Crack Climbing - Like, So, Such As, What's Up With It?

I should start out by saying that I suck at crack climbing. I'm a decent (High 11s, low 12s on a VERY good day) sport climber and I've been tradding for about 6 months now. I'm about a 10a trad climber as long as it's face climbing. Throw me on a 5.7 crack and I'll sweat and cuss and start asking myself why I don't take up video games. I have never enjoyed a single pitch of crack climbing and I've never felt that I did anything better than abysmal. Here goes my question (two questions actually):

1.) Is my enjoyment directly linked to my skill level? Once I get some decent technique down will crack climbing feel like climbing again instead of a chore?

2.) Does anyone else get bored at the thought of pitch after pitch of cracks? The hordes of people at Indian Creek make it clear that lots of people love them some splitters, but are there good, solid crack climbers who have no interest in anything more than a pitch or two of crack? What's the appeal to 160 feet of the same movement?

3.) What's the deal with the Rapture; is it going to come or not? I need to know whether or not to get serious about finding a real job.

Before this summer I had only face climbed out east, sure you have the occasional "wobbly" section that counts as a crack, but nothing sustained and parallel like out West. Well, this summer, I took a road trip out West and got my first taste of crack, I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I definitely learned it's a different experience, replete with swearing and feeling awkward, hell, maybe I was doing it wrong, but I was having a blast and slowly moving my way up. My guess is that maybe it isn't for everybody.

Also, the rapture isn't coming so just carry on with your life.

Austin,
Learn how to climb a crack and it will make a lot of face climbs go down a lot easier. Once you learn how to hang on to something that's not there, you'll be a better climber. I know that I'll get a lot of crap for this, but I think there is a lot more technique involved for crack climbing than there is for face climbing. After all an baby knows how to hang on to an edge: it takes technique and practice to learn how to hang on to the spaces. BTW, if all you do is climbs cracks which are perfectly sized for your hands or finger tips, you'll never get better. Learn your sweet sizes, then avoid them like the plague because they get boring.

Climb safe,
Mal

I don't know about anything else in your post but the zombie apocalypse is coming so get ready.

I'd say it depends on your style. I prefer to climb crack over lots of dime edges, but every once in a while a good jug haul can't be beat either. Also depends on what the crags you frequent offer the most of.

It'll likely get easier is you really want to work at it (Although there seem to be some people who can muscle their way up 13+ overhangs but would probably get spanked on technical, balancy faces and any manner of crack).

Since the technique and some of the muscles are totally different than face climbing, it can take a while to build up the endurance (hands) and tolerance to pain (feet). Once you get it though, it's a great skillset to have because you can switch back and forth when you get pumped with one style (well, at least in the gym when you can pick which style you want to do). Start with perfect hand cracks and then venture thinner and wider as you build the technique.

Then there are those people who are totally sick and subject themselves voluntarily to offwidths (like me... I'm convinced being good at OW is my calling in life, haha).

Might as well feed the troll...

1) You know that feeling you get latching onto a jug? Well once you get solid on jams, a solid hand jam feels just that solid and at least twice that good.

2) I have wet dreams about endless hand cracks, and nightmares about .11 face climbing.

3) Watch Greece, might be closer than you think...

I learned how to climb in North Carolina (some cracks, mostly hard), I learned how to sport climb in Thailand (two cracks, very hard), and I learned how to climb 5.10 trad in West Virginia (pseudo cracks). I had climbed all over the world, but it wasn't until I spent a few weeks at Indian Creek that I really started to enjoy cracks. Once I learned how to climb them, I felt like I was an all around climber, and now I'm a bit of an addict. And you know what? I climb harder face and sport now too, because of what I've learned from cracks.

I remember doing laps on this route at the New River Gorge called "New Yosemite" in order to get a feel for my upcoming trip to IC. It was a 5.9 and I had fallen my first time on it. I hated it. It hurt, it was hard, it was no fun, and boring. "I'm going to hate Indian Creek" I said. But then I got there and just forced myself to learn, even though it was painful, humbling, and downright embarrassing.

1. I think it's a bit of both. There are a lot of reasons that people like cracks... one is because they hardly ever have to do runouts. But yes, once you learn, you'll like it a lot more. Learning to crack climb was harder for me than learning to climb in the beginning. It took me longer to climb 5.11 cracks than it did to climb 5.11 sport. It took longer for me to start to enjoy cracks, but once you get the bug, it's better than any other kind of climbing. It just seems so natural... and it is.

2. I used to think that it was boring. Same movement over and over. But that was just an excuse. That was before I knew how to do it. Once you learn, and you start pushing yourself, you'll never get bored and you'll realize that it is NOT the same movement over and over. Sure at Indian Creek it seems like that, but that's not what most crack areas are like. IC is just a training ground... where you can pick a size for the weekend and just work on that. Once you get out in the real world, so to speak, you'll have to do every size, all in the same pitch.

I just went to the Needles, for example. And if you think that the Needles is boring, then you really should take up video games. Every 5.10 pitch there is going to have wide hands, thin hands, ring locks, tips... all the hardish sizes. I never would have known how to climb there if it weren't for routes like "Pigs on the Wing" (thin hands and ring locks), Coyne Crack (rings), and all the #1 and #3 cracks I did at IC. It was good training.

Go to IC and learn how to climb all the sizes you can. Don't expect to have a ton of fun the first time... just think of it as training for the real climbing that you want to do (desert towers, granite, whatever).

PS - The main reason that there are hordes of climbers at IC is because you can go there and climb with zero commitment level and still call yourself a trad climber at the end of the day... or at least that is what most people there think they are doing.

tradding is not a word, do you call it sporting or icing...oh wait those are words. My point is I love sticking my appendages in cracks and it might be climbing trad or trad climbing but for the love of all that is good (mostly climbing) its not tradding. just what I feel.

Of course it's harder to climb cracks. There are no permadraws, you have to put your own protection in and take it down when you are done.

The chance of the rapture occurring is roughly the same as any of Joseph Smiths prophecies coming true. Since its apparent you believe in fairy tales I would not bother looking for that job.

Also, cracks are fun!

Eric Dorsey wrote:The chance of the rapture occurring is roughly the same as any of Joseph Smiths prophecies coming true. Since its apparent you believe in fairy tales I would not bother looking for that job. Also, cracks are fun!

I've climbed a handful of cracks and for the most part, really disliked it. I was scared, and felt like I was working very very hard for crappy holds. It wasn't until I took the time and learned to jam properly that I began to enjoy crack climbing. It's still not my favorite, but now I actually have an interest in climbing more cracks.

My advice: Make sure you are up to speed on good crack climbing technique, and then go run a few laps on TR on a nice easy crack. If you still totally hate it after that, maybe crack climbing just isn't for you...

Also, I agree with Ryan. Unless this is some sort of inside joke between you two, that was pretty uncalled for on Eric's part.

Ryan Williams wrote: Hope you guys are friends. If not that's kind of an asshole thing to say.

What are you calling cracks? I mean, the ones you hate? So much variation out there. Do you mean stuff like IC splitters?

I've only been to IC once, and it was WAY different than anything we have here in the Needles of SD. I don't really agree with Ryan when he says that it's "really not all the same move over and over", but, like I said, I've only been there once, and to me, it seemed like the same move over and over and over. But I didn't get into the harder fingers and offwidths which take more technique than the hands I did, and tell you the truth, the "Big Baby" kicked my ass. Definitely takes some technique besides just the ability to crank on micro crystals and nickel ledges as so much hard face climbing is all about. Funny thing is, I could manage 5.10 at IC (first time there), but 5.9 crack in SD or 5.10 at the tower still kicks my ass after years. I hear what you saying, it's frustrating... I feel like I never get any better. What has improved is route finding, judging a crack from the ground, placing gear confidently, considering rope drag on wandering routes, and figuring out how to get down from random spires!

Cracks lead to the top of mountains. Bolted faces do not (unless you are Cesare Maestri). That is "what's up".

Killis Howard wrote:BTW Austin, if your "such as" thing was referencing the South Carolina beauty queen internet meme, right on. That shit is PRICELESS, you should track down a link and put it on here for some laughs, so that everyone else gets the joke.

Good catch Killis and Taylor - I didn't want that reference to go unappreciated!

I appreciate the advice from everyone. I'm not trying to get good at cracks so I can rock IC, but just so I can approach any route with confidence, regardless of the style of climbing it contains. Y'alls advice is exactly what I was looking for.

@spn - How about "traditionaling"? "Climbing on gear" just sounds awkward and I don't think I'm good enough to call myself a "trad climber" yet.

@Eric Dorsey - I give that a 2/10. It was unoriginal and it felt forced. Even if we were friends that wouldn't have been funny. Insulting a stranger's religion requires a lot more effort than that.

Killis Howard wrote:Dorsey's getting pretty well known for his unfamiliarity with guideline #1, Ryan. I don't have to tell you, you've probably gotten the stalker emails like I did.

Your enjoyment of cracks is directly linked to yor skill level; just as with face climbing.

Crack climbing isn't boring;a 5.3 crack is no more dull than a 5.3 face.

The Rapture is the fabrication of a man with a very punitive super ego, who wants to see "sinners" suffer. Ignore it, it will go away.

+1 what spn said. Tradding sounds like what the dude at the parking lot to rock canyon would say when he sees that you have some of those spring loaded camming devices on your rack.

Austin: I could just tell you this in real life, but since all my schoolwork has turned me into a recluse, it'll be a couple days at least. The thing is, I feel like crack climbing is painful, confusing, and difficult until it clicks, and you get it. There are still some sizes that I dread (ringlocks, rattly hands), but the only way to get better is to do it. Also, like others have said, the majority of crack climbing is not "the same move over and over". Even at the creek, there is a TON of variety. I spent all last Saturday at the Cat wall, and only climbed one "true" splitter, and even that had some variation on it.

Oh, also, for the general knowledge of all... Austin made it up Jah Man with us a few weeks ago in admirable style. So, before you start feeling bad for him, just remember that he did find on Jah Man. Even on that killer tight hands section on P3.

Finally, Spencer: since I know about 5 different LDS members with the last name Dorsey from SLC, I assume it's no coincidence. The fact that your family likely believes in Joseph Smith, and that you treat their beliefs (or anyone's, regardless of how improbable they may be) with such contempt is quite revealing.