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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Nov 28, 2011 - 11:09pm PT
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Thanks fritz, that was awesome.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Nov 29, 2011 - 12:08am PT
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darwin: Thanks. Rated 5.6 in 1971, 5.8 or 5.9 now.
No major holds are missing, just ratings creep.
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ladyscarlett
Trad climber
SF Bay Area, California
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Nov 29, 2011 - 12:18am PT
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my recent attempts to get over my reservations over wyde, and not fall prey to intimidation...
heh, what can I say, it's been a while since I've been on proper rock so the ridiculous streak comes out every now and again.
Cheers
LS
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Nov 29, 2011 - 12:31am PT
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Federal sentencing standards are set to be changed; crack will be less severe...
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2011 - 09:54am PT
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LS, the Bay Area has many amenities, good rock climbing not being one of them- you should google Indian Creek and plan a road trip.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Nov 29, 2011 - 10:55am PT
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The world has gone upside down.
When I started we followed cracks because they took pitons.
We called them "lines of weakness".
You might say;..........
it cracks me up!
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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Nov 29, 2011 - 02:23pm PT
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Bad news for Vitaliy: that problematic crack is too shallow for a good
calf lock. It's a "real" offwidth, for a few moves you have to just twist
you feet to try to make them stick, and use a crap fake armbar reaching up
instead of in.
You might also try to finagle/finesse/fake a heel/toe with your lower foot,
opposing your heel with your metatarsal or even your arch, with your toes
totally outside the crack.
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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Nov 29, 2011 - 02:40pm PT
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Heh--
I finally actually read Jim's opening post, which is spot-on.
I especially like the advice to use your eyes when placing your feet.
Of course, this applies to face climbing as well. No need to bother fooling
around trying to get the right feel if you put your foot in the right
place to begin with.
A tip on hand jams, though, at least thin ones.
It is natural to think of flexing your hand to produce the force which
makes your jam stick.
If you visualize bringing your thumb into your palm, even if the jam is too
small for this actually to happen, it helps make the jam more secure and
reduces the load on your finger flexors, which are the muscles that will
fail first. That muscle you use to move your thumb seems to have plenty of
reserve.
This really works!
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dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
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Nov 29, 2011 - 03:13pm PT
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Very cool,thanks for the advise and tips Jim and everyone else.
Great pic Alpine.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Nov 29, 2011 - 04:02pm PT
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Mileage alone will teach you 95%. The subtle stuff is bad sizes, shallow/bottoming cracks, and flares.
So with that in mind, I'll offer the following tip. In rattley finger, shallow cracks, where it's too shallow for rings or thumb stacks, often a thumbs down hand position with the thumb pushing on one side and the fingertips pusing on the opposite will be a viable solution. For your right hand this would be thumb on the left edge of the crack, tips on the right, trying to basically push the crack apart using your thumb. Almost like a gaston but using your thumb to oppose. Much like ring locks, these don't work very well once you pull them below your chin or thereabouts, and they don't work well at full extension.
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surfstar
climber
Santa Barbara, CA
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Nov 29, 2011 - 04:16pm PT
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I hope I can remember some of these tips on my next trip - sounds like my "solid" jams are still not executed properly and I'm wasting energy making them stick.
Good thread.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Nov 29, 2011 - 04:36pm PT
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Tips and advice and reading never did me any good. As a beginner I once sat and listened as Peter Croft lectured on crack climbing. He soloed up and down the bottom part of a 5.10 crack at Donner as he spoke. His words sounded reasonable but had no real effect on me. When I would try crack climbing I'd usually fall out and bleed.
Was that in the early 90's at a climbing shoe demo day? If so, I still remember Peter soloing up, and getting a no hands rest under a small roof about 60' off the deck and casually describing how to crack climb.
Anyhoo, not to be trite but when you have your form down, you don't need to tape.
I don't know why, but crack climbing never seemed mysterious to me and it's always been my favorite type of climbing.
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Alexey
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Nov 29, 2011 - 08:46pm PT
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Great write up Donini . Crack climbing is addictive... After day climbing of some remarkable cracks I can visualize move by move and basically repeat the climb with closed eyes before falling asleep. I notice that crack learning curve is very different. Some climbers pick up cracks technique very quickly , for some it take years. But slow learners can over-climb quick learners in the end.
There is a lot of subtle moves in crack climbing which make big changes. And this can be learn mostly with milage. Like after 10 years of crack climbing I found astonishing for my self "index finger lock when thumb up" on corner finger cracks
But also "Tips and advice and reading" can be very useful. Some stuff like hand stacking/ knee bar - I learned just from reading John Long book "Advanced climbing" and it worked from the first try.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2011 - 09:46pm PT
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Just what I said del cross, the unnatural act of hand jamming can only be learned with repitition- do enough yardage and you will get that "aha" moment.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2011 - 09:54pm PT
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Read it and I think you'll see we agree.
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yosemite 5.9
climber
santa cruz
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Nov 29, 2011 - 10:05pm PT
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Prod, thanks for that article a couple pages above on thin cracks!
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Nov 29, 2011 - 11:04pm PT
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Crack climbing is a kenesthetic mechanical aptitude test.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Listen to Jim, he knows of what he speaks. I had the opportunity to climb a few routes at JT yesterday with Donini and I learned a lot though he may not agree, hee hee. I watched Jim cruise Double Cross sans protection, he looked as if there was no way in hell he could have fallen out of that crack. The last time I did DC was 20 plus years ago and #11 hexes hung from my rack. Jim gave me a top rope and tried to emulate his style of not using face holds and just plug straight into the crack with hands and feet and go. I can tell you that having not climbed much in the past 8 years due to a back problem and an extra 25lbs was the problem and I wouldnt be lying but the thing that made DC a struggle this time was not using face holds and just plugging in hands and feet. It felt awkward but good to do the climb without relying on anything but the crack. OK, DC down we head over to The Damper a short 5.9, Jim leads/solos it and doesn't place a single piece. He sets up a anchor, I lower him and now I jump on it on top rope. I decided I was going to use feet and hand jams only, no face holds, it sounded good in theory but half way up I ask for a hang and reevaluate this crack climbing thing. I notice some nice edges and knobs on the face next to the crack and abandon pure crack climbing technique and was on top in no time with my tail between my legs.
I learned that the 90's craze of "sport climbing had wrecked me as a crack climber, along with the previously mentioned extra 25lbs I now carry. I learned that if I am going to really learn to be good at crack I need to climb crack and lots of crack, and not the pseudo crack climbing that I had adopted of using face features, those features will not always be there to rely on. I learned age is not an excuse, Jim is a shining example of this.
Most of all I learned i just need to get off my butt, get out of the house and climb.
Thanks for the schooling Jim.
Kevin Mokracek
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 7, 2011 - 06:58am PT
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Fun climbing with you Batrock. Looks like I'll be doing a crack climbing clinic in the Atacama. They found a canyon with tons of splitters not far from San Pedro de Atacama- yes!
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