I can only see two pieces. Anyway, this is a good example of the tradeoffs you have to make. If you fiddled around near the top of that pitch trying to fit another piece then you’ll increase the chances of falling off. It’s all down to how hard you judge the moves ahead to be. If they look ok, then it’s probably safer to just keep going as you’re only a couple of moves from safety. If you have any doubts, then you’d probably want to place some gear if it’s possible. The questions I used to ask myself were:

1. What is the best option to avoid falling off?
2. If I think a fall is possible, am I safe and if not what do I need to do to make myself safe? (sometimes the best/only option is to keep going and take a calculated risk)
3. If the existing gear is iffy or distant, and the moves ahead turn out to be harder than judged will I be able to climb down?
4. If I stay still is rescue an option? (usually by a mate dropping a rope down from above)
5. If all else fails, can I jump off? What will the fall be like, are there any ledges to avoid, What’s the landing like?

Thankfully I never had to exercise option 5 🙂

That first trad lead looks really familiar – is it at Shepherds?

Pic 2 sport climb – is that elephant rock in St Jean?

Thanks guys – again appreciated and more to take home. I think I should have those 5 points as a drill in my head Daz.

Martin – yep correct! Not sure what it’s called sorry it’s near the steps over the wall near the little cham end of the crag.

Dashed – Well spotted! I used to live just down the road in St Jean town so this was my local crag and will be again soon… I cannot wait!

When well within your grade there’s objectively no more risk of your feet or hands coming off than letting go of the handlebars on a fast MTB descent, and the consequences aren’t so very different if you’ve got enough gear in to not hit the deck. I had the same attitude to soloing, it had to feel as easy as riding a bike or I climbed back down.

Down climbing is another good confidence builder. It’s much better to be able to climb back down or/and lower off on dodgy gear than fall on it. It’s only on very steep or overhanging ground that moves become impossible to reverse.

Good to think about ‘insurance’ gear too – “this next bit’s easy but what happens if I can’t get anything in before the next tricky bit?”

You’ll find yourself taking a lot longer on trad climbs than indoors too. You might be on a bolted route for a couple of minutes, compared to 20-30 mins placing gear, working out where a route goes, working out a move, reversing before committing, etc. That’s all good stuff to build into your arsenal before your really need it. At say 6a indoors the moves are usually very obvious and you can either pull or you can’t. Outdoors builds cunning.

All top fun, I envy you starting the journey!

I wouldn’t drive away from the lakes to climb Yorkshire grit at this time of year, unless it’s bouldering at Almscliffe or wherever. I know this is when hard stuff gets done, which I don’t tend to see as I’m indoors keeping warm (or on my bike or surfing. Maybe I’m just soft. No maybe about it.)

You’d be driving past Giggleswick South, which has doable sport if Yorkshire slimestone’s something you want to check out.

What I would do is get a boudering mat and increase your technical ability, confidence and strength on your local boulders.

When well within your grade there’s objectively no more risk of your feet or hands coming off than letting go of the handlebars on a fast MTB descent

Definitely a good way to look at it, but don’t forget that conditions can play a huge part in this. My apprenticeship was served on Peak District grit so I was relatively confident at slab climbing and crack climbing (conversely I was appalling on steep limestone; proper weakling!). Slabs can get a lot harder a lot quicker in the rain than cracks, which can often still be tackled even when wet.

I remember a horror at Etive Slabs when the beautifully dry day and great friction quickly turned to an impossibly slippy final slab pitch in only light rain. I tried socks over my boots and even started planning my downward retreat before asking the party above to throw a top rope down to us. As anyone who has climbed at Etive will know, you want total confidence that your feet are going to stick to the rock with some of those run-outs!

Not my photo

On my first climbing trip to Scotland we had a day at Etive. My mate was into doing the Hard Rock routes so we set off on Swastika. The crux is going over an overlap like one of those in the photo (due to the low angle of the slabs they aren’t proper overhangs unless they are more than about 2 metres). My lead – put gear in above the overlap then make the hard move to stand in a horizontal crack, then walk along the crack for about 20 metres just above the lip of the overlap. Mate comes to follow, takes the gear out and is now looking at a *huge* swing if he fluffs it! Fortunately he didn’t otherwise it would have been messy.