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Ahab - Yosemite Beta
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Hi offwidth friends, |
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Once you get through the beginning of using your knees, you can transition to full heel to toe scum walking up the rest of it. The whole time I was milking whatever edges and chicken wings I could deep inside the crack. Mostly I was pressing between the outside edge and my back to shimmy up and using my feet just to pause and reset. Ron Kaulk walked up while I was climbing it and started yelling up at me about how to use my feet better. The first picture is from before he told me to bridge between my toes and heels (dude probably wears size 12 1/2 climbing shoes so he might scum from the beginning). It went way way easier after I did what he said. |
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It's all about maximizing skin friction, so eat and eat and eat until you can bridge the wide with your gut meat, while maintaining your core strength to get some leg involved deep in there. Jiggle and wiggle and wriggle that thing upwards, power slamming the gut with a deep inhale to hold you in place to reset hands or feet. The hardest part is setting realistic mental goals of 1-2-3" of upward progress at a time (the hardest part of climbing the wide, really). At the point you can finally get a decent ish wide left hand jam, heave the dicky-doo out and use it to solidify your foot jam staying power. Proceed to the chains. |
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Left side in yes. CHICKEN WING. Get your feet up, and set. Both of them. You really only need help from your knee while repositioning your left arm, to an arm bar, or to a chicken wing. Do whatever ever seems best with your right arm, it will vary. Push up with your feet, quick reset your left arm chicken wing. You should be able to hang your whole body weight off the chicken wing. Repeat. I think foot stacking is useful, or even neccessary on some of Ahab. I have done it a few times, but don't remember specifics. It's a wide OW, some chimneying, maybe a bit of hand/fist up high? If you are struggling with Ahab, try something else, maybe something a little easier, to build your technique. Or several other routes. I am a firm believer that IF you are thrashing and flailing, you aren't learning much. A few such moves are ok, but if it's a skin eating thrash the whole way, it isn't worth it. When you have the techniqueS, it isn't necessarily any more physical than any other kinda crack climbing. Lots to choose from in THE Valley. |
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"How to use a high lift jack", Tim Bates 4wd, YouTube. It might seem crazy, but there's a spot in his video showing the mechanism resetting (while lifting the handle), then the mechanism pushing up (while pushing the handle down). Years ago, when I was teaching OW Climbing with some regularity, many people found envisioning their body working like a bumper jack helpful. Not many people today have ever seen a bumper jack, but 4wd people know a high lift jack, and the 2 work the same. Set, push, reset, push......ad nauseam! Sorry I don't know how to post a YouTube link here on MP. I am an OG. That's why I know classic old school wide crack climbing. I never free soloed Ahab. I've lead it with not much gear though. That is old school. Hey Ben. Yeah it's more of a chimney. No place for hand/fist stacking I agree. I think I do find footstacking useful somewhere along the way though. It's easy to set footstacks off of chicken wings, or what I call low arm bars (if you are inside). I'm certain you know what I mean. |
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Can confirm beta: left side in. Left arm chicken wing all the way up the chimney, left foot heel-toe as far in as in necessary. Right foot on back wall, right knee in the edge of the flare. Right hand pressing adge of flare. It's a matter of slow, intentional moves. Chicken wing. Right foot and knee set. Left foot up and re-set. Repeat sequence. Once past the chimney, there's a good fist, and it's all over. Technically, Ahab's more of a chimney than an OW. I can't imagine wanting to stack either feet or hands; what would you do immediately after? There has to be a strategy to escape the stack, or it's just a waste of energy. |
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I recall T-stacks for the feet were secure. |
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I'm sure it goes multiple ways, but I climbed the low crux (flare off of the pedestal) basically horizontal. Left side in, left foot heel toe deep (where it's #6 sized and your foot spans it) and really high (above your waist), left arm chicken wing. Those 2 limbs are super secure and very easy to hang out off of. It's just a question of generating upward progress with whatever the right side of your body can figure out. I mostly did some weird right knee scumming and right hand gastons, but that bit could definitely be refined. |
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Responses in this thread show some variation in how people solve the challenges of just this one classic Yosemite wide crack. Which is why, on these threads, I always recommend doing a greater variety of routes in the quest for improvement. We all end up with somewhat different sequences to be successful, depending on the specifics of our own physiques and experience. And both evolve over time. Everyone has to build their own skillset. Enjoy the journey. |
Rob Dillon wrote: lol. I guess my memory is tainted by how big he seemed to me. I’m 5’7 and he’s 5’11 but the dude comes off as big or maybe I was fawning over the legend. Anyway, yes, left chicken wings, left foot heel to toe bridge, right kneebar between back wall and outside edge and right hand downwards pressure on outside edge. |
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I have no beta but I'm sure glad I climbed that rig decade ago when it still had at least a little bit of texture on it. I'm sure it's smooth as glass and greasy as snot these days. |
Mark Hudonwrote: Its actually not as bad as after six/ some of the camp 4 boulders. I better get my ascent in soon too |
