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Standard trad rack for arkansas

Original Post
Austin Russell · · Springfield Missouri · Joined Jan 2017 · Points: 10

What would you guys consider a standard rack for horseshoe canyon or sams throne? Thanks

S Perry · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2016 · Points: 195

Depends on your objectives and difficulty, but for a number of the moderate classics (5.7-5.10) I would say doubles of .5-3, singles in finger sizes, and one number 4 camalot plus a set of stoppers. However, if you are looking to do some of the classic off-widths (In the Crack or on Your Back, Battle of the Bulge, Diet Pepsi, etc.) two 4s, and at least one 5 (but you would probably want two), and a 6 are good. Having a number 5 on First Time Up (5.8) was also nice.  

pat a · · ann arbor, mi · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 0

Personal preference, but I'd say the standard rack for sandstone throughough the east/southeast is going to be something along the lines of doubles from 0.5 to #2 (maybe #3), single 0.3, 0.4, 3 and 4.  Plus a set of nuts, with emphasis on DMM offsets.  

That'll let you do most moderates in AK, TN and KY.  Really, it'll get you by almost anywhere.  

After that it gets more specific, I think.  The less you've climbed, the more you'll be cutting your teeth on hand sized cracks.  I tripled my 1's and 2's pretty quickly climbing in the Red.  I use my #5 and #6 a lot, but a bolder climber might not.  Tricams are pretty damn useful in pockets in the Red, but don't seem nearly as useful at places like HCR.  That sort of thing.

JD Borgeson · · Little Rock, AR · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 2,064

for the classic cracks at horseshoe, youll probably want doubles of 1s 2s and 3s, but honestly I got through many routes with just a single rack of 0.5 to 3 c4s, a rack of nuts, and plenty of slings to sling chickenheads with. most the routes are short and are rarely consistent enough cracks/seams to need doubles of anything on. there are a few you'd want doubles on, sure.

Frank Stein · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 205

Why bother with Horseshoe if you want to climb trad?  Go to Magazine for truly outstanding crack climbing. Double rack with a single set of nuts should do nicely on most routes there. 

JD Borgeson · · Little Rock, AR · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 2,064

The west side of horseshoe has some of the best hand cracks in the state is why. I'm not a huge fan of horseshoe for a lot of reasons, but if you want some perfect handcracks for the whole route, its really the only place to go.

David Deville · · Fayetteville, AR · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 90

For a total beginner on the HCR cracks, triples in #1-#3 are helpful. For some examples, the first time I climbed Treebeard, I was very happy to have 3 #3's, on WMA I was very happy to have 3 #1's, and (now that I think about it) there isn't anything I can think of that I'd use 3 #2's on. It does seem weird to triple up on 1's and 3's without tripling up the 2's. For most of the easier Sam's throne stuff you wouldn't ever need more than 2 of anything, and you can climb a lot of the easy classics just on stoppers and hex's pretty easily. For diet pepsi 2 #5's are mandatory for all but the offwidth wizards or general badasses. 

Edit: JD is correct, magazine is a great place to trad climb, but HCR has most of the best crack pitches in the state; bonus points since I've never run into crowds on the west side even on the busiest Saturdays (other than the boulderers of course). 

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Midwest
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