When Antonio said he wanted to learn trad, I was surprised.
A skilled Spanish sport climber, eager to take his first steps on grit? I stepped up to the challenge.
I’ve known Antonio through the Climbing Clan for probably years now. He’s been on many weekend trips, delivered fantastic food in the most challenging cooking conditions and guided many people towards improving their climbing.
One of the biggest challenges for skilled sport climbers starting to learn trad is the slowdown.
Suddenly they’re being asked to climb the easiest scrambles, as if it was super high and super scary. To help them improve their ability to place gear well, someone’s asking them to use every quickdraw.
“It’s not possible” is something other people would say.
Not Antonio.
Over the summer, Antonio took to the rock like, well, a climber.
Soon trad wasn’t “scary or sketchy” – it was a fun puzzle.
A jigsaw of metal and rock.
And from these sessions, Antonio started his journey as a trad climber…
Originally posted on this post on Instagram
