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Trad Climbing Safety: Avoiding Ground Falls

Trad Climbing Safety: Avoiding Ground Falls

Mind and goals • • Félix Bourassa-Moreau • Updated

To avoid ground falls on trad, place protection early and often, check every placement, and learn on routes where a fall is safe. Three habits helped me start: work easy-to-protect projects, place several pieces instead of one, and own a full rack. Learn from experienced partners or an accredited course, not from this article alone.

Climbing in Quebec in 2020, I found myself drawn in by the sheer number of trad routes. Our province is full of exceptional cliffs, and knowing your way around a rack opens up a much wider range of climbing and gets you onto new walls faster.

But trad also comes with the horror stories: protection ripping, climbers decking. How do you start trad without getting hurt?

Why does trad protection fail?

The American Alpine Club’s accident reports give a sense of it. In 2012, protection pulling out was the immediate cause of 11 reported accidents in North America, and placing no protection or inadequate protection was a contributing cause of 27 more, with similar numbers in 2013 (Funderburke and Delap, 2023). In a 1998 survey of 94 injured rope-protected climbers, falling was the predominant injury mechanism on traditional climbs (Paige et al.), which is a small, self-reported sample.

How do you learn to place gear safely?

Experienced friends told me to start by aiding routes on my very first trips out. Testing every piece as you go builds a lot of experience quickly. The catch is that not everyone can afford to spend a precious climbing day playing cliff technician.

My alternative is to get on easy-to-protect projects where falling is inevitable. It’s fun and it’s a good school. In a sense the approach is like running a top rope up the wall: you can place as much gear as you want and make sure the fall is safe. Take it slowly, with a belayer who knows trad, and test your pieces before you trust them. A recognised course is the safest start; in Quebec, the FQME is the federation to ask.

How much protection should you place?

Why not place three pieces instead of one? When you are near the ground, more protection is better than not enough. The motto “when in doubt, run it out” is stupid even if it rhymes.

The AAC’s guidance puts numbers on it. If your first piece is 12 feet off the ground, the next one should be no more than 4 feet above it to avoid a potential ground fall, and you should think hard before going more than 10 feet between placements. It also suggests keeping a couple of pieces between you and the ground in case one fails (Funderburke and Delap, 2023). More gear does cost time, effort and rope drag higher up; the point is to place it where a fall would be worst.

On trad onsight you can’t predict when a flake will blow under the pressure of a cam, or when a nut will shift after you’ve moved past it. With plenty of good placements, you secure your climbing all the way to the next good placement. Check each one: the AAC advises pointing cam stems along the fall line, giving a nut, hex or tricam a light tug, and tapping the rock to hear whether it is loose or hollow.

What gear do you need for trad?

Unlike shoes, harnesses and ropes, trad gear lasts a long time and, in my experience, holds its value. The last thing you want is to finish a long run-out with nothing left on the rack to protect what comes next. Getting a double rack, and climbing with friends who have the same, keeps you out of those situations. Inspect any second-hand gear, and retire anything doubtful.

Trad is a great thing to do and I’d encourage any climber in Quebec to make the most of it. We have several south-facing cliffs that stay warm into late autumn, including Weir, Mont Pinacle and Mont King. Check current access and conditions with the local climbing community before you go.

Does being strong help you stay calm on trad?

One bonus tip: having a physical margin helps you keep your head. It lets you downclimb and stay calm enough to place plenty of pro. That is my reasoning from experience, and I found no trial testing it. It fits a broader pattern: a 2025 systematic review of climbing psychology found that more experienced climbers manage risk with less psychophysiological response (Mangan et al.). Climbing well below your limit on your first trad leads is the simplest way to build that margin. For more on staying calm under stress, see Mental training for climbing.

Where to go next

Sources