Trad climbing course in Harz

I took a course from the German Alpine Club or DAV (Deutscher Alpenverein) to learn the very basics of trad climbing. So I can tag along on climbing trips with friends that involves trad gear. This is a note to self.

Coures info:

Kursnummer: 253006
Kursname: Mobile Sicherungsmittel
Ort: Harz, Okertal bzw. Schierker Gebiet
Kurszeit: 29.05.2025, 9:00 Uhr bis 01.06.2025, 18:00 Uhr

Course details:

• Pre-meeting: Some info session at the DAV halle in Berlin
  • Reviewed course details, logistics
  • Reviewed how to set up anchors
• Day 1: Vogelherdklippe
  • Explanation about different types of gear (nuts, offset nuts, softer nuts like brass/copper nuts, cow bells, tricams (+tricam EVO), different types of friends
  • Practice placing them in cracks, checking how good/bad the placement is
• Day 2: Kleiner Feuerstein
  • Building trust with the gear (climb up a wall on top-rope by only stepping on slings attached to the trad gear that you placed)
  • Top-roping a route while placing trad gear along the way
  • Making a tape glove
  • Basics of crack climbing technique
• Day 3: Nördliche Schnarcherklippe + Mäuseklippe
  • Lead-climbing an easy route (Grade 2, 3, 4, 5) - 5 felt really hard!
  • Some explanation about pitons
  • Drop testing (dropping on
• Day 4: Back to Berlin!
  • Trad multi-pitch anchor building workshop (due to rain)
  • Explanation on more gear

Accommodation: Harz Camping
Access: 3h by car from Berlin (possible by public transport, there’s a bus that goes directly to the camp site)

Day 1 #

Learned about different types of gear, which materials they’re made from, why, when and when not to use them etc.

Day 2 #

Day 2 was all about building trust with the gear. We tried going up a wall only using slings while being on top rope. This was really hard but good practice. Also did a crash course on crack climbing and revised rappelling techniques (something I keep forgetting how to do)

Day 3 #

Day 3 was about lead climbing on gear we placed ourselves, getting feedback about our placement, drop testing to try dropping into the gear and some talks about pitons and how to identify which ones are good and bad.

Day 4 #

Next steps: #

• Take a multi-pitch course and climb a lot of easy well-bolted sport multi-pitches.
• Maybe an Alpine Climbing course at some point?

Resources: #

• How to set up an anchor
• Anchor building techniques
• Load testing trad gear
• Alpine Extension for Rock Climbing

Things I learned about myself: #

• I definitely need to improve my head game for trad climbing and build trust and confidence in my gear placement to really enjoy trad climbing.
• Placing my own gear has made me think a lot about sport route bolting and how they’re thought-through to make sure that falling is safe.
• It was a lot more theory than actual climbing (since it was a course) and not sure if I really enjoyed that. I think I was itching to just get moving although I know that theory is also super important to stay safe.

P.S. Got bitten by a tick in the butt, which was no fun. Note to self: check for ticks when pulling down my pants to pee in the bushes.