Tips For Bigger Cracks
Hi Steph!
After 5 years of sport climbing I am moving onto trad, which has opened up for me so many possibilities in the mountain. I’ve learned mostly through trial and error, so your articles about thin cracks have been really useful! At least they helped me up a 400mt wall I climbed this weekend :). Do you have any how-to material you could recommend me for hands, fists and off-width cracks?
Thanks in advance and keep it up with your amazing site!
Jose from Chile
Thanks Jose!
Here is a link to some offwidth info I wrote a while back.
And this is a general crack climbing article I wrote some years back that could also give you some good tips for all crack sizes.
Between those two, you should get a lot of the basic crack advice I have, but here are some more random tips…. 😉
For hands/fists and offwidths, you should get a bigger shoe–I use Moccasyms or Super Moccs, very comfortably sized. For a lot of offwidths at Indian Creek, I actually wear Five Tennies, which makes them significantly easier! In Yosemite, where you need to use more footholds, I make sure to wear a very big shoe for offwidth cracks (often Anasazi Laceups, very oversized), and tape my ankles thoroughly. This really helps.
One issue with wider cracks (including fists), is the rack. It’s very awkward and cumbersome to carry even a rack of 5 3.5″ pieces, and it just gets bigger and heavier as the cams get larger. Usually I plan to push up gear when the crack is wider, to save me carrying so much large gear. In a crack where I might need the equivalent of 6 3.5″ pieces, I bring 3 and plan to slide some of them for a long way. Be aware that this can put you in a very run-out situation, and if you blow it somehow, it could be a very dangerous fall. So I’m not recommending this as a basic technique for new climbers, but it is something I do commonly myself at Indian Creek, with caution.
This is a small tip, but it is something that I have to catch myself on every time during the colder months….it’s great to wear a long sleeved shirt for offwidths, but when you are climbing hands and big hands, having a sleeve down on your wrist will always be an annoyance (or worse) when you are trying to jam. I can’t count the number of times I’ve started up a crack and had to work myself into some awkward stance while I pushed up my sleeves, partway up the route 🙂 So, a small thing, but nice to remember before you start up.
Hope that helps!
Steph
Thanks a lot Steph, cheers!
Jose
Steph,
Do you have any advice for footwork in the transition from offwidth to chimney (or just really wide offwidth)? I tried to climb a route at Red Rock Canyon some time ago like that (Chrysler crack) and I had a lot of trouble with my feet once the crack became just too wide to do a heel-to-toe jam, but too narrow to put one foot in front and another with the sole against the back, like a chimney. The upper body was locked off just fine using the “chicken winging” technique you describe, but I couldn’t get my feet set anywhere.
It’s interesting how the crux point in these cracks is different for each climber, depending on his/her body composition.
That’s your worst size, when the feet are just a little too small. I usually use a very special technique called “wiggling,” not to be confused with “thrashing.” 😉
Haha, OK I’ll try the wiggling next time I’m in a wide offwidth!
You may have answered by perennial crack climbing issue: anytime I cam my toes in a crack, the little ones scream with pain and I get panicky to just get them out. I had the problem again this weekend in Vedauwoo in Moccasyms. They worked great for heel/toe in OWs and edging on fingercracks, but for toe jams, I had pretty bad pain. People tell me “that’s just cracks climbing”, but I’ve not had my fellow climbers express this complaint while climbing the same routes. It sounds like you are suggesting getting bigger than normal shoes. (I’m ready to try taping my little toes!)
Thanks.
yes, sizing up AND taping are good tactics!