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Kupandamingi
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Mar 13, 2007 - 10:18am PT
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Eric - if you really are 'of Oakland' go check out golden gate wall. Artificial for sure, but still outside (albeit under a freeway). Good short bouldery finger and off finger cracks to practice on aloing the main traverse wall with plenty of feet until you start eliminating them. Then up the road 50 or so feet is the perfect small hands crack (.75 camalot size) - an uncomfortable size that prepares you well for things like lunatic fringe. Mortals top rope this, though I hear tell some solo it.
Edit - I should have read prior post!
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Mar 13, 2007 - 10:26am PT
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Though I have big chalk bag, I don't have acopas, and don't like to wear long pants ... I'll never learn to climb cracks. Please advise.
"tips?" all kinds of good ones, but it's better to get hands down first.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Mar 13, 2007 - 10:27am PT
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Think of crack climbing as a:
Kenesthetic mechanical aptitude test.
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creetur
climber
CA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 11:03am PT
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for other low-stakes practice you could go to the
beaver street wall in san francisco (15th and castro)...i've never been but i hear there are some featureless "splitters" at this little urban crag that would force you to work your feet and everything can be TR'd. anybody ever been there?
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Robb
Social climber
Under a Big Sky
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Mar 13, 2007 - 11:18am PT
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Eric
If I might chime in here. Work out your forearms w/the "roll up a weight tied to a large dowel" method.I think Russ posted up on this work out a while ago. It will get your forearms in shape to handle extended jammin' w/out getting too pumped.
"Hey, how do I get to the top of Reed's?"
Practice, Practice,Practice
Robb
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Mar 13, 2007 - 11:22am PT
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Yes, not to mention wrist curls are a good way to help prevent tendonitis - I always do lots of wrist curls.
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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Mar 13, 2007 - 11:34am PT
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dood- here's how it works:
1st you take your belay card off your harness
then you drive to yosemite for the weekend
start with the multi-star climbs at the easiest grades, climb them all
drive home
drive back
start with the next grade
repeat
funny thing about gym climbing and crack climbing: they tend do be different
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Mar 13, 2007 - 11:42am PT
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The internet is an amazing thing.
I wrote up an article about 10 years ago on rec.climbing on how to build a crack machine, the best way to learn how to jam, IMHO.
Lo, I found the old article here:
http://www.tradgirl.com/climbing_faq/home_walls.htm#crack
Basically, you create a hand crack that you can do pull-ups from. The crack is horizontal, like in a roof. But since it's perfect hands, you should be able to hang and do pulls. Using wood to simulate the crack walls, you will at first have a hard time getting your jams to stick. But soon you'll get the hang of it and after you do sets of pulls for a few days, your hand jams will have more holding power than a #2.5 Friend.
You'll need:
1 6 foot 2X8" wood board (a 2X6 or 2X10 will work alright, too)
4 8" bolts with nuts on the ends
1 drill
A saw
Some spare sling
A place to hang your bar
Now:
1) Cut the 2X8 board in in half (you'll have two 3' long boards, not two 1X8 boards or two 2X4 boards, OK?).
2) Cut 1.75" to 2" off the end of each board (same size is best). 1 7/8" is perfect hands for most. These are used as spacers between the long boards, at the ends.
3) Drill 2 holes at the ends of each piece of wood and two holes through each of the spacers.
4) Assemble the crack.
5) Drill holes at the top for the slings and hang the thing.
Landscape view. o's represent the holes for the bolts...
__
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[OK, the HTML collapses the spaces so the drawings look real
funky. Go to the link above and scroll down to see what
these ASCII arts should really look like...]
Turn the thing on its side, this is how you'd see it
if you're looking up at it after you hang it:
_b_b__
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_|_|__|_|_
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b b
OK, this looks pretty bad, but it's as good as I'm going to get it. In the bottom 'drawing', you have two 2x8 boards, you're looking at the 2" side. They are separated by 2", the spacers are poorly drawn at the ends. The b's are the bolts that hold the contraption together. The 'hands" shows where you put your hands to jam.
I swear by these. One time, we made an outdoor gym and made a pull-up bar that had 4 different size pull-up cracks, thin hands, tight-hands, hands, and cupping. There is Nothing like this for improving your jamming techniques, other than actually going out and doing laps on Reeds.
The first one I made, I made the mistake of using two sets of 1"x8" boards. I doubled the boards on each side to get them stiff enough to jam. But the boards flexed like crazy. What a great torture device! you had to jam extra hard just to stick, then when you did pulls, Whoa!
--
Joe Bob sez Check It Out!
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Mar 13, 2007 - 12:21pm PT
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Matt has posted some solid advice.
Not only will using the YDS as prescription stepping stones get you the technique you need at a pace your body will have a better chance of adjusting to, but you will have the opportunity to develop the safety skills required for your survival.
This method also has the merit of being the most fun!
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Peter
climber
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Mar 13, 2007 - 12:32pm PT
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I think the cracks at MC are pretty good for developing some jamming skills before hitting the valley. Of course they're not exactly like the real thing - for a start there's no friction outside the crack- but for a lot of us crack is a total mystery at first.
Start with the left crack and try getting a decent hand jam that won't move when you weight it - right hand goes in first, thumb up and cupped into your palm. Don't bother tying in until you can move up on the first couple of jams comfortably. Give it a shot at the end of each workout.
Once you get solid jams work on walking your feet up with small steps until you can reach high enough to get the next good lock.
The right crack feels like sustained 5.9 hands, the left feels like easy 5.10 to hard 5.10 fingers to a couple of 5.11 moves at the top. The new crack in the back of the gym is too hard for me - nasty off-fingers all the way up.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Mar 13, 2007 - 12:38pm PT
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I started on Monday Morning Slab, Harry Daley Route, 1975. We had a set of stoppers, some slings and 'biners. Seemed safe.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Mar 13, 2007 - 01:08pm PT
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I believe there are a few old crack machine threads hereabout with decent pictures and discussion...
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Mar 13, 2007 - 01:29pm PT
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I found crack machine training useful for devloping real power and endurance on
inch and an eighth
and
inch and a quarter
sizes: thumb up squeezers.
I trained with one for about 2 years. really helped.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Mar 13, 2007 - 02:03pm PT
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Erik,
Yosemite is a long way from Oakland. Don't wait until you get there. Do the cracks at MC and Ironworks everytime you go there. Tape at first. It won't take long until you've got it down. The hand crack at Ironworks is 5.8+ so it's a good one to start on if you can. The hand crack at Golden Gate Wall is hard if you have big hands and feet. Do the chimney at MC as well. You need to have that wired. All this will make a big diference when you go to the valley.
This info brought to you from the noob corner of the Taco.
Zander
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Phil_B
Social climber
Hercules, CA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 02:12pm PT
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You guys have me psyched now.
I've got my old shoes today and I'll be punishing myself at the gym tonight. Yikes, it hurts, but it's just bad technique, right?
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Mar 13, 2007 - 02:34pm PT
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I led the first pitch of Outer Limits many years back and my partner declined to follow for some reason. This German guy at the base says he will come up. He was probably a good face climber but didn't know the first thing about jamming.
He laybacked the long 5.8 crack to the belay, making it look like 5.10 (which it probably was if you use that technique).
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Prod
Social climber
Charlevoix, MI
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Mar 13, 2007 - 03:04pm PT
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Hi Erik,
I am no where the climber a lot of these guys are, but here is how it worked for me.
Find a selfish bastard who is good/ great at climbing and is relatively new to your area. He is looking for someone who will grovel up anything as a second so he can work on his over zealous tick list. He値l lie to you about grade if necessary, he値l laugh when you puke in an O.W. (without falling I might add), he値l make you carry the heavy pack on the approach while opting to carry the rope, and he値l unload the heavy big gear on you for pitches where it is not necessary. It worked for me thanks to Tarbuster, gotta love that skinny little prick. It might sound extreme, but it made me a better lead climber pretty fast as I was getting more confidence on stuff that I and guys that climbed in my grade wouldn稚 ever think of climbing.
Good luck, you値l love it once you blast up a splitter crack committing hands and feet effortlessly.
Prod.
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ryanb
climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 03:11pm PT
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It will hurt less once you learn to feel around for a comfortable bit and not move your hand or foot once it is in there. Best way to do this is to start on some cracks that are low angle enough you can take your time with them and then and climb without tape.
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nutjob
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 03:43pm PT
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Here's what worked for me:
1) Want it badly enough to endure the pain of doing it wrong in the beginning.
2) Want it badly enough to endure the pain, even when doing right, when it gets harder
3) Practice A LOT... reading a book for a few minutes gives you the principles, the rest you discover by doing it, without substitute or short-cut.
4) I never used tape in the beginning, and still don't outside. But something about gym cracks makes me get bloody more often. At times I was into the self-punishment aspect of destroying the back of my hands... but if you want to stay healthy and maintain your ability to practice consistently, without looking like you were a "Fight Club" contestant, tape up until you're good enough to know you don't need it. And taping does reduce the objective difficulty of a climb in my experience.... it gives you more friction you can hang on with less hand pressure exerted, and sweat doesn't make you slip out as much.
Technique-wise for hand-jams: let go of the urge to treat the crack like a "crimp" hold or pulling on your fingers, and embrace the tripod pressing of your fingers and palm on one side, and back of hand on the other. Rely on the pressure on the back of your hand. And look for subtle positioning changes that make the pain on the back of your hand more tolerable. After a while it becomes automatic, or the nerves in the back of your hand get crushed and you're relieved of feeling the pain.
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rhyang
Ice climber
SJC
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Mar 13, 2007 - 05:36pm PT
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I learned hand and foot jamming technique on the cracks at Planet Granite.
I started with the lower-angled hand crack on the slab wall in Belmont. Then moved to the vertical crack on the far opposite wall. They are a perfect hand size for most people. There are some nice practice cracks in Sunnyvale, but nothing low-angled.
I was taught how to tape up, and I sometimes do so outside. But in the gym I like to use hand jammies (tm). It took me probably 1-2 months to get the muscles in my hand used to jamming and refine my technique (such as it is) to the point where I could climb them decently outside.
At first my feet really hurt. Then someone taught me how to use constrictions and to try to jam up and down with the wider part of my foot instead of cramming toes in.
Once Tuolumne is accessible, there is also Puppy Crack on Puppy Dome. Uncle Fanny in Church Bowl was fun - have to actually lead that one sometime. I really enjoyed leading Chouinard Crack (5.7) over on the Glacier Point Apron, though I had to follow someone up the first pitch of Harry Daley (5.8) first. Leading that whole climb is a goal of mine this year.
I still need to work on finger cracks, like that 5.9 route at Cosumnes.
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