Trad climbing, short for traditional climbing, involves placing protective gear in cracks or holes in the rock. This is a brief description of how the gear placement works. It is not intended as instructions for how to place gear safely. Before you try trad climbing for the first time, you should get instruction from someone with experience.
A trad climb often follows a crack which offers opportunities for gear placement.
A close inspection of the crack reveals places where gear can be placed. Ideally the sides of the crack are parallel but this is rarely the case.
A cam is a spring loaded piece with four lobes that pull together and become smaller when the trigger is pulled. When the trigger is released, springs expand the lobes.
Here the trigger is pulled down and the lobes are fully retracted. It is ready to be placed in a crack.
Going into the crack. You want the stem to point down in the direction of the potential fall.
A solid placement maximizes the surface area of the lobes that contact the rock. The lobes are not too open and not completely closed. It will be easier to remove later if it can still be squeezed a little bit smaller,
A quickdraw is attached to the cam and the rope is clipped through the quickdraw. Protection is in place!
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