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Crack Climbing and Jamming
We use the terms interchangeably, but they are two different things:
Crack Climbing: the art of climbing cracks
Jamming: The techniques we use to squeeze, expand, twist and rotate body parts in to different features (notice I say ‘different features’ and not cracks…we’ll come on to that)
Today I want to remind you of the fact that to use jamming techniques, you don’t have to be climbing just splitter cracks.
Don’t just be a crack climber. Be a Jammer
I’m currently out in Rocklands seeking out crack boulders, and got reminded of this jamming VS. crack climbing concept when I was trying a project…
One of the starting holds looked like a side pull and it was obvious that this is how it had been used, due to where the chalk was. However, next to the side pull there was also another offset and between these two rock features (the side pull and offset) you could use a ringlock technique.
It made the first move much easier and actually enabled me to change the sequence slightly so I didn’t have to do as many moves.
Jamming techniques made it easier!!
However, if I didn’t have a jammer's mindset, it could have easily been missed as the overall feature i was jamming between wasn’t what you would class as an obvious crack.
I think jamming possibilities get overlooked a lot of the time, but it’s important to keep your eyes and mind open to what's possible to jam between.
We’re all crack climbers here, but today you should remember to have the mindset of ‘a jammer’ and not just ‘a crack climber’.
Make sure to keep your jamming options open in all forms of climbing. Taking this approach will get you tuned into seeing intricate jams, which means when you get flared, offset or difficult jams on actual crack features, you will be able to see the nuances of the rock and read the jamming placements with a higher level of intelligence.
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