Trad climbing in California's Joshua Tree National Park.Darryl Leniuk
Trad Climbing
What's the deal?
Escape the gym and learn the fundamentals of rock climbing in the desert.
Where's it at?
There's more than one way to climb rock. If you've ever been to a climbing gym, you've probably been on a top rope belay system. Outdoors, bolted sport routes allow fast, minimalist ascents. But the purest form of the sport is trad, or "traditional," climbing, the methodical, gear-intensive approach to scaling vertical rock while protecting yourself from a fall.
Head south to California's Joshua Tree National Park, where trad climbing evolved. Since the 1960s, the 3,200-square-kilometre park, situated at the convergence of the Mojave and Colorado deserts, has been a winter training ground for the world's top climbers. Today, the park boasts more than 8,000 climbing routes.
Book a four-day Intermediate Rock Climbing course with the Joshua Tree Rock Climbing School. The course is designed to fast-track gym climbers into the sport: The first two days are spent learning the basics of anchor building and climbing on top rope to improve your technique. The second half of the course is all trad climbing. You'll learn how to find a route and assemble an arsenal of cams, nuts and carabineers. (For safety, you'll also be on a top rope, so you can make mistakes and not risk falling.) The challenge is being co-ordinated enough to place gear with one hand while wobbling on the monzogranite wall.
Trad climbing is physical, but has a serene and methodical sense to it. You gain a focus found in few sports, and may soon feel the Zen avid climbers speak of. At the top, you'll build an anchor for the rope and belay up your partner, but first relax and look around: The desert is a beautiful place, the cerulean sky above and alien-looking Joshua trees below, beat any climbing gym.
Who's it for?
Those who like climbing, gear and the desert. A four-day intermediate course with the Joshua Tree Rock Climbing School cost $595 (U.S.), including equipment.
Joshua Tree National Park is an hour's drive from Palm Springs, which can be reached by daily flights from several Canadian cities. For travel information, visit PalmSpringsUSA.com and visitPalmSprings.com.
Special to The Globe and Mail