What is Aid climbing?

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What is Aid Climbing, what is it for and who needs it?

The technique of Aid climbing has been used in mountaineering since its very beginning - a human's desire to go up to the heights has always been limited by his physical capabilities. But cunning and ingenuity always helped to overcome this limitation.

Most likely, the very first climber to use the Aid climbing technique was some mountain hunter who cut down a tree in order to lean it against a vertical rock to get to his prey.

First attempts to use the Aig climbing technique

Among the most famous mountaineering routes climbed using the Aid climbing technique, it is certainly worth mentioning the Compressor route to the top of Cerro Torre in Patagonia - this is an absolute classic of Aid climbing.

Without going into a moral assessment of the situation, I can say that, unfortunately, this route was destroyed after a successful "clean" free climbing ascent of this line.

Cerro Torre summit group - all the routes here require mastery of the AID technique

The most difficult ascents in high mountains - Mount Everest, Lhotse, the South Wall of Communism Peak, would be impossible without the widespread use of Aid climbing techniques.

Many classic routes of the highest category of difficulty in the Caucasus, including famous Mount Ushba, were conquerred in the 1960s-70s exclusively using Aid climbing techniques. Also, using this technique, new routes to Mount Ushba appear in our days - along the smooth granite verticals.

Using Aid climbing techniques when climbing Ushba in 1972

Using special climbing techniques and appropriate gear for organizing aid's, you can climb any vertical surface - be it a steep rock wall in the high mountains, or the overhanging roof of a giant cave on the seashore, or even a smooth concrete wall of some engineering structure.

Aid climbing some extremely difficult rock routes in Yosemite, USA

The only limitation for using Aid climbing is insufficient fragile surface or objective danger of the route line.

Aid or free climbing?

An alternative to Aid - free climbing, cannot always be used for climbimg difficult pitches on mountaineering routes - due to their objective complexity, weather conditions, or the tactical plan of the ascent.

The rocky verticals of Patagonia are a paradise for the strongest climbers and mountaineers

However, with the developing of the sports related to the mountaineering - rock climbing and ice climbing, some questionable trends start to appear in the mountaineering. These trends distorted the basic concept of mountaineering - to overcome an obstacle and achieve the goal in any safest way.

The aesthetics of free climbing in the mountaineering today is an absolute priority over the technique of aid climbing. An alpine route climbed in a free style is valued much higher, as well as the time for climbing it gets significantly reduced.

Multi-day Big-wall ascent with a hanging bivouac to the top of Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia

From the mountaineering tactics point of view, on the difficult alpine ascent route it is always more advisable to move by free climbing as, with sufficient physical fitness of the participants - it is faster and safer, since the speed of passing the route in the mountains is one of the risks reducing factors.

However, the climbing speed should not go beyond reasonable safety limits. Sometimes the objective complexity of the pitch, or some other factors (weather, condition of the participants) make free climbing impossible or too dangerous. If that not become a reason for completing the route and rappel down, the moment comes when it is necessary to switch to aid climbing.

On the alpine rock climbing route in the Dolomites

From my own experience, I can say that this moment is far from being obvious, since you always want to pass a difficult pitch as quickly as possible. But such haste can lead to an accident.

Also, there is a number of dangerous prejudices which are associated with the use of aid climbing techniques. Quite often that push people to irrational actions and incorrect tactical decisions.

Obviously, an attempt to free climb a highly complex pitch with an insufficient number of belay points unreasonably increases the risk of a fall. It is worth remembering that in mountaineering, unlike rock climbing, a fall is always an accident.

The romance of mountaineering ends where rescue begins

An example of such prejudices is the negative assessment of the use of belay lanyard for fixation on an ice axe when leading on a classic ice climbing route (this also relates to the aid climbing).

In the modern concept of ice climbing, this technique is considered almost a disgrace, although it provides high-quality positioning of the belay point and rest for the leader during the setting an icescrew.

Apart from the very questionable aesthetics, there is no point in such a self-limitation

With such an approach, the most important basic safety principle fades - classic ice climbing is no different from mountaineering in terms of risk. It is unacceptable to instill in this activity the aesthetic norms inherent in the much safer sport rock climbing.

All the logic of the mountaineering safety says: setting a belay point on the steep ice, hanging on one hand, negatively affects the quality of this point, tires the leader and, indirectly, can cause a subsequent fall, which will inevitably lead to serious injury.

Nevertheless, many "athlete ice climbers" adhere to or, which is worse, promote this method - setting an ice screw, holding on to the ice tool with one hand.

Classic ice climbing on cascades in Norway, Buskerud district

Who needs to train the aid climbing technique skills? - spoiler: technical mountaineering guides, industrial climbers, mountain rescuers.

Certainly, at the initial stage of practicing mountaineering, preparing for ascents to popular commercial routes like Mont Blanc, Mount Elbrus, Mount Kazbek, even Everest or K2, when practicing rock climbing or sport ice climbing, there is no need to waste time learning Aid climbing techniques.

Most classic alpine mountaineering routes require only endurance and good coordination

Aid climbing is a very narrow professional and specific technique that is required only if your demands for the complexity of mountaineering routes reach the highest level.

At the same time, if in your mountaineering career you reach such level, then you will already have all the necessary skills and training to confidently pass from free climbing to the Aid climbing technique.

Classic mountaineering ascents of medium or even high difficulty do not always involve obligatory using of the Aid climbing technique

For beginners in the mountaineering, coordination and general physical training will be much more productive and useful. Such approach will significantly expand the horizons of safe free climbing, make it possible to climb the routes of medium difficulty which do not require any special skills in working with Aid's.

What is Aid climbing training?

In a broad sense, the use of any technical devices for climbing the vertical surface, without using its relieve, can be defined as Aid climbing technique. Moving upward, hanging from one fixation point to another, is the base of the Aid climbing technique. Such an exercise is available to any physically trained person, even for a beginner familiar with the basic techniques of rock climbing.

Passing a rock cornice using the Aid climbing technique hanging on the existing anchor belay points

But the further development of the Aid climbing technique is associated with the independent organization of fixation points (both stationary and removable). Depending on the nature of the climbing terrain, this is a task of a much higher level of complexity, which requires confident skill in using a variety of mountaineering safety equipment.

Indoor climbing gym with a special module for practicing the Aid climbing technique

Since the Aid climbing technique is a narrowly specialized, professional direction in technical mountaineering, special indoor simulators for practicing this technique are rare. However, some large modern rock climbing centers have special modules for training aid climbing techniques.

On the such climbing modules, with fixed top belay, one can try to climb the artificial surface using sky hooks, nuts, friends and similar gear.

Author of text and photos - Alex Trubachev
Your professional mountaineering, ice and rock climbing guide

MCS EDIT 2025