Another private session of guiding with an experienced indoor lead climber who wanted to experience traditional climbing.
After the Intro and safety brief, we looked at gear placements, how to remove placements as a second and a quick assessment of lead belaying, by doing some ground work.
Then on to the climbing, this climber was quite confident, so we managed to climb a few routes.
Reflective comments: Guiding is essential soloing, as you have no idea whether the client will actually hold you in a fall. So it's a calculated risk. Having said that, I've lead Idleburger and Tigger that many times that I've stopped logging them on DLOG. The routes are well travelled, but easy enough to protect for a second. The new lower offs make guiding easier, as you can anchor off the bolts and then use an Italian hitch to belay the client up and lower them back down.
I've been toying with guide plates, but for a single rope and when you're just going to lower the client back to the ground, an Italian hitch is less faff and easily locked off if necessary.
It is worth noting that when guiding, extra care and attention must be made to protecting your client when seconding. This means good gear and more of it when then route starts traversing, to avoid pendulum swings.
I'm getting more and more comfortable with guiding on these routes. I need to climb more at other venues so that I can offer guiding at more locations.
