crack holds at rocks and ropes

i just went to the rocks and ropes web site in an attempt to send them an email with this suggestion but apparently you can't email them anymore. so, i have decided to put this idea out here on MP and see what people think.

there used to be a certain hold at the local gym that was essentially an 18" hand crack. it attached to the wall just like a normal hold, but instead of pulling on it like a face hold you could jam in it like a crack. this hold seems to have been used only once and has never been seen (at least by me) since.

my question is, why in the world don't we see more of these holds??

these holds seem like the perfect solution to the "cracks in a gym" dilemma. gyms don't want to install cracks since they're permanent and cannot be reset and they use up wall space that could otherwise be used to set many new routes a year. however, many climbers want to be able to practice crack technique at the gym, so the obvious solution seems to be using "crack holds" that can be reset whenever the gym wants to rearrange their routes.

it seems perfect to me and i really don't see why more gyms don't do this. thoughts?

I was able to play on one of those holds while out of town and they're nice. At a silo gym in Oklahoma city, they had built a 60 or so foot high crack in one of the towers. If that was the only thing in the gym, it would have been worth my $$. Talk about fun!

Sounds fun! The route setters at R&R have used holds next to edges to make jam-able holds before. I'm sure they would use just about anything to make a fun route. Thanks to all the thought that goes into puttin up plastic for us R&R setters!

Check out contactclimbing.com . Great holds made in Tucson, there are a ton of their pieces at R&R.

I love Rocks and Ropes!

i love it too but mostly for the community rather than the facilities. since i only view it as training anyway i wouldn't really have any legitimate complaints if i could train crack technique there.

Jon---
The hold that you are thinking of is an old Pusher hold. We used to use it quite often but it's design doesn't force the hand jam, rather, it got used as a "double fin pinch" due to its high profile.

G

gotcha. but a hand jam would probably have been a better option than a pinch. i'm guessing most people didn't jam it simply because they didn't know what a jam was in the first place. and since it was the only such hold in the gym, no one bothered to find out. i'm guessing entire routes made of such holds would be different.

EDIT
gawd those would be so cool! and then everyone in southern arizona could learn crack technique.

hehe cracks

rofl
mountainproject.com/v/gener…

mail"at"rocksandropes.com or jason"at"rocksandropes.com always available.

Tucson has a climbing gym?

There have been a few people in Tucson that have talked about opening another climbing gym, my guess is if Rocks and Ropes keeps what seems to me like a complacent attitude about it they may have competition as most people seem to share Boodges view. I have heard loyal R&R patrons say there's no room in Tucson for another climbing gym but if another opened I'm pretty sure Tucson would be back to one again with quickness.

I can't speak on the matter, I have never been nor will I every go. I don't like people and I don't like being inside so the thought of gym climbing is my own personal hell.

I'll add my vote for crack features at R&R. A couple months ago, I was on a multi-pitch climb on Lemmon, and I encountered a large crack going up relatively featureless slab, at which point I thought, "WTF do I do now?" Would love to practice some crack technique at the gym.

I'll add my vote for crack features at R&R. A couple months ago, I was on a multi-pitch climb on Lemmon, and I encountered a large crack going up relatively featureless slab, at which point I thought, "WTF do I do now?" Would love to practice some crack technique at the gym.</quote
Stronghold has plenty of great crack technique, you don't need a gym to practice crack technique.

Spence wrote:I'll add my vote for crack features at R&R. A couple months ago, I was on a multi-pitch climb on Lemmon, and I encountered a large crack going up relatively featureless slab, at which point I thought, "WTF do I do now?" Would love to practice some crack technique at the gym.</quote Stronghold has plenty of great crack technique, you don't need a gym to practice crack technique.

well yeah, you don't NEED a gym for anything. but it helps to be able to train and practice technique. that's all this discussion is about.

and actually the stronghold has an occasional good crack here and there but overall it's severely lacking. it's not quite as bad for cracks as mount lemmon, but it's close.