I answered your burning questions
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Hello Cracksters You guys are doing an amazing job at helping spread the jamming joy around the world. Small things that we do collectively helps bring crack climbing to more peopleā¦ ā¦which is why I opened up our last newsletter to you guys, to ask me your burning questions, so we can share more knowledge and experience between everyone. Massive thanks to all the questions that came in, sorry I canāt answer all of them. Iāve picked 3 which youāll see below |
Question 1
My worst crack size is 0.75. Too thin for thin hands and too wide for fingers. I've been working on finger thumb stacks. Do you have any advice to make these stacks more solid? Also, are there any other techniques I should consider for this difficult size?
Answerā¦
This is classic ring lock size, and in all honesty it can feel desperate. A few things I try to remember when climbing this size: Actively push with the tip of the thumb into the crack wall. Often when Iāve done lot of Ring Locks the tip of my thumb will be quite sore and start to build a skin callus (which indicates how much Iām actually pushing with it) When you pull the fingers down on top of the thumb, remember to flex at the finger tip (i.e. bring the tip towards the palm) to make the pulp around the knuckles expand. Keep the forearms inline with the crack and close to the rock. Really really work those feet. with the correct pair of shoes the toe jams can actually be reasonable on this size.
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Question 2 After a weekend of offwidth climbing I am often covered in bruises. Anyway to prevent this? or is this an indication of good or poor form? Answerā¦ My first answer to these questions are, cover up before you start crack climbing and not after/during. So many times I see people start crack climbing they damage their skin, then they decide to tape upā¦itās too late at that point š Also think about what body parts you will actually be using for your offwidthing. For example if youāre doing vertical armbars, chicken wings or squeeze chimneys there will be a lot of skin contact; so use long sleeves shirts/trouser (with friction material), tape down the ankles of your trousers, use ankle protectors and neoprene elbow/knee pads under your clothes to prevent pressure wounds. If you are climbing an invert stacking offwidth, realistically you may only need to tape your hands/wrist and protect your ankles. Full body protection isnāt actually necessary. protect what is needed and not more. In answer to the second part of the question, if you are covered in bruises (unless you have done many metres of offwidthing) it generally means that technique has started to fail. This could be for two reasons.
But, let me point out that technique failure isnāt always a bad thing. If your technique is failing due to trying hard and getting tired it means you are pushing yourself, which ultimately is a good thing and how you improve. |
Question 3
Climb slower with tricky-to-set bomber jams vs climbing faster with not so bomber jams on long routes?
Answerā¦
Interesting question. In general I always like to climb a little slower and take my time in setting good jams. The reason being that climbing on not-bomber-jams for many moves in a row can end up with you eventually not being able to set any jam at all and falling.
However like with all these things, it really comes down to the climber, the climb they are on, and their ability. If the technical level of the jams are below the standard of the climber, then they have a large margin for compromising the jam. So, taking less time to set the jams and climbing faster wonāt actually have that much of a negative effect.
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