Trad Climbing Courses

Description

Learn the Fundamentals of

Trad Climbing in Wyoming!

Trad climbing at Cranner Rock in Sweetwater Rocks

Our Trad Climbing Courses will teach you how to build traditional anchor systems, place solid protection, and climb a wide variety of crack sizes.   The granite monoliths and splitter cracks of Wyoming are perfect for developing your traditional climbing (i.e. climbing with removable protection) technique and explore some of the west’s wildest landscapes.  Whether you’re just learning how to hand jam or gearing up for multipitch climbing, this course is a great way for you to hone your skills and become a more confident trad climber.  Love sport climbing but want to learn how to find your own way in the mountains?  Then this is the course for you!

Trad Climbing Courses available in Wyoming:

We offer Trad Climbing Courses in the following locations in Wyoming:

Cody, Wyoming – Trad Climbing Course

Sweetwater Rocks, Wyoming – Trad Climbing Course

Vedauwoo, Wyoming – Trad Climbing Course

Fremont Canyon, Wyoming – Trad Climbing Course

Dates:

Our Trad Climbing Courses are available upon request in most locations May – October.

Lessons:

Our Trad Climbing courses include personalized instruction on the following topics and techniques:

• Gearing up for trad climbing
• Objective hazards and risk management
• Trad climbing safety systems, including protection, anchors, belaying, and self-rescue
• Crack climbing techniques
• Leave No Trace and “Beyond Leave No Trace” practices
• Lessons on each area’s geology, ecology, archaeology, and history

These hands-on lessons are accompanied by plenty of top-rope climbing on routes suitable to your climbing progression.

Course options and itineraries:

• 1 Day Itinerary

Our 1 day Trad Climbing Course is a great option if you only have a single day to work on your trad climbing skills but you want to make the most of it!  Your guide will work with you to select an exciting venue that is appropriate for your group size, suits your learning goals, and features fun, high quality climbing in a beautiful setting.  This one day course will typically last 7-8 hours but can be customized to fit your schedule. The following is a sample 1 day trad climbing course itinerary:

• 8am – Meet your guide for gear check and safety orientation
• Drive to trailhead
• Review goals and hazards
• Hike to crag and gear up
• Crack climbing technique
• Protection lesson
• Anchor building lesson
• Belaying lesson
• Fundamentals of self rescue
• Rappelling lesson
• Environment and history of Vedauwoo
• 3-4 pm – Hike out and debrief

Alternatively, we can start this one day course at 12pm and end at 8pm.

• 2 Day Itinerary

Our 2 day Trad Climbing Course is a great option if you want to take your trad climbing to new heights!   The first day of the course is focused on learning foundational skills (see the sample itinerary above) and the second day is focused on applying those skills and climbing more challenging objectives.  Your guide will work with you to select appropriate venues for this course.  Both days of the course will typically last 7-8 hours but can be customized to fit your schedule. 

Course guides:

Our talented team of Wyoming-based climbing guides includes some of the most prolific climbers in the area who are at the forefront of rock climbing guiding in their respective regions.  Most importantly our guides are skilled teachers who are patient, kind, and helpful to people from all walks of life as they learn new skills.  Their top priority is making you feel safe and supported as you take on a new challenge.  Feel free to request a particular guide for your course.

Chris “Slim” Murray is a longtime Laramie resident and Vedauwoo trad climbing aficionado.  Slim is one of the most experienced trad climbers in the area, having redpointed up to 5.14 on gear, and he knows Vedauwoo like the back of his hand.  Slim is an amazing guide as he’s able to combine his climbing prowess with his love for teaching, building on his decade of experience teaching special education in Laramie.  As Slim puts it, “I love the act of imparting my knowledge to someone in a way that they are able to understand. I know that sounds weird but it is my favorite thing about teaching someone how to climb. The challenge with teaching for me is being able to be dynamic enough to be able to teach all different sorts of people. Of being able to recognize how the individual best learns and then being able to respond well enough to teach them to the best of my ability.  I especially love teaching crack climbing because of the technique needed. It is not just simply grab a hold and pull hard, it is about how to best and most efficiently fill the space in the crack and then also how best to place protection. Vedauwoo cracks are so nuanced, even in lower grade numbers, that it provides an ideal learning space for an aspiring crack climber and that gets me excited.”

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Dane Steadman is a skilled multi-disciplinary guide with significant accomplishments including the first guided ascents of Pilot Peak and Stinkingwater Peak, guided ascents of Cloud Peak, Gannet Peak, Granite Peak (MT), guided ice climbs in the Cody area up to WI6 in difficulty, and has guided rock climbs across the state of Wyoming up to 5.12 in difficulty.  Dane is also a very driven and talented climber whose main focus is exploratory alpine climbing both in Wyoming and in the greater ranges.  Notable climbs of his include the first ascent of Technicolor Super Dream on Mt. Huntington in Alaska, the first ascent of the North Face of Pik Alpinist in Kyrgyzstan, the second ascent of Titanic on Torre Egger in Patagonia, and several first ascents of hard ice and mixed climbs in the South Fork of the Shoshone River Valley up to WI6+ and M10 in difficulty.  What’s more, Dane is incredibly personable, patient, professional, and really fun to be around in the mountains. 

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Zach Lentsch is an avid climber, guide, and owner of Wyoming Mountain Guides. A Bighorn Basin native, Zach has been exploring wild parts of northern Wyoming for as long as he can remember. In addition to running the business and designing Wyoming Mountain Guides’ suite of climbing programs operating across the state, Zach works extensively in the field and guides a wide range of trips ranging from introductory programs to advanced rock, ice, and alpine trips on challenging terrain. Zach is also a passionate developer of new climbing routes with over 100 first ascents across Wyoming, including the longest ice climb in the state (Ultralight Beam WI3+ 1000m) in the Wind River Mountains, the longest sandstone rock climb in the state (The Fall of Satan 5.10 C3 250m) in the Bighorn Mountains, and a high concentration of rock, ice, and mixed climbs in the Cody area up to 5.12, WI6, and M9 in difficulty.  Zach is an experienced teacher and works hard to integrate as much technical and environmental education into the climbing experience as possible while also prioritizing safety and having a great time together.

Booking and payment:

You can view each of our guide’s availability on the calendar above.  To book your course directly via our website, you need to first select a guide and choose from available dates.  Then to finalize your booking we require a 25% deposit, which is non-refundable.  The remainder is to be paid two weeks before the course and is non-refundable if you cancel within two weeks of the program.  If you do cancel last minute on your own accord and want to transfer your credit to another course or trip, we do charge an additional 30% rescheduling fee.  However in case of bad weather or a medical emergency 

Contact Us:

Interested in taking a trad climbing course with us?  Please send us an email with your name, contact info, and a brief description of when and where you’d like to take the course. Feel free to ask us any questions you might have about the course!