hasn't stopped many of the UK's best from having a go.

On top of the sustained and low-percentage 5.14 climbing, the crux comes at the very top⁠—the final four moves⁠—while facing a gut-wrenching fall.

This is pure climbing footage; there is no story, no interview, and no posing. And it's beautiful.

EBGB'S (5.10d) is no death route, but it's not a clip-up, either.

After breaking her back trying to climb "Crank It" (5.13d) sans bolts, Molly Mitchell fought her way back to the sharp end... then opted for a re-match.

This fall logs about as many air miles as one could hope for while still walking away intact.

When swinging leads on a multi-pitch route, the belay transitions are often the biggest time suck. But they don't have to be.

"It wasn’t the experience I’d signed up for, but a more challenging experience I’ll learn from. I’m glad I didn’t back down that day."

Climbing head injuries can happen anywhere: from the Salathé on El Cap to your favorite little sport crag. Here are five climbers' nightmare scenarios.

"This particular route has three pegs and an ice screw—which apparently fit really well in a pocket, so there it stayed."

Thou shalt read this and do as I sayeth.

In this excerpt from "Valley of Giants," a new anthology of writing by some Yosemite's most iconic women climbers, Beth Rodden describes how her six-month journey on Meltdown (5.14c) brought an end to one period of her life and introduced another.

Mari Salvesen is the second person to flash Belly Full of Bad Berries in Indian Creek, Utah.

Directly linked to mental composure (hence technique) under duress, physical fitness, and your ability to recover, your heart rate is the engine driving your rock climbing. No surprise, then, that training with a heart-rate monitor (HRM) can be hugely beneficial.

Internationally certified mountain guide Marc Chauvin gives a simple solution for addressing tangles and chaos during leader switches on multi-pitch climbs.

This climber's first trad lead nearly ended in disaster.

Failing on a route often comes down to beating the pump. Take these four exercises to heart and slay the demon.

Whether you’re a climber from Southern California or from Northern Vietnam, these will probably be familiar, and they probably changed the way you do business.

Descending at maximum efficiency on long routes should include lowering techniques as well as rappelling. Here's how to make it work.

Eight routes that keep the adventure high and the difficulty manageable.

"It's very easy to lose track of where the rope is," the filmer told Climbing. "Before you know it, you look behind your leg and there it is. [There's] not much you can do but have a crack."

Want to enhance your rappelling skillset? Build better anchors? Perfect your gear placements? Crush your first multi-pitch?

Rappelling in alpine terrain can be the crux of big routes. Stuck ropes, high winds, leaving gear... a lot can go wrong. Here are five tips to stack your odds.

A comprehensive analysis of 30 years worth of data of climbing accidents recorded in Accidents in North American Climbing.

Staying in balance-neutral (and in control) on your return to Earth is mission critical to walking away.

On the sharp end and otherwise at the Midwest's most storied climbing area.

140-footers on El Cap? Check.

The author was tired of cold bivies, long approaches and big racks. For a break, he ventured to the sheer sandstone walls outside Dresden, Germany. He didn't get quite the break he'd imagined.

In a crisis, decisive action may be the difference between life and death. Sometimes only a bystander is prepared to take that step.

Internationally certified mountain guide Rob Coppolillo shares five ways to ensure a safer belay.

The American worked the route with U.K. climber Tom Randall, who sent on the same day.

Check out Matt Segal's author page.

Lexicon has an unmistakable fear factor: biff it on any one of the final four moves—the crux, of course—and face a massive swinging fall.

Check out Pete Whittaker's author page.

Climbing caught up with Sabourin to talk about hard trad, their training, and the challenges they have faced in and out of the climbing community.

The evidence that going low-carb benefits any athlete’s performance is weak, mostly anecdotal, and often driven by dogma.

Check out Chris Kalman's author page.

Check out Laura Snider's author page.

Goris made the third ascent (and first female) of the granite line in The Needles on August 25th

Professional mountain guide Rob Coppolillo explains four ways simul-rappelling can be unsafe and why it might not actually save time.

Check out The Editors's author page.

The Women's Trad Festival has climbing clinics, yoga sessions, and post-cragging presentations—all the fixings for a classic weekend.

It's virtually impossible to try your hardest when you're worried about taking a whip.

It is already being touted as one of Tuolumne Meadows' proudest lines.

Check out The Editors's author page.

A botched sequence, a foothold missed, and a long fall over opposed nuts!

Weekend Whipper shows an upside-down fall from a desert roof, and why it's more important to wear a helmet than a shirt.

This interview was published a little less than a year before Dean Potter's death on May 16, 2015.