Finger crack climbing technique

How to get started climbing cracks, from fingersize to the wide stuff. Also agree with will above about sport climbing for staying in shape, especially for finger cracks. Even with the best technique, if youre doing lots of crack climbing, youre going to get scraped up. The result will have you climbing cracks with the finesse and efficiency that takes most years to master.

I reached the two pin scars and had my left tips locked in the lower one and right tips in the upper one, mckee says. You want a crack that your hand will fit into snugly when placed sideways thumb down, pinky up. Wild country crack school is a series of six short videos designed to utilise the skills and knowledge of wild country climbers tom randall and pete whittaker to give an introduction to basics. Cracks used in climbing vary in size from the width of a finger to those that fit an entire body. The sizes of cracks vary from those that are just barely wide enough for the fingers to fit inside, to those that are so wide that the entire body can fit. If you start your crack climbing career by learning how to jam hand cracks, youll have a solid base to begin learning how to jam cracks of other sizes like finger cracks. Today its toms turn to teach us how to use finger locks and jams for thin crack climbing. Inserting finger knuckles into a constriction in the crack is known.

Learn various crack climbing techniques to improve performance and comfort on all crack types. For wide hand cracks, you can either cam or cup your hand. Trouble was, the socalled hand crack swallowed my fist with room to spare. Handstack hand andor fist jams set on top of one another to span the walls of an offwidth crack. Stack additional fingers on top of your index finger until you meet the width of the crack. Wild country crack school is a series of six short videos designed to utilise the skills and knowledge of wild country climbers tom randall and pete whitta. Crack climbing is a type of rock climbing that ascends cracks and uses specialized climbing techniques. If you have some basic crack climbing technique but are ready to step it up to the next level, youre ready to learn how to climb a finger crack. My main complaint about the book is that the section on basic finger crack technique is very short, good book with lots of great illustrations. Organized by width of crack finger, hand and fist, offwidth, and chimney, crack climbing covers everything from basics like the hand jam through advanced techniques including. Crack climbing is a highly technical form of movement in which climbers position their hands, feet, and even their entire body in cracks to make upward progress on rock. Crack climbing is a type of rock climbing in which the climber follows a crack in the rock and uses specialized climbing techniques. The best approach for finger crack training is to train the fingers in position that require flexion at both the dip and pip joints both knuckles of the fingers.

Today its toms turn to teach us how to use finger locks and jams for. For thin hand cracks, push your hand in as far as it will go. I have been crack climbing for a month and with a lot of practice, i have gotten pretty comfortable with handfoottoe jamming, but finger cracks still humble me. Cruising the perfect hand crack is a joyous feeling. Another technique is to stick your big toe, pointing up, in the. This article was published in rock and ice issue 235 july 2016. Belaying rappelling technique sport climbing trad climbing bouldering training nutrition. Climbing sucking wind the modern way links three pitches into one pitch with fingers to a slightly overhanging hand crack on granite in the middle of the 2,000footdeep glenwood canyon. After climbing the problem, i noticed that the tip of my right ring finger mostly on the right side from the last knuckle to the top was a bit numb feeling. Each climb is a rubiks cube with an infinite number of ways to be unlocked. Crack climbing technique trad climbing skills vdiff.

Learn about different types of climbing techniques and moves, and get tips on how to do them. How to climb finger cracks if you have basic crack climbing technique but are ready to go to the next level, youre ready to learn how to climb a finger crack. You may have some basic crack technique already, but youre ready to step it up to the next level, and that often times means mastering finger crack climbing. Any general advice tips you could give me on finger cracks would be treated as law. We will begin our day covering various methods of taping to protect your hands for the hard work ahead. It takes very little muscle engagement, and you feel like you could hang on forever. When the crack is too wide for a single limb to jam, climbers use a technique known as stacking. Hand cracks are perfect for getting the movement and rhythm of crack climbing dialed. Pete is widely regarded as one of the best crack climbers in the world, having made dozens of cuttingedge first ascents and hard repeats, including the first ascent of century crack 5. Crack climbing technique trad climbing skills vdiff climbing. Training for cracks the rock climbers training manual. Crack climbing techniques lynn hill, the nose, changing corners 5. But when it narrows to fingers, the real battle beginseven hand crack wizards might take the ride.

Trainingtechnique tips for steep sustained sandstone. An advocate for the sports aesthetic lines, physicality, and technical knowhow, author pete whittaker teaches more than sixty crack school masterclasses each year and was. Looking to improve your finger crack climbing skills. You create finger jams by inserting some or all of your fingers into a crack, ideally to the. Before a crack climbing trip, i usually focus my training on onearm lockoffs and back muscle exercises for laybacks. Crack climbing sequences are unique to each line, and usually quite cryptic. The crack climbers technique manual fixed pin publishing. Trainingtechnique tips for steep sustained sandstone finger cracks. Jack, yes, hangboard training will help with your crack climbing strength. These help protect your hands from the inevitable scrapes and let you jam a little harder in a crack. My three fingers were all crammed in there to the point that they were somewhat pinched. Single pitches might require any or all of these techniques, so be.

Locking your fingers into fingersized constrictions in the rock is a great way to. Ive found that crack climbing and sport climbing really arent that different, in that you need finger strength, endurance, and powerthe techniques are obviously different and that will just come by climbing a lot. Before heading to the rock, we teach a wide variety of techniques, from finger locks to butterflies and toe jams to knee bars. When there is a constriction in a crack which accepts your fingers up to the second or third knuckle, a finger lock can be very secure. I dont really think its possible to train crack technique indoors without an actual crack to climb happy to be corrected. Crack climbing by pete whittaker provides a single point of reference for all crack climbing techniques, regardless of the grade you climb. When you flex your hand andor pop out your bottom knuckles, the meaty part of your hand around your thumb should make excellent contact with the rock wall. My marriage almost ended with crack climbing at indian creek. Hey steph i enjoy reading your blog and reading your advicearticles about crack climbing. To jam your feet, slip your foot halfway into the crack with the big toe up.

However, ive had success increasing endurance and strength of the hand muscles thenar and hypothenar eminences most important for hand cracks using a. If you have basic crack climbing technique but are ready to go to the next level, youre ready to learn how to climb a finger crack. His book starts with some wise words, a little foreword from a friend and some wisdom. The best way is to climb fingercracks and work out the technique. How to use your hands, fingers and feet to ascend a crack climb. Create an amazing array of crack climbs 12 to 60 high finger tips to off width sizes. A crack climbing technique where a hand is placed on one side of the crack and the shoulder on the other. You can train some aspects of crack climbing without cracks, but certain aspects just.

This technique requires a lot of upper body and arm strength, and can be difficult on more vertical facing rock. The sustained finger crack tapered until it entered the crux just below the anchora blind move into a thin pin scar, followed by another move into a second pin scar above. I have well over twenty five years on rock and found this book to be a very indepth look at the technique and mechanics of all types of crack climbing. Climbing technique comes down to linking basic foot, hand and body positions into a flowing, upward motion. Written by a true master of crack climbing, this book takes an engineers approach to the mechanics of jamming and combines it with detailed, realistic illustrations. Kent pease, a coloradan climber who has many years of cracks in his experiential vaults, wrote a book that covers this art of climbing the spaceinbetween. Your knuckles act like nuts, wedging into constrictions. The basic positions are easily outlined, but the infinite number of permutations complicates the freeclimbing experience. I was climbing a problem two days ago that required a relatively hard move off of a three finger pocket. Nicely illustrated, great colour images of the techniques in use, good beta on crack climbing routs to check out and an upbeat and well conceived writing style. In a change from the sick send show, we are starting a mini tips series with the wide boyz, tom randall and pete whittaker.

Our passion is to help climbers develop a love for crack climbing and to expand their technique and safety skills way beyond what they thought was possible. Climbing cracks in the gym is heinous and miserable. Laybacking is when you pull and lean off one side of a flake or a crack and push your feet against the other side. Hand jams are climbed by using basic crack climbing techniques. Insert the fingercircle into the crack with your elbow up. For cracks that are smaller than hand size, finger jams are the answer. Another technique is to stick your big toe, pointing up, in the crack, in the hope of finding some friction. If youve never jammed a crack before, start with the easiest and most solid jamthe hand jam. For example, if the crack is too wide for a fist jam, the climber may press a closed fist against one wall and an open hand upon the other in order to span the width of the crack. Laybacking this technique is used in corner crack systems where you have a crack edge to pull on and a wall to push on with your feet.

This course provides a solid foundation in hand, finger and foot jamming techniques, an introduction to off size jamming and more. At the crack climbing clinic, we will teach the technique needed to climb cracks. Thin hands is the size thats wider than offfingers. A crack climbing technique in which the hand is flexed inside a crack to create opposing pressure against the crack walls. Keeping your heels low can increase the surface area of your climbing shoe in the crack. I think that two finger strength is superimportant for crack climbing, so ill do different exercises like two finger hangs and two finger campus board workouts on big rungs. The definitive guide would be to set aside a few months and drive to moab or yosemite. Jamming is a way of climbing cracks with your hands and feet, so essentially what youre doing is taking your hands, putting them in the crack, and twisting or squeezing so that they expand and. Thanks, paul hi paul, the first step is to toprope finger. Enter the crack climbers technique manual, jamming with finesse. Touch the tips of your thumb and index finger together to make an ok sign. Some climbers use gloves made out of athletic tape to protect their hands.