Wide Crack Suggestions
Hi Steph, I have always been inspired by your climbing and ability to climb so many different types of climbs on different rock surfaces like granite vs. sandstone. I had the great opportunity to meet you at Index Wa a couple years ago in the parking lot and then watch you climb at the country. Anyway, I’ve been working on developing better skills for wide cracks. I am having trouble on 4 inch cracks. I can’t get my knee or calf in this size crack. My feet fit ok but sometimes slip down unless I focus hard to keep them cammed. This size crack is too big for fists but I can get secure handstacks. I don’t know how to
release the stacks without falling out of the crack. I read that a combination of a lay back and side pull can be used to release the stack and slide one hand up and then restack. I’ve tried this many times on a 4 inch crack at my local gym and can’t get it to work. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for upward progress on cracks this size.
Brigid
Hi Brigid,
This is truly a pesky size, when your knee can’t fit into the crack! As you have noticed, the big problem comes when trying to release a handstack and get your hands higher. If you’re going to let go with the hands, then you have to be able to hold on with the rest of your body for at least long enough to get your hands re-established.
In the best case scenario (since your feet are usually too small to just jam in normally), you’ll get some kind of foot cam with one or both feet. Usually one foot will be deeper inside the crack and the other foot will be at the outside of the crack. In a perfect world, your foot will be just the right size to do a straight foot cam inside the crack, where your heel presses against one side and your toes are slightly bent up against the other side. In this case, both feet can just be doing the same thing, and they will be so secure that you can release your handstacks and drag your hands up the side of the crack (yes, in a slight layback and/or sidepull maneuver), or inside the crack–remember, everything is a potential so don’t be afraid to try different things–and take the next handstack.
Sadly, the crack is often too big or too small for a perfect double foot cam. One solution for this is to wear bigger shoes (not a bad idea anyway for a pure offwidth), to allow you to do a regular foot jam, or get a better foot bridge. I’ve even climbed some sandstone offwidths in approach shoes before–sheer comfort is a big bonus 🙂 But when you can’t get an easy, straight foot cam, you can sometimes work the outside foot in a good cam on the outside edge of the crack. You press your heel against one outside edge and take a strong duck-footed position with your toes against the other outside edge of the crack, trying to create a cam-type force between your heel and your toes. Your deeper foot will be trying to do something similar inside the crack, but will most likely be a little more free form. Again, once you feel like you have some stability with your lower body, drag your hands up the side of the crack until you can get to another stack, or whatever feels best at the time.
Remember to keep flexing your legs as much as possible even when you’re focusing on the foot technique, because at the end of the day you want to have as much surface area as possible with as many body parts as possible when you’re releasing your hands and arms to move up. And speaking of surface area, things can get messy. I recommend wearing high-top shoes and/or socks and/or taping ankles. Corduroy pants and fleece long-sleeves are also protective and give much better friction than nylon or bare skin.
It’s pretty rare, even in the desert, for any crack to stay the same for a whole pitch, so you’ll probably find yourself trying a little bit of everything, and finding different things working at different spots. Don’t get hung up on thinking you need to use a certain technique for a certain width, because at some level wide cracks are about flexing and tenacity. And as you know, offwidthing isn’t really a speed sport. The most important thing is to try to stay calm and not get too fussed, even if you slide down a little bit here and there. As long as overall progress trends in the upward direction, you are doing great!
Steph
