I tried some crack...

climbing friend,

toughen yourself up, you are rising and adapting to the challenge

"Adventure is not for every man. And that's the charm of it."
- Herman Buhl
- John Long
- Aleks Zebastian

Hobo Greg wrote:

It's a small help really. Proper technique will go much further. I had been tradding for two years before I needed gloves, and only in Indian Creek. And only for cups.if you work an office job, maybe you do really need em, but if you live in the dirt and/or do manual labor, you won't need em much if it all.

The OP's name is "Abogado (Lawyer) Chris." Your name is "Hobo (Vagabundo) Greg." You do the math. 

Yea once you're strong enough for the grade, your hands don't really slip in the crack. I've climbed big walls without taping up. But once you have the gobie scars, they tear open quite easily. Taping up is quite worth the trouble, though. The tape tears before the skin does. And tape gloves can last many, many sessions. Just patch up the damage where it happens.

Señor Arroz wrote:

The OP's name is "Abogado (Lawyer) Chris." Your name is "Hobo (Vagabundo) Greg." You do the math. 

Why does my brother in law always say puta when referring to me?

Chris,

We will most likely not be at South Woodson one morning this weekend, almost certainly not crack climbing, and definitely not teaching another guy crack technique/gear placement who's only been climbing for 9 months, so if you aren't interested in joining, you better not send me a PM.

Buck Rio wrote:

Why does my brother in law always say puta when referring to me?

Because he loves your mom.

Hobo Greg wrote:

Sick I didn't know how to say it in Spanish, now I can have my own show on Telemundo, Vagabundo Gregorio!

Pinche guero.

Chris, emailed you from my gmail.  No response, you in or not?

Locals Only wrote: Chris, emailed you from my gmail.  No response, you in or not?

This account is linked to a super old email, sorry. I was supposed to go to Holcomb anyway, but then I had a little too much fun Friday night for my bachelor party and didn’t go anywhere but to the bathroom all day Saturday. 

Burchy, he can't be a local if he's a puker, can he?

Abogado Chris wrote:

You know, I was so fixated on my hands that I am sure I wasn’t paying enough attention to my foot work. Like most climbers (I think) I tend to forget about my feet when I am struggling. In hindsight, I’m pretty sure I was basically trying to campus my way up the cracks. 

I tried with tape and without tape. I don’t mind the abrasions at all that’s sort of a good pain even when it is happening, but my wrist bone and wrist joint were super afterwards, and it hurt like hell on the wrist joint while cranking. I know pain and crack climbing go hand in and hand but I’m just not sure how much of mine is normal and how much is from poor technique. I would reach up high, elbow out, jam in, then crank my elbow down in towards/parrallel with the crack. But most of the time I just struggled to make my hand or fist fit properly so that they didn’t pop out. At least that’s what it felt like was my problem, my hands definitely kept popping out of the crack but again, could be as much about foot work and how I pulled on the hand jams (out as opposed to down) as it was my actual hand placement. 
Someone mentioned staying close in to the crack, I think this is something else I should work on. I feel like my ass and body were way out in space away from the crack most of the time. 
I like it, I will definitely be back for more. 
Thank you everyone for your feed back.  

AC.. yes you discovered what I think is the most important part.. footwork, footwork, footwork. I have never found a gym that had a realistic crack to practice on. When I couldn't find rock cracks, I was looking for cracks in buildings, parking garages and rock facades for practice. . Slipping is what causes the gobies and scrapes (just like slipping on face holds). Once you get the techniques down you wont slip and your jams will be more positive. Once I got the feel for it, I rarely taped, and actually the tape interfered with my feel for the rock. by that point I think the only climb I taped for was Separate Reality. There are so many subtleties to different jamming situations, (thumb locks, sprigs, wrist angle, cupping, etc) I won't even try to describe it in a post. I can tell you once you get its just SO MUCH FUN!

Sometimes, you find cracks INSIDE of cracks, and you now have a jug to ease your mind! Its crrraaaazy!

Seriously, sometimes your body does things that you don't even have to think of, in order to tell it to do what you want. You'll find ways to jam that can't be found in any text book (not that I've studied any of it). 

Abogado Chris wrote:

You know, I was so fixated on my hands that I am sure I wasn’t paying enough attention to my foot work. Like most climbers (I think) I tend to forget about my feet when I am struggling. In hindsight, I’m pretty sure I was basically trying to campus my way up the cracks. 

Someone mentioned staying close in to the crack, I think this is something else I should work on. I feel like my ass and body were way out in space away from the crack most of the time. 
 

These things go together. What I notice instructing is that almost everyone has a tendency to pull most of their upper body in with your arms with feet in the crack at first. If they have a face climbing background and edge/smear both feet on face features they don't rely on their arms as much, hence they don't put as much pressure on their hands. The cue I've found to help is not to think about "standing up" on your feet, but rather just think about pulling your hips into the wall. At the risk of being crass, hump the crack. With the slightest core tension you'll be doing all the pulling in with your glutes, be able to relax your jams more, AND be in a stable position to set your next jam (less chance of gobbies).

While thumbs down jams are very secure they won't let you move very far up. If it's good hands (big 1 to tight 3) then you can move further from thumbs up.

Bowing your body in toward the wall by humping your hips inward somewhat eliminates demand on the core. Then you can push, with your legs, into a higher stance. It's amazing to make it feel so easy, in an instant! 

Paul Hutton wrote: Bowing your body in toward the wall by humping your hips inward somewhat eliminates demand on the core. Then you can push, with your legs, into a higher stance. It's amazing to make it feel so easy, in an instant! 

climbing friend,

do you know of any ways for practice of "humping your hips inward?"

all your humping are belong to me

Abogado Chris wrote:

This account is linked to a super old email, sorry. I was supposed to go to Holcomb anyway, but then I had a little too much fun Friday night for my bachelor party and didn’t go anywhere but to the bathroom all day Saturday. 

That's how  the climbers downfall begins. Next it's marriage, shopping at ikea on Saturdays, and spending Sunday with her family getting fat at the Cracker Barrel. You will still have dreams of how you used to at least make plans to go outside climbing before you ditched out at the last second, and your climbing will be put back in he safety of the gym. Seen it a thousand times!

Jack Quarless wrote:

That's how  the climbers downfall begins. Next it's marriage, shopping at ikea on Saturdays, and spending Sunday with her family getting fat at the Cracker Barrel. You will still have dreams of how you used to at least make plans to go outside climbing before you ditched out at the last second, and your climbing will be put back in he safety of the gym. Seen it a thousand times!

BITD we used to hold funerals for our climbing friends that were getting married!  

Marriage and climbing seem to be oil and water, I have no idea why....

Buck Rio wrote:

BITD we used to hold funerals for our climbing friends that were getting married!  

Marriage and climbing seem to be oil and water, I have no idea why....

Are you married? Based on your comment I guess not.. because then you would KNOW why!   

BTW I am married.. even got married within sight of Yosemite falls... nevertheless, my advice is to keep having those funerals for your friends

M guzzy wrote:

Are you married? Based on your comment I guess not.. because then you would KNOW why!   

BTW I am married.. even got married within sight of Yosemite falls... nevertheless, my advice is to keep having those funerals for your friends

I got married later in life, 36, and am still married 15 years later. I grew out of the "climb at any cost" phase of my life, plus I got injured and was glad I had a loving wife to help support my recovery.

But when we were all climbing every weekend and going on trips, etc, a married partner was an absent partner, hence the mock funeral, because more often than not it was the end of their climbing lifestyle.  

Buck Rio wrote:

I got married later in life, 36, and am still married 15 years later. I grew out of the "climb at any cost" phase of my life, plus I got injured and was glad I had a loving wife to help support my recovery.

But when we were all climbing every weekend and going on trips, etc, a married partner was an absent partner, hence the mock funeral, because more often than not it was the end of their climbing lifestyle.  

climbing friend,

so what is it the solution? you must commit to the holy path and do no humping whatever? to avoid any chance of marriage or most undesirable accidental pregnancy and maintain maximum climbing lifestyle? the sexual frustration most likely increases your athletic abilities and peak contact force of fingertip pad during bold flash or aggressive campus session?