First, I'm not a true rock climber. I don't have any climbing gear other than a helmet, 3 biners, two slings, and a static rope. I've only used the slings and rope on fixed anchors (trees) for rappeling down short cliffs while bushwhacking. All of my "climbing" has been in the NE, and typically consists of granite slab... mostly Class 4 with some low Class 5.
Below are some photos of typical conditions where some pro would have been nice:
http://www.summitpost.org/image/129883/ ... de-1-.html
http://www.summitpost.org/image/213534/ ... point.html
http://www.summitpost.org/image/436071/ ... -wwbf.html
I'm going to climb a large Adk face this weekend, and am thinking about bringing one or two wedges or cams just in case we encounter a steeper pitch in an otherwise straight-forward route. As you can see in the photos, such a pitch would not result in a free-fall, but even so I'd rather avoid a slow 100-foot long skin scrape. There aren't many cracks in the face to begin with, and in my experience, those that exist tend to open up towards the surface (width decreases with depth of crack). Therefore, I don't think a wedge would work. Would a spring cam work in such cracks? Tri-cam? Any other suggestions?