What's the deal with the pre-placed gear? Is that how this route / these routes are usually done? https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/10/rare_ascent_of_the_premuir_for_pietro_vidi_and_camilla_moroni-74053#&gid=1&pid=4
Would be interesting to get @duncancritchley's perspective, but I suspect it's a combo of convenience (must be a massive faff cleaning all the kit from a pitch between redpoint attempts) and fixed kit from people aiding.
These guys are doing it in the same style. I guess it’s all fixed kit, or just the done thing. 🤷
https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7Q7LEAnWh/
As Remus says. Many precedents, especially where pitches are still travelled by aid climbers and hammered fixed gear comes and goes.
The Muir is hard to climb without hammered gear (“C4”) so I’d guess fixing gear is more common than not. Sometimes protection is from specialist gear like beaks which would be very hard to place whilst free climbing. Less of an issue on routes like Salathe which are a mix of bolted face climbing and easy-to-protect cracks.
Hubers on Zodiac and El Niño and all serious attempts on Dawn Wall have been transparent about this but I’d be amazed if it didn’t happen a lot on routes other than Nose and Salathe/Freerider/Golden Gate/El Corazon.