The Secret To Making Offset Cracks Work

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to give you some tips on how to read offsets when crack climbing, depending on the size of the jam you are using.

An offset is when one side of the crack protrudes further than the other. Offsets can work in your favour if you use them correctly, but they can become a massive disadvantage if you don’t understand how to handle them.

How to use the Offset

I’m going to give you the basic principles for finger, thin hand, and hand cracks with offsets. It must be said that offsets vary a lot—the angle, the steepness of the route, and the shape of the offset all play a part. Don’t take the below as strict rules, but as a guide to help you read the rock better.

Finger Cracks
In general, for finger cracks, you want to place the backs of your fingers against the offset (palm away). Why? Because this enables you to execute the palm positioning (palm flat to wall outside the crack) that you need to adopt when finger jamming. Placing the palm against the offset will often affect the twisting and locking action of the finger jam.

Thin Hand Cracks
In general, keep your palms towards the offset. Why? Because this means you can place the palm (and the meat of the thumb) onto the offset wall to gain more friction. Keeping your palm against the offset maintains rigidity through the jam and ensures the most important parts are in contact with the rock.

Palm away from the offset can work, but you’ll need more power in the "paddle" part of the jam (barring the fingers) to keep it in there. On very tight thin-hand jams, you might even find the meat of your thumb starts cupping around the crack edge, turning the jam into a layback instead.

Hand Jams
Since you can fit your whole hand inside, the offset isn't really about making the jam better—it’s about how the route climbs overall. Depending on the crack, you might adopt a "jambacking" style (jamming and laybacking) with your feet against the offset, or a more straight-on approach using your shoulder against it.

Laybacking is great for moving quickly through sections, but it can be harder to place gear. Shuffling with your shoulder against the offset is better if you need to move slower and see exactly what gear you are placing.

Next time you spot an offset on a crack (which happens extremely often outside), make sure to use it to your advantage. Let it help you rather than hinder you!

Happy jamming,

Pete

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