The only book on crack technique worth reading:
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Can anyone tell me the rough dimensions of the book? I am currently in the UK and can order to a friend, who will then ship it out to me but the size seems to be a limiting factor. |
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10" X 7.5" X 1/2" |
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It is the width of a tips crack.... |
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Hi everyone, |
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^ |
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Got my copy. What an excellent book! |
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I picked a copy of this up a few days back. I've got a pretty strong crack game but I figured I would read this as I recover from surgery, looks great! Gunks Jesse was kind enough to throw a thread up on Supertopo as well where I saw the link. Thanks for the crack bible |
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so i picked one up with my devalued maple syrup dollahs ... |
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bearbreeder wrote:...now all they need to do is come out with one for slab/thin face ...;)A penchant for it is your biggest asset. You just gotta get bitten. |
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bearbreeder wrote:however it doesnt spend a lot of time on the fingers and tips and much more of the space on wider cracksMaybe because there really isn't much to fingers and tips cracks as far as crack climbing goes? You can take most sport climbers that have never crack climbed & get them proficient in those sizes in 2 hours. bearbreeder wrote:now all they need to do is come out with one for slab/thin faceAgain, how many pages do you think that thing will be (without going into general climbing techniques)? I can't see it being more than a very thin pamphlet. |
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reboot wrote: Maybe because there really isn't much to fingers and tips cracks as far as crack climbing goes? You can take most sport climbers that have never crack climbed & get them proficient in those sizes in 2 hours. Again, how many pages do you think that thing will be (without going into general climbing techniques)? I can't see it being more than a very thin pamphlet.Thin tips and fingers will definately take more than 2 hours for most NORMAL sport weenies As to friction slab slab/thin face its a very integral part of cracks up here And i suspect itll be a bit more than a thin pamphlet ... Certainly as much as the "semi thin" section in the book of 13 pages Heres THE classic climb where the footwork at the crux is all slab Exasperator 10c, squamish chief ;) |
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bearbreeder wrote: Thin tips and fingers will definately take more than 2 hours for most NORMAL sport weeniesWith respect, finger locks and tips locks are more a question of maintaining the body position and committing to a lock that doesn't feel secure than any real technique. If you're proficient with slopers or shallow pockets, the true jamming portion will take you 20 minutes to learn. It took me a LOT longer to get the basics of baggy fingers down than to master tips locks. Unless you're calling sport climbers stupid. In which case, [removed for violating rule #1] |
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bearbreeder wrote: Thin tips and fingers will definately take more than 2 hours for most NORMAL sport weeniesThere's no point arguing w/ you about the duration. But time & time again, I've seen sport climbers taking the shortest amount of time able to climb close to their sport grades on those crack sizes. Not so much w/ other (especially the in-between technique) sizes. Anyways, what did your fellow Canadian say about the cobra crack? Something to the effect of taking strong sport (weenies) & give them a crash course on jamming. |
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Brian Scoggins wrote: With respect, finger locks and tips locks are more a question of maintaining the body position and committing to a lock that doesn't feel secure than any real technique. If you're proficient with slopers or shallow pockets, the true jamming portion will take you 20 minutes to learn. It took me a LOT longer to get the basics of baggy fingers down than to master tips locks. Unless you're calling sport climbers stupid. In which case, [removed for violating rule #1]it definitely takes more than 20 min ... for most NORMAL sport climbers ... and out here its also a matter of slab/face footwork, or getting the very tip of the shoe in the crack reboot wrote: There's no point arguing w/ you about the duration. But time & time again, I've seen sport climbers taking the shortest amount of time able to climb close to their sport grades on those crack sizes. Not so much w/ other (especially the in-between technique) sizes. Anyways, what did your fellow Canadian say about the cobra crack? Something to the effect of taking strong sport (weenies) & give them a crash course on jamming.im not arguing that it isnt easier for folks to learn finger locks ... yet i see folks flail on em all the time as much as hand jams ... especially with poor footwork part of it is likely a generational thing ... some older climbers can walk up fists/slab/offwidth but has issues with thin fingers/tips im simply saying theres much more to it than "20 min" or even "2 hours" ... and could use a bit more in the book as to "cobra crack" ... remember that dem wide boyz who had never climbed serious offwidth trained in their basement and basically crushed all offwidth including the hardest one to date ... then they went and trained fingers and sent cobra .... each has their own differences and demands technique ... more than a few minutes worth !!! of course if u watch their vids youll be an expert in a few minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W99gN54wLQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIdE-Dzzvlk ;) |
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hmmm, i have to agree with reboot and brian. the off sizes warrant a lot more attention than fingers/tips. |
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slim wrote:hmmm, i have to agree with reboot and brian. the off sizes warrant a lot more attention than fingers/tips. as for the exasperator crack, i don't really remember needing any specialized slab foot technique. it's pretty straight forward.it requires you to smear the slab and trust those smears unless you just want to muscle through the crux ... which i saw some climber try the other day and their feet kept popping in theory one can also walk the crux crack, however i have yet to see anyone do that on lead as i said its a good book, however i dont feel its "comprehensive" ... and focuses on the mid- larger sizes generally i probably should come on here and say its the greatest thing since sliced bread, and everybody here will sagely nod ... but then this is a review section, not a RAH-RAH one i thought ;) |
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bearbreeder wrote: yet i see folks flail on em all the time as much as hand jams ... especially with poor footwork part of it is likely a generational thing ... some older climbers can walk up fists/slab/offwidth but has issues with thin fingers/tips im simply saying theres much more to it than "20 min" or even "2 hours" ... and could use a bit more in the bookMuch of the footwork you describe for finger/tips cracks are general face climbing footwork. Someone who is versed w/ slab/thin face (not crack) climbing isn't going to have a lot of issues with them. As for your comment about older climbers, it's mostly because fingers/tips are usually harder (climbing grade wise), which really means it's not an issue of technique, but rather strength. bearbreeder wrote: as to "cobra crack" ... remember that dem wide boyz who had never climbed serious offwidth trained in their basement and basically crushed all offwidth including the hardest one to date ... then they went and trained fingers and sent cobra ...And went thru a rough patch in Vedauwoo but thought the cobra crack experience was way more chill. Look, it's ok if the trad climbing you like do doesn't actually involve that much crack climbing techniques...I climb at eldo all the time. |
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reboot wrote: Much of the footwork you describe for finger/tips cracks are general face climbing footwork. Someone who is versed w/ slab/thin face (not crack) climbing isn't going to have a lot of issues with them. As for your comment about older climbers, it's mostly because fingers/tips are usually harder (climbing grade wise), which really means it's not an issue of technique, but rather strength. And went thru a rough patch in Vedauwoo but thought the cobra crack experience was way more chill. Look, it's ok if the trad climbing you like do doesn't actually involve that much crack climbing techniques...I climb at eldo all the time.and here i thought all the REAL cracks where in yosemite and the creek !!! actually for the same grad out here tips and fingers are usually lower angle ... a 5.10- hand crack here is often closer to vertical, however a 5.10- finger crack is often lower angle ... ie less "physical' the issue with some older climbers is that they learned on wider cracks, not in the gym or sport climbing ... which is why they can runnout chimneys that will make many of us puke ... its what they are used to look its OK if you dont think anything less than an absolutely perfect glowing review of the book is acceptable squamish has no crack climbs anyways Mercy street, 10-, squamish chief as to the "cobra experience" being more chill ... one of them sent it by the skin of his teeth the last burn on the last day ... didnt look too "chill" ... but then neither you or i has tried to free it so its all moot ;) |
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bearbreeder wrote: look its OK if you dont think anything less than an absolutely perfect glowing review of the book is acceptableI'm just saying this as an absolute rubbish face climber. I climbed mostly hands and bigger during the 10 years I spent at Vedauwoo. My aptitude for thinner-than-perfect-fingers crack sizes came from what little sport and face climbing ability I had. Baggy fingers and bigger, that insight came from actually climbing cracks. So, based on my experience, I would argue that expanding the section dedicated to perfect fingers, when that technique is pretty intuitive provided you're a competent face climber (e.g. one how knows how to smear), is a waste of paper. You can offer that criticism, sure, but I don't think its a meaningful criticism. Meanwhile, the observation upthread that there are some really useful wide techniques curiously neglected, that's a meaningful criticism. I haven't read the book. I intend to pick it up next time I get paid. Then I'll have a more robust critique of my own. |
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Brian Scoggins wrote: I'm just saying this as an absolute rubbish face climber. I climbed mostly hands and bigger during the 10 years I spent at Vedauwoo. My aptitude for thinner-than-perfect-fingers crack sizes came from what little sport and face climbing ability I had. Baggy fingers and bigger, that insight came from actually climbing cracks. So, based on my experience, I would argue that expanding the section dedicated to perfect fingers, when that technique is pretty intuitive provided you're a competent face climber (e.g. one how knows how to smear), is a waste of paper. You can offer that criticism, sure, but I don't think its a meaningful criticism. Meanwhile, the observation upthread that there are some really useful wide techniques curiously neglected, that's a meaningful criticism. I haven't read the book. I intend to pick it up next time I get paid. Then I'll have a more robust critique of my own.well remember there is nothing called "perfect fingers" for everyone ... for some green alien is tips, for others its sinker locks, etc ... i know plenty of folks who can smear just fine up slab, they have no problem doing slabby apron runs and face climbs, who get shut down by cracks that would be "perfect fingers" for myself ... but because they have large hands is tips for em of course they are laughing all the way to the bank on fist and offwidths ... im simply pointing out that there isnt too much on fingers and below in the book ... probably something to consider if one was expecting a "comprehensive" book ... and as other reviews say the "best book ever on crack climbing" its a fine book ... but perhaps not absolutely comprehensive and perhaps not the ONLY book worth reading ;) |