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Gunks Jesse
Trad climber
Shawangunk, NY
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 8, 2015 - 02:51pm PT
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Posting up a quick review of The Crack Climber's Technique Manual because it actually is one of the best technique manuals I've read and actually worked.
I'm a face climber and my crack technique is pretty poor. Last week I read up on a few techniques from the book for thin hands and wide hands. It gives a step-by-step on how to properly jam with super good pictures. On Sunday I had a chance to try the things I learned and here are my thoughts:
1: I remembered the visuals and the steps. I also remembered the key points for a good jam with each technique I read.
2: My jams instantly went from sketchy and won't hold to super good.
I've read a lot of technique on jamming and this is by far the best one.
Here's a link to the book. There are some good sample pages to check out too:
http://bit.ly/1f7xKqw
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StefanS
Trad climber
Leavenworth WA
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I think Dale Bard did one that was in a Chouinard catalog, BITD. It was really good.
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skitch
Gym climber
Bend Or
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Great! Just ordered a copy, maybe I can figure out a way to chicken wing, and other off-widthy things, without tearing myself to pieces!!!
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Gunks Jesse
Trad climber
Shawangunk, NY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2015 - 11:24am PT
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That Bard thread is awesome. Yeah, the article was good. The book from Fixed Pin has updated graphics and provides a step-by-step for each type of jam. I need all the help I can get!
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StefanS
Trad climber
Leavenworth WA
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Hey Gunks Jesse That helped me some much when I was getting started, had sections of it memorized. Ive found hand jams on climbs where you wouldnt expect them. Have fun with the practice.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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I would love to receive a .copy to review.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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I know this has been covered before, but I'm sitting at work waiting for traffic to do what it does and I'm bored.
Dale had a climbing wall and crack machine at DR's place in Round Valley north of bishop. Not just any climbing wall but a four sided overhanging test kitchen. I could barely get off the deck, while Dale would float them.
But the amazing thing was spending an afternoon watching Dale do laps on his horizontal crack machine for hours. No sh!t. He had the music coming out of his van and styled that sucker for hours without stopping. What slayed me was when he reached one end of the machine, cut loose his feet and rotated to go the other way, never touching the ground and smooth as silk. Repeat ad nauseum. It was like watching a ballet.
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Gunks Jesse
Trad climber
Shawangunk, NY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 10, 2015 - 12:19pm PT
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John - that is slick. I bet you learned a few things! Dale Bard is actually quoted in the book. Crack climbing is the most unnatural form.
And to address a prior post, I didn't get a free copy of the book. I bought it myself and the tips were so practical and easy to remember that I thought I'd share what I found with the community.
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Gunks Jesse
Trad climber
Shawangunk, NY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2015 - 05:38am PT
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After a few weeks with the book I'm finding that I now use it as a reference manual. It's written with the step-by-step clarity of a training manual, but with the layout and precision of a high quality college text book. The more I read through the chapters over again the more elegant I realize the book is. It starts by giving you an understanding of the mechanics that make jams work. Then it teaches technique for "natural" jams that readily accept a hand or fingers or your body. Then it moves to more difficult jams and builds on the mechanics learned early on to show how to modify natural jams rather than inventing new ones. It is really written like a very good math book that builds from addition and subtraction to multiplication and division, one simple step at a time.
By far the best book I've read on climbing technique and highly recommended.
https://fixedpin.refersion.com/c/0479f5
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Jul 22, 2015 - 05:46am PT
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I need all the help I can ge,t so I picked up a copy. Even on my basic handjam I learned something (and I felt fairly solid on that). Definitely comes at the topic from an engineer's mindset. There are so many little details included that I find myself going over sections again and again. Graphics are pretty well done and show different angles on each of the techniques. I'm glad I picked one up.
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JustinS
Trad climber
Ocedanside, California
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Jul 22, 2015 - 11:33am PT
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Thanks Gunks just picked one up it will be nice to improve on technique and save some skin. +1 for the company as well my order shipping was verified within 15 minutes with a tracking number. And any chance your wife made more soap?
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climbingcoastie
Ice climber
Sacramento, CA
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Jul 22, 2015 - 02:10pm PT
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I just ordered a copy. Hope it's as good as you guys are saying because I need all the help I can get with crack technique!
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Mei
Trad climber
Was one
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Jul 22, 2015 - 02:14pm PT
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Thanks for sharing. Ordered a copy. Looking forward to the hard studying...
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norm larson
climber
wilson, wyoming
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Jul 22, 2015 - 02:48pm PT
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A great quote from Topher Donahue in this book. "Face climbing is climbing what's there, crack climbing is climbing what is not there." I really like that, never thought of cracks that way. This book is worth looking at, even the pictures are very inspiring.
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Bad Climber
climber
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Jul 23, 2015 - 07:49am PT
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I learned something valuable just looking at the sample pages. I ordered a copy. I've always been a mediocre crack climber but definitely looking to improve.
BAd
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GOclimb
Trad climber
Denver, CO
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Jul 28, 2015 - 06:20am PT
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I got a copy a few weeks ago. I've had a chance to skim through the whole thing, and read a few parts in depth.
Disclaimer - Kent is a climbing partner of mine, so I may be somewhat biased. On the flip side of that, I have the personal experience to say that I have never met anyone with more solid crack technique. I consider myself much more of a technician than a power climber, but Kent will sometimes style his way through cruxes that require me to dig deep for a little burl.
Anyway, on to the book. I have to say that I'm really impressed. Of course the beginning crack climber will get a ton out of this, but what impressed me the most was finding so many layers of technique there. This is not solely a book for the beginning crack climber. I would consider myself a pretty experienced crack devotee, but it contains a few techniques that are new to me, or that I've never thought to put together in certain ways.
Kent obviously knows his stuff, but presenting it well is not easy. Kent's natural analytical style, which has led him to be so thoughtful about the techniques he's picked up over the years, combined with the excellent illustrations, do a masterful job of that.
Nice work, well worth a read!
GO
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Mei
Trad climber
Was one
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I have started reading it. I like the presentation and breakdown, but I have to say that I did not experience a leap...yet. I did find, while working on finger cracks in the past few days (just twice actually), I kept asking myself which stack would the author choose if he had small fingers like mine. But more often than not, I tried multiple positions and none of them felt that solid to me. Will continue working on it and I'm sure I'll get it someday.
While on this subject, PGSV is offering three 2-hour crack climbing workshops in August: hand, thin, and wide. One can sign up for each one individually. This is not an endorsement because I just signed up for thin and wide, but have no idea how good the instructor is. Just posting it as an FYI for the people in the Bay Area.
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Mei
Trad climber
Was one
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Aug 11, 2015 - 02:55pm PT
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Edited: moved my thread bump to my next post. I think there used to be another post before this one.
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