CClaude wrote:

Guyzo wrote:Cclaude.... in second one, what did he do, dump his helmet, and go old skool?

Great p0rn......

on Kindness to move your right foot up you need to plaster your head and right shoulder against the wall and drag your thumb against the roof so hard that you scrap the skin off (its a V7/V8 move). Mike had found that having his helmet on, he wasn't able to smear his head/face against the wall and get enough friction to stay on, soo he dumped his helmet.

Now me, I'm always ol'skool

Ha..... I figgered as much.

We don't have to much Basalt around here. What you guy's (rpc...too)show looks really fab....

CClaude.... have you ever been to the Owens River Gorge? ... it's sort of like that.

I just love climbing where it's not straight forward to do. ie grab the hold, grab the next etc.
but rather weird 3 dimensional things like you describe. .... There is a climb on Traper Dome, in Courtwright, where you undercling a roof heading straight right... it turns into a rightfacing book... to get into and established in the corner.... you do a 360 with your bod....makes for some interesting Rope Management so you don't tie yourself up. .........

But Crack or Face it's all good.

Ill stop the rant after this: Up at the Palm Springs tram, on Coffman Craig.... Kris S. put up a climb "It's Always Something" 5.11 (real). This one pitch climb has a little bit of everything, Chimney, Mantle, Crack- OW, hands, fingers, Flake, Undercling, Crimp edging, Steep Friction and Holdless Friction, all at steady 5.11..... I call it the best one pitch climb in California.

Guyzo wrote: I just love climbing where it's not straight forward to do. ie grab the hold, grab the next etc.

even in my own little world of 5.10 and below, I like that better too. Smith's Lower Gorge (photos above not frome there) offers more of that sorta thing - cracks but with much intricate face smears/crimps etc thrown in. eg (photo courtesy of our friend Tracy Halsey):


(I butchered this climb - no send...I apologize profusely to all!!!)

Love the shots !

I like climbs that make me think.. it's a satisfying feeling to figure things out and pull the moves. I'm an engineer, and enjoy solving problems.

The slab shots are cool too .. I enjoy balance and footwork. When we were first learning to slab climb we would repeat the Trust the Shoes mantra

Recently I went to a newly-developed area near Yosemite Valley called the Cookie Sheet. Lots of moderate (5.7 - 5.8 ) slab climbs to practice on. There should be a thread about it in supertopo somewhere -- Clint Cummins posted a topo of the routes.

I notice that different areas have different kinds of slabs. Most Sierra granite I've been on usually has micro edges to smear on, but also Tuolumne-style knobs. Jtree seems to have dishes. And then there are granite slabs that have almost featureless friction where you just smear with the feet, palms down .. some places on Tollhouse Rock and Squamish come to mind.

ok..... just one more non-standard basalt "crack"


Mike on Bach's Celebration at Paradise Forks

Yup, when I lived in the Bay Area I'd go to Owens if I got rained out of the Valley and if the Eastside was dry.

ever climb a concrete crack?


neither did I as we got rained off from pitch 1 of above but is supposed to be a very nice.

rhyang wrote:

lisae wrote:I hate cracks - they hurt my ankles and wreck my hands.

That simply means you need more practice Lisa

One of my regular gym partners has started working on her crack technique -- she's really starting to get it too .. she'll be cruising hand cracks soon

I think I agree with you on the hands but I am not so sure about my ankles. I have arthritis in my feet and ankles and it just hurts to torque my feet.

rpc wrote:ever climb a concrete crack?


neither did I as we got rained off from pitch 1 of above but is supposed to be a very nice.

That looks cool. Used the SP image trick to come up with -

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/4 ... mpler.html
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... _id=455436

The rock in the above pic looks a bit like Pinnacles breccia -- conglomerate ? Was it pretty solid ? Our joke about Pinnacles is that it's basically climbing on hardened mud

lisae wrote:

rhyang wrote:

lisae wrote:I hate cracks - they hurt my ankles and wreck my hands.

That simply means you need more practice Lisa

One of my regular gym partners has started working on her crack technique -- she's really starting to get it too .. she'll be cruising hand cracks soon

I think I agree with you on the hands but I am not so sure about my ankles. I have arthritis in my feet and ankles and it just hurts to torque my feet.

I've broken an ankle on one foot and the heel on the other. I still do range of motion exercises in both ankles every day, which seems to help. It must be nice to not have to observe this kind of regular discipline, but for me I doubt I would be able to stay as active as I am without it.

There are some tricks to make foot jamming less painful. The techniques take practice and time. My gym partner initially complained of pain, but I had to be shown when I was first starting out too Using different shoes can help also -- something stiff and comfortable with a toes flat fit is better initially.

Hi Rob, yup - it was conglomerate. The face climbing felt solid but the cracks felt as though they might explode under a good load onto a cam Never been to Pinnacles but from photos does look similar.

rhyang wrote:

lisae wrote:

rhyang wrote:

lisae wrote:I hate cracks - they hurt my ankles and wreck my hands.

That simply means you need more practice Lisa

One of my regular gym partners has started working on her crack technique -- she's really starting to get it too .. she'll be cruising hand cracks soon

I think I agree with you on the hands but I am not so sure about my ankles. I have arthritis in my feet and ankles and it just hurts to torque my feet.

I've broken an ankle on one foot and the heel on the other. I still do range of motion exercises in both ankles every day, which seems to help. It must be nice to not have to observe this kind of regular discipline, but for me I doubt I would be able to stay as active as I am without it.

There are some tricks to make foot jamming less painful. The techniques take practice and time. My gym partner initially complained of pain, but I had to be shown when I was first starting out too Using different shoes can help also -- something stiff and comfortable with a toes flat fit is better initially.

I'd like to get a pair of shoes that cover my ankles, but in general my climbing shoes are pretty comfortable with a toes flat fit, otherwise I couldn't stand to wear them.

I also work on my ankles - to maintain and increase their flexibility. Yoga helps tool

You'll just have to show me the techniques. . .

I just wanted to say that I love the photos in this thread!

ksolem wrote:Here's yet more climbing pRon. Not only am I getting both at once (crack and face,) but I have a hot chick belaying to boot. Does that make it a foursome?


Smiladon at Courtright Reservoir

edit: Yeah that looks like Passerini. Does he ever wear anything other than black?

And just what's wrong with Black?

And she was a HOT Chick!!!

lisae wrote:I'd like to get a pair of shoes that cover my ankles, but in general my climbing shoes are pretty comfortable with a toes flat fit, otherwise I couldn't stand to wear them.

I also work on my ankles - to maintain and increase their flexibility. Yoga helps tool

You'll just have to show me the techniques. . .

Holler if you will be at PG Belmont anytime -- there is an easier crack there that is great for starting out and practicing.

Ya, I don't know where I would be without yoga..

At first I was convinced that I would need a really stiff shoe to crack climb, but this Russian dude showed me some tricks .. you jam more vertically instead of sticking your foot straight in .. hard to explain online. It really cuts down on the pain (among other things). I do have high-top shoes, but initially I would just stick with a regular pair .. I learned to crack climb in mythos, like most people probably.

rhyang wrote:

lisae wrote:I'd like to get a pair of shoes that cover my ankles, but in general my climbing shoes are pretty comfortable with a toes flat fit, otherwise I couldn't stand to wear them.

I also work on my ankles - to maintain and increase their flexibility. Yoga helps tool

You'll just have to show me the techniques. . .

Holler if you will be at PG Belmont anytime -- there is an easier crack there that is great for starting out and practicing.

Ya, I don't know where I would be without yoga..

At first I was convinced that I would need a really stiff shoe to crack climb, but this Russian dude showed me some tricks .. you jam more vertically instead of sticking your foot straight in .. hard to explain online. It really cuts down on the pain (among other things). I do have high-top shoes, but initially I would just stick with a regular pair .. I learned to crack climb in mythos, like most people probably.

I just bought a new pair of mythos. My old ones are beyond resoling, sigh...

If the rain keeps up, I may well be at PG Belmont soon.

CClaude wrote:As for basaltic cracks, try this one

Why is he using an American Death Triangle for pro?

-Mark