How long should I expect to suck at climbing cracks?

TheBirdman wrote:but I don't think it's a stretch to say, it's basically the same move over and over. It seems to me that one of the challenges of crack climbing, is being able to endure the pain of crack climbing for the length of the crack.

What do you think Culp Bossier is? 95% of it is a jug ladder. Comparing the movement on a "high end" boulder problem to an intro route of any style (like #2 crack) is kind of silly.

If your toes hurt that much on #2 you probably need bigger shoes. A friend of mine was in denial about his shoes, complaining about pain all the time on hand cracks at the creek. I let him try my bigger shoes and he immediately felt the difference. No surprise, he also started climbing better, and enjoyed the climbing more.

In a related story, WTB: Stiff shoes, in the 43-44 size range. Local pickup in Boulder preferred. Prefer cheap since I'll likely ruin them with my terrible crack technique.

learn to rest while still in the crack. Find a route with a crack, place some pro, then practice different ways to shake out, chalk-up, place gear while still resting on your foot/feet. Try to get comfortable w/o pain. Just like face climbing, moving your foot 1-2" may effect comfort and grip.

Another technique practice is to lead a crack different ways. For example, take on Super Crack and climb it with your right hand on top most of the way. Then climb it with your left hand on top most of the way. Then climb it alternating your top hands. Then try to lay back the whole climb (good luck with that one). Notice the difference in efficiency, pain, enjoyment, etc. Maybe then you'll realize that while the route is almost the same size the whole way, depending what technique you use will adjust your endurance, power, pain and pleasure.

If you have easy access to nice cracks that you can boulder or do laps on TR, that is undoubtedly the best way to get used to climbing cracks. However; for me...my local gym has some very nice cracks by gym standards...and when I first started I couldn't even pull through two moves of a vertical 5.7/8 perfect hand crack without hating life. I kept at it and now it not only is fairly boring, but also pain free. I know other people who worked the same cracks only to find it step up their real crack climbing game two fold.

But bottom line, crack climbing in general hurts, somehow your body typically adjusts to it, and so does your technique, until then, cringe on :)

Evolv evo sucks at jamming believe me I tried. Pontes lace (not Velcro-different shoe same name!) is better. But still not ideal. Yes many love their moccassyms. Until they have to edge. Moccasyms are like the creek. Highly specialized. Best crack shoe? Tc pro. Yes you must mortgage your house to pay for it. But climbing is what matters. This shoe is best.

As for cracks generally- the name is appropriate. They take hold of your life. They cause you to neglect family and friends. They turn you into a mindless addict. But at first they really really suck. Causing most to stick to bolts. Which is awesome.

Best advice: decide who you want to be and be that. I decided crack was for me after hearing one to many "daaaaAAAT" scream at jacks. I'm still paying entrance fees but man is it fun.

Ps, read micah dash's piece in the creek guide about tape. Try tapeless. Chew up your hands. Then at work the wounds can remind you of your weekend. It's like anything else; the best stuff is the stuff you suffer for. Surely if you like alpine you know this.

Try climbing cracks with Achilles tendinosis and planter fashitus "owch" !!!!!!!

Ow yeah and week ankles from years of chronic sprains via skateboarding and BMX dirt jumping.

I also prefer technical face climbing as a result but crack is fun man!

Cos baby i don't want you to ever quit

Ohh it ain't no good till it

Hurts just a little bit.

Oh it hurts so good....

supertopo.com/climbers-foru…

"In a related story, WTB: Stiff shoes, in the 43-44 size range. Local pickup in Boulder preferred. Prefer cheap since I'll likely ruin them with my terrible crack technique."

If you don't find them at that garage sale in Boulder (actually a pretty great place for this stuff) then try eBay- people are always cleaning out their closets and unloading classic crack shoes. Get the TC's later when you won't wreck them with your shitty technique (and don't bring them to Indian Creek)- they don't last all that long.

Hard cracks are indeed sequential. Easy ones can be made hard with the wrong sequence!

It's kind of a blue-collar obsession, you really have to embrace grovelling and how much it feels like work. It's OK to be humbled. It's OK to bleed. It's OK to feel like you just lifted a car off a baby and you only travelled and inch and a half. Face climbing is largely intuitive and natural, that's why most people get better at it quickly. Cracks are different. There's some good advice in here, on toproping and climbing the same crack in different styles- take it. Lots of times the ego just wants to be good at something, but that's not how we learn. Embrace the beatdown and have fun.

-Rob
I don't suck at cracks, but I am by no means a master

My feet have always hurt some in cracks, and now that I'm old and have less subcutaneous padding down there, they seem to hurt more. Here are some things I don't think have been mentioned yet.

1. Try a pair of shoes you can wear socks in.

2. Think about adjusting your foot placements. There are two issues here.

(a) If something hurts a lot, moving your foot just a little deeper or a little shallower can substantially dial back or eliminate the pain. After experimenting with this on a top rope, you'll learn where your worst pressure points are and will automatically avoid loading them.

(b) Even the most uniform cracks have subtle width variations that matter, because fractions of an inch difference can have a very substantial effect on pain level. So adjusting your foot up or down a very small amount in a crack can change how much it hurts. Again, top-rope practice will help you to learn how to choose the subtly different widths that lessen foot pain without having to experiment while climbing.

So what I'd recommend is to top-rope something with really painful foot placements. Hang at a painful spot and try all the adjustments, a little higher, a little lower, a little deeper, a little shallower, toe pointed down, more and less torque, etc., and see if there is a way for you to use that locale without excruciating pain. Building up a experience with these situations will help you to make the optimal or at least better choices automatically, which of course is necessary for most leading situations.

Rob Dillon wrote:It's OK to feel like you just lifted a car off a baby and you only travelled and inch and a half.

So you've seen me try to climb overhanging bombay squeeze to offwidth? Damn, I thought no-one was watching.

GO

Wild Country Crack School - Episode 1 - Finger Cracks - By Tom Randall And Pete Whittaker

I really appreciate your humility. Crack climbing is tough and very different from face climbing. I wish I was better at it. That being said, if you really get after it and can send 5.10 cracks of varying width and duration, the Casual Route isn't a bad goal. If not though, be prepared. For it's grade, it is brutal to those that aren't accustomed to cracks and offwidth. I got my ass handed to me on that route, but I survived and topped out...it just took a while. A long...humbling...following...while.

The Wild Country video is great though! Just get out there and get familiar with crack. It's weird. Good luck and you can do it!

If you can climb 5.12+ to avoid crack climbing then why do you need to climb cracks anyways? Sounds like your have all the skills you need.

I am a natural crack climber and pretty much have the exact opposite problem you do. Hand jams are my only jugs.

JLP wrote:There's a reason crack gumbies walk around with boxing gloves and clodhoppers. Start there and work up.

Maybe start with loose shoes, but I'd recommend against the tape gloves. More hassle than their worth on easy cracks and they inhibit the development of techniques that you need to be learning when you start crack climbing.

Not taping up for a sharp grainy crack will instill good habits and technique that are developed as you try to avoid the cuts that tape would have protected you from. Not arguing that "tape is aid," just that if you're learning, it's like wearing gloves while trying to learn to read braille.

johnL wrote:How many people responding to this thread don't suck at cracks?

Well, what's the threshold for crack suck-age? Dispatching popular hand cracks and finger cracks at indian creek but being unable to ascend off widths and squeeze chimneys? Or being able to get up about any crack from 10b/c on down regardless of size, but hitting a hard plateau above that?

I might suck at cracks depending on your criteria.

IMHO...... Stick to sport climbing!!!! Some climbers will simply never understand or learn how to crack climb. Lucky me!!!! Lol

the link to donini's supertopo thread reminded me about hearing him answer "why keep coming back to the creek?"- with "because it's the best training for patagonia"

Splitter crack technique is crucial for many many high end alpine routes

I'd be tempted to say it's the shoes. I have a pair of Evolv EVO's to use in the gym and find them very painful to wear for anything more than 20 minutes, and I only have them a half size down from my street shoe. They don't fit my feet well and I can only imagine what they would feel like in cracks, especially with my toes even slightly curled.

Look into a softer shoe as the WC video suggests, but one that still edges decently. Completely flat toes is a good place to start for crack shoes.

I am also a sport climber first and went through the same initial pain but day after day it hurt less and every new trip to the Creek I suck less than the previous time at climbing crack......Embrace this as a new challenge plus the creek is such a fantastic place to be at!