Trad plan and getting outdoor milage in the winter

[tradmike]

I'm about to start the trad plan this Monday the 30th.  One of the big things i want to work on is getting experience placing gear and becoming more confident, so that i can push myself.

My big concern is how do i go about getting the outdoor mileage over the winter living in the Midwest, where it is currently in the low 30's right now.  I know that i could lead in the gym but that still doesn't help with the placing gear and getting experience on the rock.  The only thing i can think of and has also been suggested to me is to set up a top rope solo, and then do a mock aid climb.  This would allow me place gear, weight it to check placements etc.  however it would not do much in the way of getting actual climbing in.

Any suggestions.  I want to have a great trad season next year, and reap the full benefits of training this winter.


Thanks

Mike 

[MarkAnderson]

Actually I think aid climbing is super helpful at improving gear-placement skills. For one, it teaches you to be more open-minded when searching for placements, and two it teaches you exactly how good various placements are. I almost never aid climb, but I do a lot of top-down bolting on super steep stuff where I'm basically down-aiding. That's taught me a lot more than random, sporadic gear falls.

That said, low 30's isn't really that cold, so maybe you should get out and climb before it gets truly cold.

[Chris W]

I don't know much about trad, but I often train/climb in the cold. My advice:

1) Invest in some high quality cold weather climbing clothing. It can make a big difference.

2) Acclimate! The more you train in the cold, the easier it gets.

3) Put a hand warmer in your chalk bag.

4) Warm up well. If you can stay on frozen rock/plastic for a full 5-10 minutes of torture, then come down and warm your hands in your pockets (with handwarmers, a heater or just against your skin) it seems to create some kind of hyperemic response that lets your hands stay warm for much longer during the rest of the session.

5) Did I mention good clothes make a difference?

6) Pick projects in the sun

[Lundy]

One other cold weather tip is to lace handwarmers into your shoes -- below the laces but above the tongue. Helps you keep precision when your toes would otherwise start to lose feeling and function like blocks of ice.

[Chris W]

Awesome idea! Does it really warm all the way down to the toes? I'll have to try that when I ARC in January.

[Lundy]

I'm not gonna say that it makes your toes "warm", but it definitely helps stave off the biting cold and keeps your toes relatively functional.