VOC trips are organized by members like yourself, not professional guides. The trips go into wilderness areas where assistance is unavailable and unexpected events can occur. You could be seriously injured or die. You are responsible for your own actions. Please use caution.
Brother of Bigwall 2025 - Advanced · Thu. May. 1st, 2025 - Sat. May. 31st, 2025
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Start: Thursday, May. 1st
End: Saturday, May. 31st
Pre-trip meeting: Tuesday, May. 13th, 6:30 pm
Pre-trip meeting location: Clubroom
Description:
So, you want to climb bigwalls? Sleep on a portaledge and spend multiple days in the vertical? Tremble with fear above a science project of janky aid gear? Then there’s probably something wrong with you but you’ve come the the right place.
This is a 4-week climbing skills workshop intended to help you develop the necessary skills to safely venture out into the realm of multi-day wall climbing.
Structure:
4x 3hr classroom/ aviary sessions over 4 weeks in May (likely on campus, likely evenings from 7 to 10pm), broadly covering the topics below:
- Overview; planning, preparation, and objective choice. Aid climbing technique (classroom)
- Basic clean aid climbing technique (practical)
- Hauling techniques aka pig wrestling (practical)
- Portaledge and vertical camp setup (practical)
There will also be 2-day weekend session in Squamish where groups can get on an aid climb, practice hauling, and hopefully spend a night on the wall. Exact dates and times of sessions will be determind based on group availability.
Group selection:
The group size will be limited to 6 spots - 3 for guys and 3 for ladies. Due to the advanced nature of the skills being developed, the workshop is not first come first served. I'm looking for people who are stoked, have the prerequisite skills, and have a lot to offer to the VOC. You must be able to commit to the 4x weekly sessions and the practical weekend. The group will be decided by mid-April and I will reach out to participants directly via email. We will coordinate schedules and set aside weekday evenings for the May workshops.
Prerequisite skills:
- Extensive trad experience - should be confidently leading at least 5.9/.10s on gear with lots of mileage.
- Extensive multi pitch experience
- Experience ascending ropes (with mechanical ascenders)
- A bit of aid climbing experience (attempts or otherwise) is an asset
- St0ke
Gear:
We can share certain gear, but it's essential for you to have all of the items below. You may be encouraged to pick up a few small items along the way.
- Trad rack incl. plenty of slings and locking biners
- Ascenders
- Grigri
Fill out the signup questions with a reasonable amount of detail - it helps me and may improve your case. Post to the message board link if you have any public questions, thoughts, or suggestions for the workshop. Also feel free to reach out to me directly via email.
Call-out for co-instructor: If you feel like you are qualified to help teach this material, please reach out to me by email! I could use the help of at least one co-instructor, particularly on the practical weekend.
Pro tip: Always pack your beer cans oriented vertically in the centre of your haul bag if you want to prevent them from exploding as they’re dragged up hundreds of metres of granite.
Posted: 2025-02-07 08:58:34
Last modified: 2025-05-11 14:51:28