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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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Apocalypsenow
Trad climber
Cali
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Mar 13, 2007 - 05:40pm PT
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Climb cracks, not in a gym.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder
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Mar 13, 2007 - 05:47pm PT
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RE:
"Think of crack climbing as a:
Kinesthetic mechanical aptitude test."
This is exactly right.
Thanks TGT
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Rankin
climber
Bishop, CA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 05:48pm PT
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Erik, sorry you've gotten so many unhelpful, dismissivel answers from people who seem more interested in sticking their chests out than actually saying anything helpful. Climbers are notoriously full of sh*t. I will have to say that I think you would be most helped by some type of crack machine, as recommended by k-man.
Once, when I lived in NC, I thought 5.9 was way below me, because I was climbing 5.11 'trad' routes and 5.12 sport routes, unntil I got on 'New Yosemite' at the New River Gorge. It was perfect 5.9 hands. I got spanked and humiliated in that way that only rock climbing can provide.
Completly disturbed, I tried practicing hands on my buddies woodie. Now, his wasn't a crack machine, as k-man describes, just some 2x8s permanently spaced, for jamming purposes, in the middle of his wall. They wall was steep, steeper than 45 degrees, and so you really had to get the jams in order to pull up. It was pretty cool, because the first couple moves were just a bit bigger than perfect hands for me, then it was cupped hands in the middle, and finally perfect hands at the end. It was probably about 8-10 feet of moves.
My first session resulted in zero progress, but I did manage some horrendous gobies. So, I started using TAPE ( which I recommend as a beginner), and with a little practice was able to get up the thing with some effort. Fairly soon I could climb the wooden crack with different sequences and downclimb it. I could even run laps on it comfortably. One of the things I learned on this steep wooden crack, was that THUMBS UP is usually a more powerful jam, though it didn't feel this way at first. I found that reaching high over my head with a thumbs up jam, I could lock the jam down much furter without any feeling of insecurity. I still remember the enjoyment I had when I first began to experience that bomber feeling of a a good jam. Bomber!
Shortly after mastering this wooden crack I returned to 'New Yosemite' at the NRG, and got so psyched up for the new technique that I soloed the route, without having been on it again since getting spanked on it. From then on, the route became a part of my morning coffee circuit at the New. Hand jamming is like that, when you got it, you're lovin' it. This technique is the cornerstone of all crack climbing, and you should start there. Good luck.
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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Mar 13, 2007 - 05:53pm PT
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WTF are you talking about?!?!?!?
he wants to learn to climb cracks!
he doesn't need an apparattus!
he needs to go crack climbing!!!!
and no- there is no chest puffing or useless info there, it's a very simple answer to a simple question.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 06:11pm PT
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Don't bother building a crack machine. You'll get bored before you get any good. Also, like Jell-o said, don't guage your progress/skill by the gym crack. Unless they're really deep and really uniform it's like a whole 'nother form of climbing.
You'll probably never find it, but the best ever article about crack climbing was one by Dale Bard in an OLD Chouinard catalog. Gold mine. Some basis pointers though, some of which has already been said.
If hand jamming, thumbs up if it's a good fit. Place your hand, don't cram it. Drop your thumb into your palm to gradually expand the width of your hand to fit to size. Take the time to find a good jam and park it there until you find your next jam. I've never understood guys who jam thumbs down. It's too painful and you can't pull the jam past your chest, whereas with a thumbs up you can crank it all the way down to your waist. If it's not a parallel crack, look for your next placement, just like placing a chock. If it's a wider hand jam, hook your thumb over your index finger. If it's wider than that but too narrow for fists, anything you do will be painful. If you hand jam well, you don't need to tape up. I've always believed that people who tape are just sloppy crack climbers (unless you climb at Veedavoo).
For fists, I always tuck my thumb between my ring and pinky finger because it seems to help the bone structure as I clench my fist. Same advice re placing vs. cramming. I've also found that I'm more comfortable shuffling than crossing over, with my bottom hand palms out rather than palms in. Once that size gets rattly, I place my thumb next to my fist for an extra half inch of width.
If you can't figure out finger jams, there's no hope for you. A big key though is learning to smear the outside edge of your shoe, just below your pinky toe. Flexible ankles help.
Good outside and climb something real. At least your hard work and learning curve will be rewarded with some scenery. Isn't that why we do this?
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Robb
Social climber
Under a Big Sky
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Mar 13, 2007 - 06:56pm PT
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Rankin
"Completely disturbed,I tried practicing hands on my buddies woodie."
Can we please keep this post on the topic of climbing?
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Burns
Trad climber
Nowhere special
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Mar 13, 2007 - 07:58pm PT
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How to climb a crack:
1) Insert as much of your feet and hands as will fit
2) Suffer
3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 slightly higher.
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Brutus of Wyde
climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
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Mar 13, 2007 - 08:03pm PT
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Erik --
You're welcome to join Nurse Ratchet and I for a gym workout sometime.
e-mail me with a climbing-relevant subject line so I know its not spam...
Brutus
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