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Trango Russian Aid System
By Matt Smith
For the last 50 years, tales of a funky Russian aid climbing system has made
the rounds of the big wall climbing community in the west. Instead of using
the standard 4-aider method, eastern block climbers were rumored to use knee
straps, rings and hooks to do their aid climbing. However, actually catching
a glimpse of the system proved difficult. It was easier to make a winter
ascent of Cerro Torre than it was to take a look at this fabled Russian aid
system. That is, until last year. Trango decided to bring the system to
the west.
The Trango Russian Aid System consists of two Ultratape "Aid-triers" with
a series of titanium rings sewn into them, and two leg cuffs. Each leg cuff
is padded and designed to rest just below the knee. From the cuff, a foot
loop, which carries your weight, runs under your foot and back up to the cuff.
Sewn into each cuff is a titanium hook intended for hooking into the titanium
rings on the daisy.
Using the Russian Aid System for aiding was easy to get used to. Instead
of the bulky tangled mess of aiders in front of me, I found myself moving
quickly and freely with the Russian system. Probably the best thing about
this system is that stepping out of the aid system to do some free moves
was entirely painless. The only real negative thing I could find about
aiding with this system was that I wasn't able to reach as high. Since the
hooks ride just below the knees, and the highest rings are six inches below
the loop of the Aid-triers, my knees were always below my piece.
For ascending the daisies can be clipped directly to your ascenders. A
loop of webbing is sewn to the cuff, directly to the foot loop. The loop
is provided for convenience so a carabiner can hook a titanium ring on
the daisy to the cuff while ascending. The double set of rings on the
daisies make a variety of ascending styles possible, depending on your
ascenders and needs. The cuff can be clipped to the daisy in different
places according to your height and the style of ascending you plan to
use. The two daisy straps are different colors which minimize any confusion
that may occur as to which aider is attached to which ascender (The colors
conveniently match Petzlšs Ascension L/R ascenders).
The cuffs and the foot loop are fully adjustable. The buckles provided
to adjust the length of the straps resemble something you would find on
an inexpensive book bag shoulder strap. The shape of the buckle is such
that, in my opinion, it was never intended to have the webbing doubled back
through it. I doubled the webbing through anyway, and didnšt have any problems.
However, I would like to see the design of the buckles improved. One nice
feature on the cuff is that the foot loop can be held in place by a Velcro
strap around your ankle. This significantly reduces the amount of fumbling
required while ascending to keep your foot in the loop.
As far as using the aiders for ascending, performance is as much a
function of skill and style as it is a function of construction. That
is, using 1" tubular webbing I can ascend just as well as I can using $50
etriers. The true advantage is the Trango Russian Aiders are a system.
The system can be used to aid climb, as safety straps, to ascend etc. You
get all the functionality in a very compact, lightweight set. At $130,
the system is a little more expensive than a pair of six step spectra
aiders.
I would offer a few suggestions for using the Russian Aiders. To clip
the daisy to the cuff for ascending, use a small wire gate "D" or oval
carabiner. Position the gate facing towards the outside of each leg.
If you face the gate in you might accidentally hook rings from the other
daisy as your other leg goes by. Donšt be fooled by intuition and place
the cuff such that the hook is much in front of your knee. It may seem
like a good place, but if you suffer the same fate as I did, you will
soon discover bruises on the inside of your leg. Thanks to some advice
from the Trango staff, I tried rotating the cuff slightly towards the
back so that the hook was just to the inside of my knee.
Summary: At $130 and 18 oz, I found the Trango Russian Aid System to
be a great option to the bulky 4-aider system. They are so small,
versatile and face it, they look cool. I give them a thumbs up.
Matt Smith is the
canyoneering editor for GearReview.com
For more information, contact:
Trango
4439-C North Broadway
Boulder, Colorado 80304
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