Having simple, repeatable, and easy to check systems for different components of aid climbing is critical. Your setup for leading is definitely in this category. You'll be repeating the same motion literally hundreds of times on your route, so attention to detail matters!

Once you have it set up correctly:

•  It’s just about impossible to drop your aid ladders

• You use designated carabiners for these important connections, so you’re never patting down your harness looking for a spare carabiner

• Transitions (between leading, clipping to anchors, hauling, and cleaning) are faster with minimal futzing around

Let’s look at one good way to get rigged for leading, then get into the gear you need.

1. Clip a designated lead carabiner to the top of your ladder, gate facing away from you.

2. Clip your designated tether carabiner to the top of your ladder, in the same place as your lead carabiner.

3. Done!

There are several ways you can set this up. I’m sharing my personal preference. Try some variations and see what works for you.

The whole shebang:

• Tethers are girth hitched to the tie in points of the harness. The belay loop is fine as well.

• Tethers are at full extension, so you can reach high placements. (Here, for variety, I'm showing an adjustable tether on the right and a sewn pocket daisy chain on the left. Pros and cons to both. Typically you’d have a matched pair of whatever you prefer.)

• Designated lead carabiner is clipped to the top of the ladder.

• Designated tether carabiner is also clipped to the top of the ladder.

• Fifi hook or adjustable fifi would typically be used, not shown here for clarity.

• Ready to lead!

Gear you need:

• 2 ladders

• 2 tethers 

• 2 designated tether locking carabiners

• 2 designated non-locking leading carabiners

Ladders

Most climbers prefer more symmetrical style ladders rather than those with alternating steps on either side. Good ladders are made by Yates, Fish Gear, and Metolius. My new favorite ladders, featured here, are made by Aideer Big Wall Gear from Sweden. They are top quality, durable in the right places, and very lightweight. 

(And let’s not call them “etriers” anymore, okay? That's the French word for “stirrup”, and yes, I had to look that up. =^)

Tethers - Pros and Cons (do you even need one for leading?

Tethers is go by many names - lanyard, daisy chain, leash. I'm going to use the term tether to stay consistent. 

Some hotshot aid climbers will say, “Don't use a tether on easy aid, it’s faster and easier without it, just be careful and don't drop your ladder.” Well, that might be fine if you have a few dozen big wall pitches under your belt, but for the rest of us, using a tether is standard practice for a reason. When leading, it keeps you from dropping your ladders. An adjustable tether is VERY helpful leading a traverse or roof, or easing onto a hook. When cleaning, it's mandatory safety gear that connects you to your ascender. When you're starting out, I highly recommend using tethers for leading. Once you have enough experience to hopefully not fumble your gear, you can decide if you need them or not.

On the other side, a tether adds weight, cluster, can make you climb lazy if you rest on it too much, and adds time, as you need to extend the adjustable one before the next move. Learn with one, remove it later if you like. Oh, and do bring an extra ladder in case you do drop one. =^)

The long time standard tether was the sewn pocket daisy chain, but these are considered a bit old school. (Benefits: they are lightweight, which can make a difference, especially when ascending.) I’m using one in the photos to show how it looks, but I use a pair of adjustables. Yates or Aideer make nice ones with flat webbing. Another option is or something like the dual-tether Petzl Evolv Adjust, that uses rope or cord rather then webbing. There are pros and cons to each style, and we’re not going deep into that topic here.

Andy Kirkpatrick has a great article on tethers, which you can read here. 

Designated lead (non-locking) and tether (locking) carabiners

“Designated” means just that. These carabiners stay permanently attached to the top of your ladders and tethers, and you never pirate ‘em for anything else. Ideally, these are a matched pair, and a distinct model and color from any other carabiners you have.

Designated LEAD non-locking carabiners: Good choices for the are a solid (not wire) gate, narrow key lock nose (so you can slide it into webbing that might be under tension), fairly large size, and a distinct color. The classic Black Diamond ovals work well, and if you like a bent gate, the Petzl Spirit. You’re going to be clipping these lead carabiners into every single piece of gear you place on the wall, so get ready for them to get beat up and retire them when necessary.  I still use ancient Kong carabiners that I keep for posterity as they’ve been on a lot of adventures. Note the green color, easy to find at a glance on a busy harness. Here’s a longer article on lead aid climbing carabiners. 

Designated TETHER locking carabiners: The lockers let you attach yourself to different components of the anchor, sometimes for hauling, and to clip to your ascenders when cleaning. You don’t need an HMS belay style carabiner here. A standard ”D” locker is fine. Some people like screw gates, some people prefer twist lock. The Edelrid Strike Slider locking carabiner is popular too; it has a low profile and easy-to-use locking mechanism. Here I’m using the Petzl Sm’D, a twistlock.

Try a few and see what works for you. Again, a distinct color is helpful.

Let's look at other rigging options and some pros & cons.

How about skipping the tether locker, and simply clip your tether directly to the lead carabiner?

This might seem like the simplest way to rig it, you do save a little weight, and many people use this setup. But for me it has a few problems. Namely, those transitions, like when you arrive at the anchor and want to clip in with your tethers, you need a locker for that and that means you need to find a spare one on your harness. Plus you need to remove the tether from the lead carabiner, hard when you’re loading it. Or you’re seconding, getting ready to leave the anchor, and you need a locker to clip into your ascenders.

I find it simpler and faster to go with the designated tether carabiner. Try both to try and see what works for you!

If you do try this, set it up as shown above, with the tether on the spine side of the carabiner so it doesn't mess with the gate.

Here's another approach. The tether locker is clipped directly to the lead carabiner, and not into the top of the ladder. This works okay most of the time.

But depending on the shape of your lead carabiner, you may find your tether carabiner, when loaded, starts to grind down on top of the ladder, putting a little more wear and tear on it. By clipping both carabiners to the very top hole of the ladder, you avoid this.