Climbing styles

In the clean/trad style, a route is climbed without fixed belay points. Pitons are not allowed. This means that the climber places all pieces of gear used as protection (and also to build an anchor if needed) and removes them completely after the ascent. In this case, the natural characteristics of the rock are used as placements for trad gear, like stoppers, cams or slings. Recognizing placements and correctly placing trad gear requires a lot of experience, which can only be acquired with a lot of practice. Clean/trad climbing follows the ethic of leaving no traces and especially not damaging the rock, and is practiced, for example, in the Elbsandsteingebirge (GER), on many granite walls in Chamonix (FR) and in Yosemite Valley (USA). Nowadays, there are also often routes that have bolted anchors, so the climber only has to place the intermediate protection.

In general, clean/trad can be defined more as a type of climbing than as a style of climbing, since a clean/trad route can be climbed onsight, flash, redpoint, pinkpoint, as well as on toprope. In the meantime, another climbing style has been established especially for clean/trad climbing, the so-called ‘greenpointing’ where a route is climbed clean/trad even though it is protected with bolts. But it only counts if you climb the route on lead. Now, you may ask yourself why you do that when there are bolts. However, there are many reasons for this. For example, there are climbers who simply like to fiddle around with friends and stoppers, or beginners who want to approach trad climbing slowly and would like to have bolts as a backup. In addition, there may be climbers who are in an area with routes far below their own difficulty level and where independently placing protection adds a certain pizzazz.

Toprope means that you climb a route belayed on the rope that already runs through the anchor. Thus, the climber is always belayed from the top. This type of climbing is especially suitable for beginners. It is important that the anchor is absolutely secure, because after unclipping the last quickdraw, the anchor is the only fixed point to which the rope is still attached. The rope must therefore never unclip itself accidentally. For example, a normal screwgate carabiner attached to an anchor with a single bolt must, as a necessity, have an additional quickdraw attached to it. The term belay station is used as a synonym for anchor, although it actually comes from alpine climbing, where you climb several pitches. As a rule, the lead climber climbs up the first pitch, sets up the belay station and then belays the following climber up from there. Then, the last climber to follow leads the next pitch and belays the former lead climber up to the next belay station.

You climb a route solo and under your own power. Any protective equipment such as rope and bolts is not used. The equipment includes only climbing shoes, if necessary a climbing helmet and a chalk bag. A fall has fatal consequences. In addition to single-pitch routes, multi-pitch routes are also climbed free solo. Free solo climbing is probably the purest form of climbing, because you are free from protection. The most famous representatives of today's free solo climbing are Alex Honnold (USA), Alexander Huber (GER) and Dani Arnold (CH). Alex Honnold climbed the route "Freerider" (5.12d/IX+) on El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley Free Solo in 2017. The undertaking was accompanied by a film crew, and in 2019 the film even won an Oscar for the best documentary. The most famous Free Solo route by Alexander Huber is the "Hasse Brandler" (VIII+) on the Große Zinne North Face. The "Comici-Dimai Route" (VII), also on the Große Zinne North Face, was achieved by Dani Arnold in 2019 in a free solo speed record in only 46 min. and 30 sec. The alpinist Hansjörg Auer (AUT), made alpine history with his free solo ascent of the route "Weg durch den Fisch" (IX-) on the south face of the Marmolada in 2007.