Big Wall BasicsSM

Students Per Instructor: 1 or 2
Course Length: 2 Days, 1 Night
Seasons Offered: Spring, Summer, Fall
Alpine Mastery Method: Rock Mastery - Level III
Prerequisites: Advanced Aid

Course Summary: This course teaches skills for living in the vertical world, on a rock wall. You will learn how to get yourself and your gear up the wall, and how to stay there for more than a day.

Reservations

Course Description:
Many of the world’s greatest adventures are big walls; climbs that take more than a day to complete. By “camping out” in the middle of an ascent it is possible to climb for many days without returning to the ground. But, the logistics of getting yourself, your partner(s), food, water, clothing, sleeping bags, porta-ledges and a pile of climbing gear to the top of a wall can be more than a little intimidating.

As most big walls require lots of aid, we'll begin this course with a brief review of the process. After preparing gear at the base of the route, we'll start up the wall. During the climb you'll learn about the hauling systems needed to get your gear up the wall, and the complex anchoring systems needed to keep it (and you) there.

After setting up our hanging bivouac, we'll eat dinner and spend the night on a porta-ledge. In the morning we'll return our “campsite” to its haul bag and complete the climb.

Our Advanced Aid course is a prerequisite. Somnambulists need not apply.