Booked a full-day 1-on-1 trad class with Red River Adventures on short notice and it was one of the best days I've spent on rock.
I came in as a relatively new trad leader — solid on movement, but still pretty heady about my own gear. I explained where I was and what I wanted out of the day, and Carl met me exactly there. No canned curriculum, no dumbing it down. He watched me place, corrected me where I needed it, and critiqued placements I would have walked away from thinking were fine.
The part I valued most was the reasoning. We covered protection selection and *why* certain pieces work in certain features — the kind of thing you can read about for months without it clicking. He also went through my entire rack piece by piece and walked me through what I was carrying, what I should be carrying, and why. I had no idea how much of my rack was there out of habit rather than intention. That conversation alone changed how I'll approach every route from here on.
He also cleared up a few misunderstandings I'd picked up secondhand and never questioned. Having someone qualified put those to bed was worth the price of the day by itself.
Carl was honest about what I was ready for and what I wasn't, confirmed my capabilities, and turned me loose. I left with a much clearer head and a much better sense of what I'm actually looking at when I'm deciding where to put a piece.
If you're stuck between following your friends and leading your own routes, this is money well spent. Highly recommend.
