James Pearson (climber)

Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places the protection equipment while ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber (or belayer) then removes the protection equipment as they climb the route.

Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing where the protection equipment is pre-drilled into the rock in the form of bolts.

Traditional climbing carries a much higher level of risk than bolted sport climbing as the climber may not have placed the protection equipment correctly as they try to ascend the route, or there may be few opportunities to insert satisfactory protection (e.g. on very difficult routes).

With the development of "active" traditional climbing protection in the 1970s—called spring-loaded camming devices (SLCDs, or "friends")—the grades of technical difficulty that traditional climbers could safely undertake increased dramatically, and new grade milestones were set on new traditional climbing routes.

Traditional climbing was once the dominant form of free climbing but since the mid-1980s sport climbing (and its related form of competition climbing) became more popular, and all subsequent grade milestones from onwards were on sport climbing routes.

However, by the mid-1980s, the leading traditional climbers were again facing technical challenges with minimal possibilities for traditional climbing protection (i.e. tiny or no cracks whatsoever in which to insert SLCDs), that required them to accept significant personal risks — Johnny Dawes's 1986 ascent of Indian Face being a notable example.

At this time, French climbers such as Patrick Edlinger began to pre-drill permanent masonry bolts into the almost "blank" faces of Buoux and Verdon for protection (but not as artificial aid); this became known as sport climbing.

It led to a dramatic increase in climbing standards — all future new grade milestones would be set on sport climbing routes.

The increased safety of pre-drilled bolts also led to the development and popularity of competition climbing and the emergence of the "professional" rock climber.

Sport climbing then became—and remains—the most popular form of rock climbing.

For example, when Johnny Dawes freed the traditional climb Indian Face (E9 6c) in 1986, the protection was so thin, Dawes assumed if he fell, the protection would rip out, and he would fall to the ground.

From the early 2000s, there was a resurgence in interest in traditional climbing as climbers began greenpointing sport routes (e.g. Greenspit and The Path at 8b+), and setting new milestones for traditional routes (e.g. Cobra Crack at by Sonnie Trotter, and Rhapsody at by Dave MacLeod).

Female climber Beth Rodden created a new traditional route at the same level as the men with Meltdown also at.

Traditional returned to prominence when in 2003, Swiss climber Didier Berthod greenpointed the bolted sport climb Greenspit (E9, 5.14, 8b) to create one of the hardest traditional crack climbing routes in the world.

In 2006, Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter greenpointed The Path (E9, 5.14a R, 8b+) to create one of the world's hardest traditional climbs at the time.

Trotter, and other leading 'trad' climbers such as David MacLeod, led a resurgence in traditional climbing by creating new grade milestones on routes such as Cobra Crack (E10, 5.14b, 8c) and Rhapsody (E11, 5.14c R/X, 8c+).

The increased prominence of traditional climbing attracted the leading sport climbers who began to repeat—and create—major traditional routes (e.g. Ethan Pringle with BlackBeard's Tears and Beth Rodden with Meltdown).

In 2023, when British climber James Pearson created one of the world's first E12 'trad' routes with Bon Voyage, the first repeat was by sport climbing legend, Adam Ondra.

Traditional climbing requires more rock climbing equipment than sport climbing as the lead climber needs to carry, and insert, protection devices as they climb the route.

The choice of equipment carried will depend on the type of route being attempted.

Some of the most difficult and dangerous traditional routes (e.g. Indian Face or Master's Edge) offer very little opportunity to insert protection into the rock, and thus the lead climber carries very little protective equipment.

Classic traditional climbs often involve crack climbing (e.g. Separate Reality) that offers greater opportunity for inserting protection — into the crack itself — and the lead climber will carry a lot more equipment to secure their safety.

Two main classes of protection are used in traditional climbing, namely: "passive" and "active".

Passive protection devices include nuts, hexcentrics and tricams, and are metal shapes attached to wires or slings, which can be inserted into cracks and fissures in the rock that will act like temporary sport climbing bolts (to which quickdraws and the rope can be clipped into).

Active protection consists of spring-loaded camming devices (or "friends"), which are cams that dynamically adjust to the size of the crack or fissure in the rock, but also act like temporary sport climbing bolts.

The traditional climber has two key concerns, or areas of risk, when placing the protection equipment while they are leading the traditional route.

The first concern is related to the quality of the protection placements.

Where these placements are considered good and will hold the climber in the event of a major fall, they are called "bomb-proof" (i.e. they behave just like pre-drilled bolts).

However, when the placements are poor, and there is uncertainty that they will hold in the event of a major fall — risking a "zipper-fall" — they are described as "thin".

In 2019, Jacopo Larcher created what is considered the first graded traditional route with Tribe.

Traditional climbing (or "Trad" climbing), is a form of free climbing (i.e. no artificial or mechanical device can be used to aid progression, unlike with aid climbing), which is performed in pairs where the lead climber places climbing protection into the climbing route as they ascend.

After the lead climber has reached the top, the second climber (or belayer) removes this temporary climbing protection as they climb the route.

Some consider the hammering in of pitons while climbing the route, as long as they are only for climbing protection and not to aid progression, to also be traditional climbing.

Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing that has the climbing protection already pre-bolted into the route (i.e. the lead climber just clips their rope into quickdraws attached to the bolts); sport climbing is therefore a much safer, and less stressful, form of free climbing.

Traditional climbing differs from free solo climbing where no climbing protection is used whatsoever.

With the greater popularity of sport climbing, traditional climbing evolved to embrace some of its redpointing techniques in making a first free ascent (FFA).

The previously controversial practices of hangdogging (i.e. practicing on an abseil rope), and headpointing (i.e. practicing on a top rope) are now accepted by the leading traditional climbers.

Traditional climbers subsequently introduced the derived term 'greenpointing' (or the Grünpunkt movement, as a play on the sport climbing Rotpunkt movement), to describe making the first free ascent of a pre-bolted sport-climb, but only using "traditional protection".

As 20th-century rock climbers began to free climb (i.e. avoiding any form of aid), they often used traditional climbing techniques for protection.

Early traditional climbers relied on crude, and often unreliable, forms of homemade "passive" climbing protection such as pieces of metal or chockstones attached to slings.