I Have Always Wanted To Learn How To Aid Climb

I just got my first set of aiders and, this is the best part, my first “Fifi” hook. What a fun name. Who wouldn’t love to climb with Fifi? I’ve been trying to figure out the best place to learn locally. I have checked out Red Wing – thinking I could use some of the routes as bolt ladders. But the bolts are a little too far apart. So I think the place to go is TF. I found this great guide to learning how to aid climb and how to do big wall climbs here. They even have a list of the first walls on which to practice aid climbing. (You have to scroll to near the top of the page.) Unfortunately, they are all in Yosemite. But I can get to Yosemite. I hear they recently made it a National Park. (Shhh, don’t tell anyone; I think it is still uncrowded because no one has heard of it yet.)

Here I am practicing on the side of my house. I was  hanging with my new best girlfriend Fifi. (I was so excited to try my new gear out, I didn’t even have time to remove the price tags - as you can see in the photo.)