Slab Climbing is the Offwidth of Face Climbing

I learned to climb in NC, and I'd like to distill my experiences down to bullet points:

1. Resist the temptation to over reach for little crimps or crystals. Stretching for a tempting hand hold is a great way to slip.
Stretching out = death.

2. High steps are mandatory but often a series of little scary baby steps will get that high step within range. Baby steps usually need to be made quickly so that there is some momentum.
Stopping = death.

2. Temps matter a lot. Hard slabs should be climbed when it's cold out.
Hot sun = death.

3. Employ the running belay on the 1st pitch. Regular belay = death.

4. Mind control. Pick the next concave or rough surface as your next stance. That is your universe. Freaking out = death.

5. Wear long pants so that if you do fall you want loose a lot of skin. A good belayer + a slow slide means you can be stopped at the last piece of gear.
Short pants = road rash.

6. High steps are often a strong position for clipping/resting/or assessing. You can rest your chin on your knee and your naughty bits on your heel while reconsidering your life choices.

7. Don't freak if your foot slips a little. (In NC, it's not 5.10 until your foot slips an inch or two through the crux moves.)

8. Palms down nearly all the time. Quit looking up, there's nothing there, it's a slab. Palms down.

9. Carry a few medium stoppers in case the bolt hanger is homemade and can't accommodate the nose of the carabiner. Thread the stopper cable through the hanger.

10. It's ok to cry.

That's all I've got for now. Cheers!

Ian McAlexander wrote:I learned to climb in NC, and I'd like to distill my experiences down to bullet points: 1. Resist the temptation to over reach for little crimps or crystals. Stretching for a tempting hand hold is a great way to slip. Stretching out = death. 2. High steps are mandatory but often a series of little scary baby steps will get that high step within range. Baby steps usually need to be made quickly so that there is some momentum. Stopping = death. 2. Temps matter a lot. Hard slabs should be climbed when it's cold out. Hot sun = death. 3. Employ the running belay on the 1st pitch. Regular belay = death. 4. Mind control. Pick the next concave or rough surface as your next stance. That is your universe. Freaking out = death. 5. Wear long pants so that if you do fall you want loose a lot of skin. A good belayer + a slow slide means you can be stopped at the last piece of gear. Short pants = road rash. 6. High steps are often a strong position for clipping/resting/or assessing. You can rest your chin on your knee and your naughty bits on your heel while reconsidering your life choices. 7. Don't freak if your foot slips a little. (In NC, it's not 5.10 until your foot slips an inch or two through the crux moves.) 8. Palms down nearly all the time. Quit looking up, there's nothing there, it's a slab. Palms down. 9. Carry a few medium stoppers in case the bolt hanger is homemade and can't accommodate the nose of the carabiner. Thread the stopper cable through the hanger. 10. It's ok to cry. That's all I've got for now. Cheers!

^^^^^^^^ That!
Brings back so many NC memories, both great and terrifying!!!

Slab climbing is just like roofing but you don't get paid...

Mt wheeler

Awesome tips! Yeah, I'd say stretching out is definitely a mistake I make. As a tall guy, I often do this to skip crappy intermediate holds, which helps on overhangs but evidently not here...

Ted Pinson wrote:Awesome tips! Yeah, I'd say stretching out is definitely a mistake I make. As a tall guy, I often do this to skip crappy intermediate holds, which helps on overhangs but evidently not here...

The farther you reach the less good your feet (as you lean in less is over your feet).

And it goes for your feet too. People starting out often make the mistake of stepping too high when they should pad their feet up first with bootie in the air, then step on the next good hold.

john strand wrote: Mark- you must rememeber the Glass menagerie pitch on HOM ? 11A..aaahhh right

In my old guidebook "Yosemite Climbs" by George Myers (1982) the Glass Menagerie is rated 5.12. When I first climbed this pitch in 1981, the info we had said it was .12a. I crossed out the 5.12 rating in my guidebook & wrote .11c. I was probably comparing it to The Calf, which is steeper at the start with holds & a desperate mantle. Comparing the two pitches probably isn't fair because they are very different. I don't doubt the Glass Menagerie is probably .12a, but I'm not up there on it now to confirm that.

The Hall Of Mirrors pitch is rated .11a in the 1982 Myers guide, but we seemed to think it was rated .11b in 1981. I don't remember a lot about this pitch, except ascending a faint flared seamless corner.

I know somewhere I have the old Mountain magazines with two articles about the first ascent by Chris Cantwell, Bruce Morris, Scott burke & Dave Austin in 1980. The first article was about establishing the lower half of the route to the Unfinished 9th. The second article is about completely the route which was originally graded 5.13. Cantwell talks about using the Contacts as the best shoe over the EB for the route. It was climbed pre-sticky rubber. The articles have topos of the 16 pitch climb.

My second attempt on the route I had Boreal Fires, but still failed on the 9th pitch.

Ian McAlexander wrote: 3. Employ the running belay on the 1st pitch.

Thanks for mentioning this Ian. Absolutely essential on most slab climbs & especially true on Glacier Point Apron. I have also employed the technique most often in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Forget using a Grigri. If you use a belay device it is more of a back up (Unless you are on the ground where you can actually run backwards. If you are belaying from a bolted anchor, run the lead rope through a carabiner off one of the bolts. When the leader falls, pull in slack with both hands. Catching the fall with hands on the rope in front of you through a biner is surprisingly easy. Falls can be significantly shortened this way. I have reduced a 25-30 ft. fall down to 12-15 ft. stopping the leader at the protection bolt.

For steeper slab climbs of 75 to 85 degrees this technique isn't advised as falls tend to more airborne & less of a slide.

I bet Mirrors was pretty close to 5.13 when first done. I had a pair of Contacts as well..most painful shoe ever..

HOM is a great climb up to the Hang,,,then you just can't do it.

Reelin' in the rope man !!!

I'm one of those guys who enjoys a good slab, and there is some good info here. Nobody has really tied it into your OP though. You mentioned falling at a clip in the OP. Most of the time if you're run out (either mentally or physically) and you try to stretch to the bolt, you will change everything you did to get there and pop right off. A 30' fall and a 33' fall is about the same unless of course you're 30' off the ground. Don't let crystals, ledges, bolts, or other features change how you are climbing. Use them only when and where they benefit you. Also, when you are mentally taxed you tend to gravitate toward larger crystals, edges, etc.. It's the cause of many chalk paths to the abyss.

Really over complicating this stuff. It is simple, don't fall.

ViperScale wrote:Really over complicating this stuff. It is simple, don't fall.

Who needs technique or strenght???

Just don't fall, DUH!

.....

I think I've heard of that smearing thing, and that black stuff on shoes is supposed to do...something, but whatsa "slab"??? Meat for the BBQ?

Best, OLH, perpetually trapped on vertical to overhanging columnar basalt. Kidnap me, please?

I went about 80' one time, skipping off the left hip. Good thing I was young..

I prefer to never fall on slab. Climbing run out slab is all about confidence. if i were to fall on the well protected crux of a slab route that might mess with my head for the next runout.

just keep moveing up. to stop and contemplate just burns out your calfs and ruins your head. never reach.... don't forget to look up a lot and make shure that your still on the right path... looking just at your feet is a great way to climb right past the bolt. many a time i have been searching for that bolt and see it 20 ft left and 20ft below me. next bolt is still a mile away... Do Not wear a ball cap for the same reason... thats about all you need to know...

Hobo Greg wrote: Nutso! Was that on Whitehorse or similar? I read in the ADK rock book that someone fell soloing Pringles on Chapel Pond slab and afterwards drove himself to the bar with his wrists.

A place called Albany Slab in NH. The route was Reelin' in The Fears..since retro bolted (7) ! and now is "spicey"...please

Guy Keesee wrote:Jonathan.... the climb comes up the water groove, right?

That's correct, and sometimes steps out left to clip a bolt or reach the belay.

Looking down P2 & P3 of Dixie Crystals.

Dixie Crystals (5.9) - Linking P2/P3 offers a great stretch of friction slab w/ three pieces of pro for a little over 200'. Super Fun NC Slab!

Jonathan Dull wrote: That's correct, and sometimes steps out left to clip a bolt or reach the belay. Dixie Crystals (5.9) - Linking P2/P3 offers a great stretch of friction slab w/ three pieces of pro for a little over 200'. Super Fun NC Slab!

Very cool.... how is the surface? Any grip? Snapping flakes?

The stuff that really wiggs me out is the very slick stuff, water polish like a tombstone, the stuff of nightmares.

We have a climb at Balch Flake, near Fresno,..... In "Slickness and in Stealth" its brown water polished granite. 4 pitches of unrelenting 5.11 .... at the belays- its so low angle its ridiculous... you feel like you could just untie and walk off to the left.

Talking about slab climbing reminds me of the time I told a young kid who was mouthing his disdain for the SLAB. My answer to him...."Kid there are two kinds of climbs in this world, the ones you can climb and the ones you can't"

And one more thing.... I just love the climbs at the ORG that have the dreaded slab for the last 30 feet or so... Like "Escapade" 5.11a overhanging pockets to 30 feet of 5.10D edging/friction... you blow getting to the anchors... you slide into space. It makes people cry out-loud.

That picture of the water groove has my hands all sorts of sweaty.

I made a few trips to NC from NH, the main issue was the hit list from the great Bob rotert, an NC pioneer.
"It's not bad, just don't fall off'..classic stuff. i down rated Mecury's lead (in EB's) to 5.8+ just to piss him off, it was 5.10 at the time.

we later did original route at Whitesides, all free..5.10...right...except for the hard parts.

i tried to use these methods when doing f/a's in NH