Traditional climbing

Traditional climbing, or trad climbing, is a style of rock climbing in which a climber or group of climbers place all gear required to protect against falls, and removes it when a passage is complete. Traditional bolted face climbing means the bolts were placed on lead and/or with hand drills. The bolts tend to be much farther apart than sport climbs. For example, a trad bolted routes may have bolts from 15–75 feet apart. A sport route may have bolts from 3–10 feet apart, similar to a rock climbing gym. The term seems to be coined by Tom Higgins in the piece "Tricksters and Traditionalists" in 1984. A trad climber is called a traditionalist.

Characterizing climbing as traditional distinguishes it from bolted climbing-either trad bolted or sport climbing (in which all protection and anchor points are permanently installed prior to the climb - typically installed while rappelling) and "free solo climbing" (which does not use ropes or gear of any kind). However, protection bolts, pitons and pegs installed while lead climbing are also considered "traditional" as they were placed during the act of climbing from the ground-up rather than on rappel, especially in the context of granite slab climbing.

Before the advent of sport climbing in the United States in the 1980s, and perhaps somewhat earlier in parts of Europe, the usual style of unaided rock climbing was what is now referred to as traditional-either bolted face climbs or crack climbs. In trad climbing, a leader ascends a section of rock placing his or her own protective devices while climbing. Before about 1970 these devices were often limited to pitons; today they consist mainly of a combination of chocks and spring-loaded camming devices, but may less commonly include pitons which are driven with a hammer. John Long's 1989 technique manual How to Rock Climb (Chockstone Press) used the term "sport climbing" repeatedly in reference to what is now considered "traditional climbing".

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