The Climbing Company

Single Pitch Trad

This is a two-day course designed to teach existing lead climbers how to use trad gear safely and effectively. We practice placing nuts, cams and other equipment to secure our system to the rock.

Learn to use pro like a pro

What is Trad Climbing?

In sport climbing areas the rock has been pre-prepared with fixed metal bolts and rings drilled and glued in place permanently. But in trad climbing areas there are no such permanent placements – instead the rock usually has natural features – cracks, holes, gaps and protrusions – that not only serve as hand and/or foot-holds, but can serve as handy places to put temporary protection such as cams, nuts, hexes and slings. This is the essence of trad climbing – placing temporary hardware on your way up the rock, that you can clip the rope to to stay attached and safe.

Is it scary?

Trad climbing can seem like a scary concept to most people, and learning to place the gear well is an art – but with the right mentor and adequate practice you will not find that it is not nearly as daunting as it appears. Additionally the rope skills needed to effectively manage the session are much more complicated than in sport climbing, but again a structured course will teach you this. Once those two small hurdles are overcome, you will discover an all new amazing and incredibly rewarding aspect of climbing that you never knew existed!

Next Course Date

Single Pitch Trad Climbing


FULL – Waitlist Only

$520.00


Sat, 22 Nov, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Sun, 23 Nov, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Geboor/Camel's Hump, Mt Macedon
Join Waitlist


Whack your details here and we\’ll coordinate together to choose dates that suit you.

What will we learn?

On this course you will learn to:

  • Adjust belay habits to suit traditional rock climbing
  • Prepare your gear prior to leaving the ground ready for safe, efficient climbing
  • Identify the best type of gear for a particular rock feature
  • Build multi-point EARNEST anchor systems using trad gear and your rope
  • Return at the end of your session without leaving any of your equipment behind
  • Recognise the most common trad climbing mistakes and easy methods to mitigate them

Prerequisites

The participants start this session with knowledge of indoor “lead” climbing, and will have a lead-pass from any indoor climbing gym.

Location

This course is held on an outdoor location on real trad climbing routes. The area we climb at and the grade of the routes will be tailored to the group participant’s skill levels.

Duration

12 hours contact time, split over two sessions.

What do we need to own/bring?

The only piece of equipment you need to own before this course is a standard climbing harness suitable for lead-climbing indoors. All other climbing safety equipment is provided by Melbourne Climbing School, however if you own any of the following equipment please bring it along with you – learning with your own equipment is far better and will provide a great start to your outdoor climbing experience!

  • Helmet *
  • One locking biner suitable for belaying
  • One belay device
  • If you own a chalk bag, rope, quickdraws, slings and any other sport- or trad-climbing equipment please let us know prior to the course, and we can plan to teach you using your own gear instead.
  • * Helmets are worn on all outdoor Melbourne Climbing School courses – but as with all of the other climbing safety equipment, we have these if you don’t own one, and we will not charge any extra for their use on the course.
  • Closed footwear such as tennis shoes are fine for learning on if you do not own climbing shoes.
  • Non-climbing gear: You will need to bring suitable clothing and footwear for light hiking, and your own lunch and water for the day (and a camera!).
5 Over 59 Reviews
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Cameron Scates 3 months ago
Had Aaron teach me and three others over two days. Very informative and answers any questions you have with climbing with confidence. Over all great person and teacher
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duncan wakes-miller 4 weeks ago
Great course location and instructors. Really helpful in preparation for my trip to the Himalayas
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Mike Wilson 1 month ago
As an unskilled an inexperienced alpine trekker, I was looking for course to give the me basic knowledge I needed, ideally in a fun and safe environment – and got that and more. Pauli was a highly experienced, very passionate, safety conscious guide with a great energy and sense of humour. He and Hamid adjusted plans and arranged course content specific to our needs … and then patiently helped a bunch of beginners go from confusion, to some understanding, and then to enjoyment.

Thanks for a great weekend. Highly recommended.
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Junge Zhang 1 month ago
Amazing trad course taught by Aaron himself and it couldn’t have been better👍.
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Martin Aylward 1 month ago
Huge shout out to Hamid and Pauly I have just completed both alpine 1 and alpine 2 courses and they were sick, I learnt heaps from basic walking techniques to complex rope systems with crevasse rescue to self arrests I would highly recommend these courses I went in as a complete beginner and now I can’t wait to get back out there despite getting absolutely drenched today I still had the best time these guys know there stuff and are great at teaching it. Yew cheers guys
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A 1 month ago
Excellent course and very enjoyable delivery. Thank you for a brilliant weekend – perfect preparation for our upcoming Himalayan trip
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Alejandro Gaete 1 month ago
I would say that Hamid is an excellent teacher and a very professional one. Hamid was always there to reassure and mentor me even though I had no prior experience. Hamid was always kind and willing to assist me, even though I probably needed more help than anyone else. The course was great , there was structure and safe rails that enable us to test our confidence. Thank you Hamid. I anticipate returning for Alpine 2 next year, in the meantime I will put the lessons into practice.
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Ben M 1 month ago
Couldn’t be more full of praise for this course. Hamid was a fantastic instructor, very safe, managed to keep a broad age group of participants ranging from 12-50+ happy and at levels that suited each individual’s skills. We finished with a solid understanding of basic alpine skills, which sets a platform for future adventures. We will definitely be coming back for other courses run by The Climbing Company. Highly recommended.
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upcoming sessions:

November 2025

Sat, 22 Nov 2025 – Sun, 23 Nov 2025



FULL – Waitlist Only

$520.00


Sat, 22 Nov, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Sun, 23 Nov, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Geboor/Camel's Hump, Mt Macedon
Join Waitlist

December 2025

Sat, 6 Dec 2025 – Tue, 9 Dec 2025



3 spots left

$1,040.00


Sat, 6 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Sun, 7 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Mon, 8 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Tue, 9 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Dyurrite/Mt Arapiles
Book Now

Sat, 6 Dec 2025 – Sun, 7 Dec 2025



FULL – Waitlist Only

$520.00


Sat, 6 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Sun, 7 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Dyurrite/Mt Arapiles
Join Waitlist

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 – Wed, 31 Dec 2025



4 spots left

$1,040.00


Sun, 28 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Mon, 29 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Tue, 30 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm / Wed, 31 Dec, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Dyurrite/Mt Arapiles
Book Now

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