Path: nntp.gmd.de!newsserver.jvnc.net!yale.edu!spool.mu.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!usc!nic-nac.CSU.net!news.Cerritos.edu!news.Arizona.EDU!bobh From: b...@hwr.arizona.edu (Bob Harrington) Newsgroups: rec.climbing Subject: Re: Trad Tips (revised) (1/2) Date: 7 Jan 1995 18:24:48 GMT Organization: University of Arizona -- Tucson, AZ Lines: 35 Sender: Bob Harrington Message-ID: <3emm9g$9n7@news.CCIT.Arizona.EDU> References: <1995Jan6.150327.1@ugun2a> <3ekhrk$fjd@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> NNTP-Posting-Host: cotopaxi.hwr.arizona.edu In article <3ekhrk$...@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> bhil...@stelvio.eng.sun.com (Bruce Hildenbrand) writes: >Look, some of us, for whatever reason, seem to be especially good >at getting the correct nut off the biner without much hassle. Does >that mean you should adopt the same method? No, of course not. It just >means that there is more than one way to do things, find one that works >for you particluar ability level and use it. Ah, get off your horse, Bruce. In twenty years of climbing you must have come across a few opportunities to improve and refine the way you climb. That's what happened to me: I used to use the old 'one nut off the rack' technique that you're advocating, until one day, I saw someone using the whole biner method with such efficiency that I thought I should try it too. We were climbing a route on Fairview as a party of four, I was on the upper rope, and Louise Shepard on the lower rope was leading the same pitches I was, so I had a great view down at her as she lead up to my belays. She was impressive to watch -- not only was it a lesson in precision movement, but she used the 'whole biner off the rack' technique with such quickness and efficiency, that even though I'd never seen it before, I knew that was what I would do from then on. Anyway, you're right -- find a technique that works for you. But to characterize the 'whole biner off the rack' method as being most suitable for unskilled inexperienced climbers is wrong. On the contrary, I think a lot of people who use the 'one nut' method just don't realize there's a more efficient way. I used the 'one nut at a time' technique for several years, but then switched, and I learned it from a very able climber. Obviously, YMMV. Bob