Handjams Are Your Friends: Crack Technique
Hi Steph,
You wrote a crack climbing article a long time ago, and I can’t find a copy of it. What magazine was it in?
I love your website and blog, thanks for all the great stories and pictures.
Sincerely,
Sarah Bowes
Dear Sarah,
That article was called “Thin To Win,” and it was in Climbing Magazine, June 15, 1998.
I still meet people who tell me that they learned a lot about crack technique from it, or wanted a copy and couldn’t find it anymore. Maybe it’s time for a little online review course :), especially since I’m all about desert climbing at the moment….
The key to pure crack climbing, as with every type of climbing, is the feet. I like to start from the basics, which with cracks, is the hand crack. Hand cracks are the nicest, easiest thing you can climb, so you can focus on body position and movement technique, rather than the more precise jamming. If you have never done a handjam, it will feel alien and bizarre at first, but just slide your hand straight into the crack, and flex it, especially the meaty area under your thumb. It will stick, and that’s a handjam. I always say, if I fall out of a handjam, I deserve it :), so I tend to run it out if I’m in solid handjams.
Once you get the hang of handjams, they are the most solid, least strenuous hand hold imaginable, and they come along with giant, solid footjams, what could be better! I feel that I am just hanging on my bones even when I am in a steep handcrack, and it requires very little muscle strength.
For your feet, slide your foot in sideways (wear a big pair of Moccasyms, in your street shoe size, or one size smaller, to make crack climbing a full number grade easier!) as far as the shoe will slide in, and then pull your knee up to center, to cam your foot in there. If you have bad ankles, like me, you might need to tape your ankle. This puts a lot of torque on the ankle in that bad sprain position (which may be why I have bad ankles). But if you tape them, they will be fine.
So in a basic handcrack, the rule is to concentrate on the movement of your feet and legs. Your hands are just keeping you balanced, organized and stable, while you step your feet up like stairs. I like to stand on one foot, and step the other one up at calf to knee level, then do it over and over and over……
Once you understand the movement and body position of straight-in hand cracks, you can apply the same thing to thinner or wider sizes. The jams will vary on different sizes, but the basic idea is exactly the same.
For thin hands, pretend you are getting real hand jams, and shove in as much of your hand as possible, and flex it as hard as you can. Feet should jam just the same, though you will get a little less shoe in. Thin hands are a lot more pumpy than good hands, but you climb them the same way. Don’t get all frazzled and forget about your feet–if the crack is vertical, you should be essentially standing on your feet the whole way.
For the next size down from thin hands, I ratchet my hands. I stick my fingers in as far as they will go, thumbs down, and twist hard, with my thumb inside the crack, pulling elbows straight down towards the side of my body. The feet are even harder to use, as less shoe is going in, but I get in as much as I can, starting from the pinky side of the shoe, and twist hard. This is where the ankles really don’t like it. More tape!
The next size down from that is rattly fingers. This is the hardest size for me to climb, usually orange Metolius or red Alien gear size. The crack is much thinner for the feet, and my knuckles don’t catch inside the crack. But it’s the same drill–stick the fingers in as far as they will go, twist them while pulling the thumb up inside the crack to meet them, and work the feet as much as possible. In this size crack, I try hard to find any little pods or flared edges of the crack for my feet, because even that extra bit will help for the feet. This size is just plain hard (for you big-fingered people, it’s probably more like the red Metolius or orange Alien size), and is really fun when you start to figure out the technique…… No matter what, it’s always strenuous, and never easy, but pretty satisfying when it works.
After all this technical jamming, real finger locks feel great. The feet are very small, but just wedge your fingers in, pull down to your waist, and do the best you can with high feet, trying to wedge the pinky toe edge of your shoe against the thin crack.
On the bigger side, the next size up from handjams is cupped handjams. These can feel hard, because you don’t get a solid handjam, and it’s a little too small for a fist jam. But just remember, you couldn’t ask for better footjams. Concentrate on the feet, trust the cupped hands, and you can cruise right up.
The next size up from cupped hands is a fist crack. Fists are great, super solid, and come along with perfect foot jams. Stick your fist in, either palm up or palm in, depending on what will feel better, and squeeze it really hard. If it gets a little too big, focus on your good feet, and stick your thumb out slightly. Even better, stick your forearm in, and pull it back towards your shoulder as if you’re doing a dumbbell curl. This makes your forearm flex, and sticks as well as a fistjam, sometimes even better. If you are wearing long sleeves, don’t forget to pull your sleeve up first, otherwise the sleeve will slide around and cause trouble.
Slightly bigger than fists, up to offwidth and squeeze chimney size, is where things get a little more interesting, so we’ll save all that for another talk. Even so, it’s all about the feet……
Har! Heard a French bolt-clipping enthusiast once declare… If the rock touches the back of your hand its not climbing. Thought you’d get a chuckle out of that!
[…] Steph Davis offers some crack climbing technique tips. […]
Hi Steph,
Thanks for posting this review. I love crack climbing, even though I’m not very good yet. First question I have on hands, when you are placing your top hand, do you want to place it as high as possible? The second question I have on climbing hands, is that I’ve gotten advice to never climb with both thumbs facing the same direction. But it seems to me that often both thumbs down just feels the most secure. I’ve tried analyzing your moves in Masters of Stone, but I can’t really tell when it’s best for thumbs up/down, thumbs down/down, or thumbs up/up. Thanks for your help!
[…] climbers on their technique. Steph Davis has an article on her blog, High Places, discussing her techniques for climbing cracks (via splitterchoss.com). The key to pure crack climbing, as with every type of climbing, is the […]
[…] High Places » Blog Archive » Handjams Are Your Friends: Crack Technique […]
Dear Chelle,
Those are great questions. Often it’s good to reach as high as possible, if the jams are really good, because it keeps you moving. If the jams aren’t so good, sometimes you want to look for a slightly wider or narrow section, and be choosy with the most locker jam. As far as which way you should face your hands, that depends on the angle of the crack, and of course, on what feels best to you! Many cracks are left or right angling, and in that case, I often do a sort of shuffling motion, where both thumbs are facing each other, and the top hand always stays highest (usually left hand on top for a left facing crack, and right for right). Both thumbs down always seems best when it is very thin hands, as you are moving into the ratchet technique. For myself, when it is sinker hand jams, I tend to be crossing my jams, with thumbs up.
Have a great time!
xx Steph
http://www.lackhead.org/jamming/ That one???
Thanks Kostya! Hope this helps out,
xx Steph
Hey Steph,
I wanted to ask you about an anckle injury that I have. It’s trumatic arthritis,and a crushed heel from a work related accident,anyway it left my anckle really stiff and I have some pain from the arthritis. So it’s hard to impossible to crank on it while I’m climbing trad,and I know you’ve had some anckle trouble, so I thought you might have some helpfull idea’s about this issue.
Oh, I allmost forgot. Please tell Dean Brad & Bradley said “All is one”. We love you both and climb on!
Dear Brad,
How nice to hear from you! Thanks for your sweet words, and messages. I’m so sorry to hear about your ankle. My brother recently shattered his ankle, in a BASE jumping accident, and is very unhappy about it. I always struggle with bad ankles, from crack climbing overuse and trail running sprains, and BASE jumping certainly isn’t helping, with some of those hard landings! But I try to look on the bright side, and I’m thankful that my weak point is an ankle, rather than a knee. The way I look at it, at least with bad ankles, I can tape them and keep on going! My ankles have probably been taped more days than not, since I started climbing…..The best advice I can give you, is tape, tape and more tape 🙂 It’s amazing how much strength and support a good tape job can give to an unhappy ankle. (See, if we had bad knees, we couldn’t just tape them and keep going, aren’t we lucky!!). And of course, favor it when you climb, and be very cautious before you start cranking on it. But with solid tape, you may be surprised with what you can get away with.
I hope that helps a little…..
xx Steph
Thank’s for the info, your sweet! Do you guy’s plan on attending any event’s around the south this year? If so, I would love to show you guy’s around some of the local crag’s, without the press and no crowd’s, I promise! If not that, maybe we all could just have a cup of coffee and talk around the campfire? I understand you and Dean are very busy, but it would be great to see you guy’s again!! Tell Dean we said “All is One”
Hey Steph,
My granddaughter is 7 yrs. old and would love to have your autograph, her name is Kianna and she love’s you and is a climbing nut, like her paw-paw, me, haha. Her climbing passion ,even at 7 remind’s me of the way you are about climbing! So, anything I can do to get our kid’s climbing is what I want to do. They are the one’s we will hand our climbing future off to.
Dear Brad,
I would be more than happy to send Kianna a poster for her room 🙂 If you could email me with a mailing address, that would be great!
Take care!
xx Steph
Steph,
I recently am making some progress in crack technique, and was climbing an artificial crack at Mission Cliffs in SF. I’ve gotten good at parallel thin hands and thumb locks, but I got stopped cold at a thin hands/ flare section about 6-7 feet long. I have pretty big mitts. The feet are thin, and the crack is like 1 inch deep at the back, and 1 1/4 at the edge, which is round, so stops me from using a thumb lock on the edge. Seems about 12a. It feels like I’m trying to stuff a gel pack in the flare at head height, while poking my toes in, and my knees bent sidewqys more than a 53 year old should bend his knees.I can’t seem to find something that feels solid. Any miracle techniques?
Dear Tom,
I know that crack! It is hard 🙂 It sounds like you are doing things right. I would suggest you really make an effort to put your thumb in, and use your fingers like an “okay” sign. The most important thing, of course, is your feet. Usually flared cracks are interesting because the jams are so awful, but the feet are much much better than regular parallel cracks. I have found that the foot jams are unbelievably good in flares, even better than I expect them to be. Since this is a little project for you, I would recommend that you spend some time on that section focusing on your feet, and realizing just how solid they actually are. Then try to do one move at a time, experimenting with the ring locks as more of a balance, upward-momentum tool while you work the feet.
I hope this helps a little!! Have fun!
xx Steph
so great to find your website – after reading about your amazing work – I’m from the 70’s Yosemite days – made family and business and am now getting re-involved with climbing. Women are not only participating now, but dominating the climbing, Really cool to see.
I would like to get a poster of you if this is something available – happy to send you postage and poster costs. I’m Cliff Thomas at 551 w cordova rd. #420, santa fe, NM 87505 505-989-1859.
Thank you for all the beta on your site. Back when 5.9 was hard I thought I was doing ok – whoah not so much now – but I still love it.
Thanks
Cliff
Hi, I’m a huge fan of you and Dean since your article on climbing magazine of soloing Spaceshot, and of course of Dean Potter for all those crazy things he does. One friend of Brazil (Eduardo) told me the crash pad I manufactured (from V15) were left with Dean, so I’m here to say “hi” since our world crossed up thanks to our climbing history !!!!
Hope to know you guys one day!!!!
Keep climbin’
Neno
Hi Steph,
you also have fans in Germany!!!
We read in a climbing mag that you free soloed the North Face of Castleton tower and did afterwards a base jump from the top. ;)))
We were inspired enough to come to Moab and try the route ourselves! Hope to meet some wild desert tower climbers!
Cheers, Björn & friends
Thank you Bjorn! That is great! It’s good to know that the North Face is cool and climbable all summer long. If you come in July or August, don’t start too early. It gets first sun until about 9 am in these two months, which is strange because in September and October, the sun does not hit it at all. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you up there! Have a great time!
xx Steph
“I’m having a fashion crisis Dean! Don’t you know what’s important here?” 😉
When i first saw those two free solos in Masters of Stone V I was pretty amazed to say the least! Deans climb of the Nose wasn’t too shabby either. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, great pictures and stories here. I love reading them!!
From a Canadian fan, eh
so I can’t quote it exactly, as I’ve lent my book to a friend, but I wanted to thank you for the words “I could no longer live the life of a college student. I had no chioce. I had to become a dirtbag climber.” As soon as I read that my doubts and worries slipped away (for that moment anyways:)) and I knew what I had to do. So thanks for putting into words my, and I’m sure many peoples, feelings, so blunt and to the point, because when you are a climber, thats what you do, you can’t help it. Continue to rock out, be a bad ass, youself, and an amazingly possitive contributor to this wonderful thing called climbing and life!
Hi Steph, I’m a sort new to climbing (1/2 year) and do at the moment gym climbing. Our gym has a piller with lots of cracks from floor to ceiling, looks like the real thing and great for starting off. I I have the problem where when I get my foot in and bring my knee centre, I haves great hold in the crack but my weight tends to lean to one side making balancing quite tricky. Do you have any advise for me regarding this. I’m a very light thin tall build.
Regards
Dan
hi Dan, try taking smaller steps with the foot, and this may help it feel less balancey.
hope that helps!
[…] Jarred, If you have a crack (or cracks) in your gym, it is a great way to get started. Here is a quick rundown of some basic crack techniques. It won’t be the same climbing indoors as outdoors (is it ever?), but it will definitely get […]
hi guys!! Always Warm Up and Stretch before you start climbing. Tight muscles and ligaments don’t perform as well.Get in the habit of previewing and learning to read the route before you climb it. Developing this skill will help you get in the right position to make moves at the crux.
Use only the degree of strength on you grip as necessary to steady your balance. Your grip is often the first to go, save forearm strength as much as possible.
A finely developed sense of balance will help you make difficult static and dynamic moves. http://physictourism.com/category/adventure/camping/camping-equipment/
[…] Several years back Steph Davis (I’m telling you, she’s our crack climbing guru!) wrote an article on crack climbing called “Thin to Win” for Climbing magazine that became the primer for cracks climbers. I managed to dig it up from lackhead.org using the Wayback Machine and saved it as a PDF to share her tips. Since the article came out climbers have asked Steph to share more of her tips which she has rounded up on her blog in a post called Handjams Are Your Friends. […]
Use the opposite foot as the hand you have jammed (left hand right foot) opposing forces can aid balance same idea as flagging a foot