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Omot
Trad climber
The here and now
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Mar 14, 2007 - 08:37pm PT
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Hey Erik,
A lot of good info here already. Here's my experience.
I moved out to the bay area after learning to climb at the Gunks and CT traprock. Didn't have crack technique, so I made a crack machine with 2 2x10s stacked together to make 16' of crack, with carriage bolts to vary the crack width. Mounted on a tree in my backyard, slightly overhung, started with hands then on to thin hands once the hands technique was solid. Together with many weekends in the Valley doing classics, I was quickly up to speed on cracks up to 5.10. Good enough for me!
Once you get the hand jamming down it is pure heaven...and feels so secure. And it's like riding a bike, you'll never forget it. In fact, once you become an old fart like me, it will be the only thing you can climb (besides slabs).
I've always preferred not taping to get the best feel of the rock while climbing. I would gobie at climbs at or beyond my limit, which has taken its toll over the years. Scar tissue rips easier than original skin. So beware as you start out and definitely tape at the gym. Those surfaces are pretty grainy, much more than most Yosemite granite.
Finally, a thought on technique. Others have stated this already, but thumbs up is easier to move off of, while thumbs down is more secure. Sometimes using the upper hand thumbs down and the lower hand thumbs up works well, especially if the crack is leaning left or right a bit. You can crank to your waist with the lower hand and get good extension through your chest for the upper jam.
A previous thread had a link to a video of Dean Potter soloing the nose. Check it out to see nice thumbs up, hand over hand jamming technique (soloing the Stovelegs -- very cool!).
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 14, 2007 - 09:17pm PT
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Hey
Stick your hands in the crack and jam.
Don't listen to all this bullshit here, it will only fill your head with useless chatter.
Keep jamming until you figure it out. It's just like riding a bike.
You gonna learn how to ride a bike by reading about it?
Now git up there and quit f'ckin around .....
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Mar 15, 2007 - 02:16am PT
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Somebody with time on their hands and knowledge in the brain could help Erik and all of us aspiring crack virtuosos out by making an equivalent one of these for the Valley: The (JT based) Crack Workshop.
Me and a partner worked the hell out of this list; things started getting fuzzy right around Fisticuffs. It was like 'Nam after that.
From: http://www.rockclimbing.org/tripreports/crackworkshop.htm
(skip to the end for a nice list of progressively harder climbs at JT)
The Crack Workshop - An SCMA Original
by SCMA Member Alois Smrz
This article was inspired by questions from Steve Cole and Michael Gordon. Gerry's fun stories and remembrance helped too. But most of all, this article was written for the great NTC class of 2000 graduates, particularly Greg Tuzinski, Lori McKenzie, Ellen Nordberg, Sam Pierson, Laurie Carr, Liz Morelli, Shauna Hermes, Carrie Thau, and David Heenan. I hope to see all of you climbing with the club, and for you I'm recounting an important means for developing your strength and technique, homegrown here by the SCMA.
It seems I have been asked over and over about the SCMA Crack Climbing Workshop-the climbs, the workshop, and the people who pioneered it as a means to get better at crack climbing. The workshop was the brainchild of longtime RCS/SCMA members Jim Erb and Theresa Rutherford. In the early 80’s they worked hard on developing their crack climbing skills by methodically ascending series of harder and harder cracks in Joshua Tree. Only the best cracks were selected for their training. The climbs were divided into four levels, based not only on rating but also level of commitment, length and protection possibilities. Jim and Theresa's hunch, that ordinary climbers could get much better by progressing through more and more difficult ascents, proved correct. First by toproping, then preplacing pro, and later cleanly leading the climbs, the workshop graduated 13 climbers and gave our club its first group of competent leaders at the 5 11 level. Pat Orris, Jim Mathews, Ben Chapman, and Tom Brogan are among those still with our club.
These climbers credit Jim and Theresa with showing them how to get better through discipline, hard work and the use of progression from toprope to red point. The original crack workshop list included 48 climbs rated 5.9 to 5.l0d in four difficulty groups. Having completed the original list, Tom Brogan in 1990 added levels 5 and 6, with 24 climbs up to the 5.11d. Tom's extensive article dealing with the levels 5 and 6 can be found in Cliff Notes #40. Additional information can be found in Jim Erb's articles in the Mugelnoos (Cliff Notes predecessor) #651, 655, 656, 659, 660, 661, and 673. Pat Orris's excellent article on mental and physical preparation can be found in Mugelnoos #660.
The crack list proved extremely popular. I know of several club members, who spent years trying to bag it. It is as valid (and hard) today as it was then. The trick, discovered by Jim early into the workshop, is that only when one masters a level cleanly would he/she be allowed to progress to the next. You were allowed to toprope, preplace protection, and work a given line, but only after you placed protection on lead and completed all the climbs without flailing would you go to the next. Sticking with this rigid structure assured that skills would keep improving. The 1986 workshop was, to this day, one of the most exciting and innovative ways for our members to progress in climbing. The Commitment was huge every weekend for several months-and the climbing was unrelenting, but those who graduated are yet even today some of the best in the club.
By the way, the workshop was never repeated in its original form, most likely due to its extreme commitment. I have always felt that the original list should be expanded downward as well. There are many who may want the structure of progressively difficult crack climbs, but would appreciate starting at a more relaxed level. By this I don't want to dilute Jim and Theresa's philosophy-that serious climbing starts at 5.9. But there are those who need to acquire crack climbing skills to get to that level first. My intent here is not to try to improve on the original list, but to compliment it with some classic J Tree crack climbs at 5.7 and 5.8. I used several sources for these. I have led or followed all of them. I also climbed 38 of the 48 original climbs (Miguel Carmona-thanks for the memories), Roger Linfield’s written evaluations were great, and Randy Vogel's star ratings helped too. I realize that this Selection is NOT definitive-there are many great climbs out there-but after you complete this list, I'll bet you'll agree that these are some of the best easy crack climbs at J Tree.
So here you have it-the 1986 original list Tom Brogan’s additions, and my 32 prep climbs. Combined, they are arguably 104 of the BEST J Tree cracks, ranging from 5.7 to 5.11d. Do you want to know what it took to go from easy fifth to 5.11? Would you like to know more about the workshop method? Ask one of the graduates still with our club. It could change your climbing life forever.
(page numbers in Randy Vogel’s Climber's Guide to Joshua Tree, 1992).
32 Prep Climbs
PREP CLIMBS A (5.7) Bighorn Hand Crack p. 60, Smooth as Silk p. 95, Double Dog Leg p.98, Classic Corner p. 109, Bush Crack p. 120, White Lighting p.125, Scrumdillishus p. 131, Frosty Cone p. 131, Mr. Misty Kiss p.131, Double Cross p. 189, Nereltne p. 223, Life’s a Bitch and Then You Marry One p. 279, Mental Physics p.298, Wisest Crack p. 379, Dolphin p.463, Crackup p. 482, Gargoyle p.483.
PREP CLIMBS B (5.8) Right Sawdust Crack p.32, Baby Roof p.53, Dinky Doinks p.97, Sail Away p.157, The Flake p.187, Dog Leg p.189, Hands Off p.197, Tennis Shoe Crack p.210, Right Peyote Crack p.224, Small World p.394, Music Box p.473, Where 2 Deserts Meet p.477, Crank Queenie p.529, Taken for Granite p.550, At Your Pleasure p.553.
The Original List
LEVEL 1 (5.8-.9) Cake Walk p. 96, Dummy's Delight p. 178, Looney Toons p. 223, Middle Peyote Crack p. 224, Pope's Crack p. 245, Room to Shroom p. 278, Touch and Go p. 241, Nurn's Romp p. 384, Gem p. 445, , Colorado Crack p. 445, Continuum p. 459, Invisibility Lessons p. 459.
LEVEL 2 (5.9-.10c) Right Baskerville Crack p. 35, Tossed Green p. 36, Aftermath p. 52, Left Mel Crack p. 90, Right Mel Crack p. 90, Sphincter Quits p. 154, North Overhang p. 187, Orphan p. 189, Watanobe Wall p. 208, Effigy Too (TR) p. 239, Spiderman (TR) p. 445, Bird of Fire p. 463.
LEVEL 3 (5.9-10b) Tinker Toys p. 97, Friendly Hands p. 111, Tax Man p. 130, Illusion Dweller p. 169, Lower Ski Track p. 183, Super Roof p. 210, A Woman's Work is Never Done p. 214, Bruiser (TR) p. 214, Roller Ball p. 219, Halfway to Paradise (TR) p. 239, Dangling Wo Li Master p. 316, Exorcist p. 384.
LEVEL 4 (5.10b-.10d) Foreign Legion p. 52, The Importance of Being Ernest p. 127, What's It To You (TR) p. 154, Clean and Jerk (TR) p. 155, Fisticuffs p. 1 70, Bearded Cabbage p. 188, O'Kelly's Crack p. 229, Book of Changes p. 316, Caught Inside on a Big Set p. 316, Morning Thunder p. 316, Perpetual Motion p. 414, Rubicon p. 462.
Brogan's Additions
LEVEL 5 (5.10c-.11c) Butterfly Crack .p 32, Psychokenesis p. 63, The Lemon Slicer p 70, Papaya Creek .p 124, Pat Adams Dihedral p. 131, Coarse and Buggy p. 136, Left Ski Track p. 183, Jumping Jack Crack p. 212, Hot Rocks p. 223, Swept Away p. 245, Heart of Darkness p. 373, Grit Root p. 382.
LEVEL 6 (5.11a-.11d) Erotic City p. 41, Hyperion p. 73, Scary Monsters p.104, Right Banana Crack p. 124, Where Eagles Dare p. 168, Hidden Arch p. 178, Spider Line p. 188, Wangerbanger p. 229, More Monkey than Funky p. 257, Zen and the art of Placement p. 406, Human Sacrifice p. 413, The Woodshed p. 461.
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maldaly
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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Mar 15, 2007 - 10:02am PT
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I'm surprised that noone's mentioned the but buy, beg or steal a copy of Parallelojams, Montrails movie about climbing the splitters at the Creek. There are lots of good descriptives here but nothing beats good visuals. The move has to be one of the most entertaining climbing that's ever been made and it has lots if great crack climbing instructions.
Mal
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Erik of Oakland
Gym climber
Oakland
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 16, 2007 - 02:14am PT
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someone suggested posting a Valley Crack Progress List, and I'm seconding that.
btw, could someone comment on how representative the first pitch of After Six is of Valley cracks, both in terms of feel and protectability?
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Rocky5000
Trad climber
Falls Church, VA
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Mar 16, 2007 - 11:42pm PT
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If you ever visit Seattle be sure to check out the concrete boulder/slabs behind the UW stadium, if it is still there. I learned taping and jamming there to a high level commensurate with my physical strength in just a few months on that remarkable facility.
Take my word - as you gain skill the pain will diminish and the blood disappear. Or at least you'll pay the price willingly, for the privilege of doing the Central Pillar, or a thousand others equally beautiful.
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Mar 16, 2007 - 11:53pm PT
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Here's the Dale Bard essay on crack climbing someone was referencing.
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Watusi
Social climber
Joshua Tree, CA
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Mar 17, 2007 - 01:08am PT
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Crack climbing is cool!
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jul 21, 2007 - 03:01pm PT
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Fisticuffs.
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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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Jul 21, 2007 - 06:09pm PT
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Although many denigrate taping up I highly recommend learning to do it well. Also, if you have fragile skin,as I myself do, taping will allow you to climb on repeated days without the backs of your hands turning into a carpet of festering sores. I dont recommend the wrapping tape around your hand method, it is very difficult to get the fit right, too tight and your hand is useless in mere moments, too loose and the tape falls off right away. Instead apply tincture of benzoin to the back of your hand and apply strips of tape lengthwise, wrist to knuckle. Secure it at the wrist with a wrap around, this is hard to get right, but not as critical as wrapping it around your hand. At the knuckles, wrap from the back of your hand around your fingers. You can bunch the tape so it is just a thin strip where it goes under and between your fingers. You should do most of the tape job while flexing your hand, making a fist kinda, so that the tape job does not constrict your hand. If you make it too tight your hand will be useless in very short order. Flex your wrist as far as you can when wrapping it. Learning this skill will really make your skin last a lot longer and add greatly to your learning curve. Also, I agree with all the other posters who said to go outdoors on real rock. I have never been a climbing gym guy, but the artificial cracks I have seen have all been very difficult and shallow. Not really conducive to learning. I have used a crack machine made from 2x12 lumber that you could fully insert your hand into that was pretty good. It was also adjustable in width so you could practice different sizes. If you are really motivated and have space for such a thing they can be a good training aid, but still not like real crack climbing. Just remember, crack climbing rules! Why? Because you can always place pro! Good luck brother!
Michael
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Jul 21, 2007 - 11:39pm PT
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Way back when, on my best day, I could lead easy 5.10 cracks, so my advice is suspect, at best.
Taping up is kinda cool, especially when the sweat kills the adhesive, and you can pull off the offwidth mitts and use them the next day. Sorta like a custom-fit glove. You can tape the fingers and discard that, but keep the fist/OW part for later.
Thumb-down for a typical fingerlock seems the way to go.
Campus-boarding on the door frame trim in your house (pull-ups on 1/2" wide wooden ledges) seems to be a cheap/easy way to find out if your forearms are in shape.
Get some Altia high-tops if you are going to climb wide cracks. You'll appreciate the protection of the maleoli.
Now, that's a five dollar word you don't see very often. . . ..
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jul 22, 2007 - 12:01pm PT
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Australia (ACT maybe?)
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jul 22, 2007 - 12:07pm PT
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Boney Fingers. Whitney Portal, Ca.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jul 22, 2007 - 12:12pm PT
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Australia. This crack climb (5.10d) was on-sight free-soloed by Tobin Sorenson; at the time, it was one of Australia's hardest crack climbs. (That's the story I heard anyways;....anyone else heard different?),,,...
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jul 23, 2007 - 09:20pm PT
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jul 23, 2007 - 10:02pm PT
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Bony Fingers
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Hand Slams. Blue Mountains, Australia.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Here's something I posted a long time ago on Rc.Com. Hope it helps
I frequently teach or climb with folks who want to focus on crack climbing, Here are some of my observations:
1. The majority of beginning crack climbers don't "really" have a clear grasp of the mechanics of a hand jam. This is hard to convey in words, and needs practice until you "get it" but...the main hand muscle for hand jamming is the fleshy area at the base of the thumb. For a thumbs up jam, this fleshy base of the thumb flexes and applies pressure against the back of the hand, particularly against an area on the bone just less than an inch below the index finger's third knuckle. The fingers play no role in most hand jams and you should be able to hang all your weight on a bomber hand jam and still wiggle all four fingers.
2. It can't be overemphasized that the arms are mainly to keep you from falling backwards. It helps to keep your arms straight when possible or locked off (when placing pro or reaching up for the next jam)
3. Folks complain about foot pain but it hurts feet less for feet to be clamped into the crack front to back rather than side to side. Get used to standing on your feet with your ankle twisted. I'm used to it but it might help to try walking around bowlegged on the sides of your feet. Just like you can stand on a dime edge, you can stand on a jam that merely consists of the end of your big toe twisted into a pin scar, particularly if you hold your body in such a way that pastes the toe into the crack.
4. Hold your body in such a way that your weight stays over your feet. This might involve creative body position.
5. Some cracks suggest that you keep one foot in the crack while the other smears the face while you quickly hike the crack foot up to the next jam. Sometimes you keep both feet in the crack and leapfrog one foot over the other. Sometimes it is less awkward to shuffle the feet up the crack, with one foot staying low and the other high. The same goes for the hand jams, it could be one hand over the other, or one staying low and the other high.
6. Choose the jam that feels most solid. Thumbs up is preferable to thumbs down since those jams are most solid when you bring them down to chest level or lower.
7. For finger jams, try to have the constriction bind on the area between the knuckles not on them. The strongest finger jam stacks the middle finger over the index finger with the arm/elbow oriented straight down, not pulling to the side.
8. It's a good idea to place your hand jam so you don't have to move it while your using it.
9. When it gets too big for bomber hands, use "cupped hands" by rotating the thumb further from the index finger, if wider go to fists, if wider, complain, then pull on the edge of the crack with one hand while you press on the far edge of the crack with the bone of the forearm of the other.
10. When it gets too small for bomber hands, first try to get away with thin hands, thinner? ..look for constrictions in the crack and wrap your index and middle fingers around the constriction from the top and thumb up around the constriction from the bottom. This is called a ring jam. It's hard to hold your whole weight on this kind of jam so pay attention to standing on you feet. Softer shoes, like slippers, work better in thin hand and finger cracks than Kaukulaters, Aces, or other stiff shoes.
11. When the crack gets too wide for bomber feet. cam one side your foot against one side of the crack while the other side of your shoe presses on the other side. As it gets wider, move towards Heel/toe jamming.
12. I hate tape because it's hard to keep it from constricting the muscles used in jamming. You wind up wasting power fighting the tape. Tape gloves are usually less offensive. A client gave me a pair of hand jammies (thanks) which I find useful for walls and rough fist cracks, but in general, it's way easier for me to climb with naked hands, so it's hard to consider tape or jammies to be cheating.
13. If you want to learn crack climbing, stop resorting to standing on face holds and/or liebacking. These crutches just hold you back and will only take you so far.
Peace
Karl
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This wide crack post, from Petsfed, was well done. I’m pasting it in to complete the beta:
Off-widths require a vaguely similar technique. If you try to hang off just your arms, you will make it about 12 feet before pumping out, no matter how strong you are.
The first thing to remember is that you have to use you appendages like tube chocks. That is, try to put your weight soley on your bones. Arm bars, knee bars and heel & toe jams are good examples of this. If you can put your hand low and your elbow high and holds, its bombproof. More often than not though, that's squeeze chimney territory.
If it truly is an off-width climb, you have several options. If you can lie your back flat against one face of the crack, you'll have to use the chicken wing, or reversed chicken wing. I can never keep the two separate so here's a brief description of both. Put your thumb in your armpit. Now imagine cramming your elbow to your shoulder into a crack then straightening your arm until you have a jam. There's one. Now point your arm straight out from you. Imagine bending your arm until you get a solid jam from that. That can and will work in some situations. Use your other arm to push or pull (whichever works) on the side of the crack, or use any face holds in the area.
For smaller offwidths, you have to start stacking body parts. Handstacks are obvious. Basically hand and fist jams as depicted above, but as opposed to jamming between two opposing faces of rock, each hand is touching only one face (presumably the opposite face from what the other is touching) and jamming between the rock and the other hand. Sounds scary huh? You can also hand-forearm stack, hand-torso stack, and my personal favorite, hand-head stack.
This begs the question though, how do you move your hands without falling out? If its narrow enough, you can simply use foot jams and stand up while barely touching the crack as you move your hands up. That's difficult. What works better is to jam your knees in and then flex the surrounding muscles. With both knees in, you remove your hands entirely, place pro perhaps, then reset your hand stack higher. You don't fall because you have mega-ripped abs . The entire process (hand stack, knee jam) is called levitation. In larger offwidths however, levitation simply doesn't work. You must use a heel and toe with one foot and flag with the other. Sometimes the crack is too big for that. Then you use a knee and heel, or better still a knee and toe. In such a situation, there is no way to look truly graceful. Indeed, you can only pick out a skilled off-width climber by the sheer lack of profanity. Alas, I sound like a sailor when I climb off-widths.
Resting in an off-width is an exercise in creativity. Arm bars work well as do knee bars. If you're skinny or nearly in a squeeze chimney, you can place an arm across your chest and breathe in. My god, you're resting! If possible, swap out hand stacks for arm stacks. The idea is to get you muscled relaxed without falling. Of course, in an off-width or squeeze chimney, falling is often more akin to a horrifically obese person going through a child's tube slide lined with sand paper. You don't free fall per se , you simply slide.
Knee pads are recommended, but only thin ones. My girlfriend gets bruises covering her entire knee after off-widthing such that she cannot wear shorts for several weeks (from pain and from the sheer nausea that those around her get from looking at said bruises).
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