vedauwoo off width rack

My girlfriend declared her love of off width climbing tonight after we got back from eldo and we are planning a trip to vedauwoo in a few weeks. I have doubles of camalots c4s/X4 mix from .4 to 3. I've been searching the Web and can't decide between getting doubles of camalots 4 to 6 or getting some big bros.

Our whole trip will be based on off width climbing under 5.10.

I'm leaning towards camalots mainly because all my crack climbing experience have been with them.

Thanks for your input.

Depends on the nature of your question: which units are better, or how to best spend limited $? The BB#'s 3, 4, & 5 are outside the range of Camalots, so if you want to thrash in the wide OW/squeeze/chimney ranges then you'll need the Bros. For the BB#'s 1 & 2, there is overlap with Camalots, and almost everyone chooses the cams for this size range. As an alternative to the BB#'s 3 & 4, you can get Valley Giants, but they are special order items so that won't help for next weekend.

PS - From the title of the thread, I thought someone walked off with your rack.

Off-width...

As opposed to having it OFF WITH your girlfriend.

Yeah I typed it on my phone and off width got changed to off with and I didn't catch it. Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

Don't forget elbow and knee neoprene sleeves.

Pickup some 4's for sure. Wide vertical fists with no roofs will clock in around 9+ max. Vertical flared 6's are normally 10a and under.

My advice would be to create a ticklist and look at the required gear. See what you have and them borrow gear. Wide gear gets expensive fast.

Also just in case you didnt know...Eldo wide is far from Vedau wide. Climbs like Ruper, Grandmas, Tombstone offer jugs and stemming around wide cracks. About 90% of the time in Vedauwoo you have to insert your body into set girth/birthing canal

I learned to climb at the Voo, and felt comfortable on MOST things 5.9+ and under with a single rack to #4, and a purple (2) and green (3) big bro. As you push 10 and beyond, doubles, #5s, #6s and more bros all become increasingly important. Mainstreet, one of the classic 10a test pieces, for example, takes 5s and up.

Great thing about the Voo, you can spend an incredible amount of time there on only 5.7 - 5.9 OWs and be climbing fantastic lines. Have a great trip!

Also to echo the above, the only thing I've climbed at Eldo thus far that comes close to feeling Voo-like was the OW pitch on the Grand Giraffe, and even that is only real OW w/o face features for the first ~10 feet. For some context, that pitch felt like a Vedauwoo 9.

Great you guys are giving me exactly what I'm looking for.

She wants huge OW that WMC is describing.

I would say if you are staying under 5.10 then you would be better served getting the camalots. You would be fine with a single set of the bigger cams for most of those climbs at the Voo. Mainly 4 and 5 will get used. Borrow an extra if the routes calls for it. If you start getting into harder routes then you can pick up some BB. The camalots are easier to place and will be more versatile for climbing at other areas. Save your money.

Ryan Kelley wrote:Great you guys are giving me exactly what I'm looking for. She wants huge OW that WMC is describing.

What WMC is saying is that the "offwidth" that your gf liked at Eldo probably did not require actual offwidth technique -- the thrutching, grunting, squirming kind where even when you send your whole body aches like you just got in a fight with a semi truck and lost.

Not trying to discourage you from going to the Voo -- just be aware that the "5.8+ offwidth" pitch on Ruper is likely to be very different than the "5.8+ offwidth" you may find there.

And to answer your question, get the cams.

Ryan Watts wrote: What WMC is saying is that the "offwidth" that your gf liked at Eldo probably did not require actual offwidth technique -- the thrutching, grunting, squirming kind where even when you send your whole body aches like you just got in a fight with a semi truck and lost. Not trying to discourage you from going to the Voo -- just be aware that the "5.8+ offwidth" pitch on Ruper is likely to be very different than the "5.8+ offwidth" you may find there. And to answer your question, get the cams.

I explained that to her and showed her pics, youtube videos, even explained that a majority of people despise OW climbing and that bleeding ripped skin and general misery is part of the whole experience and she still says that she wants to do it.

Cams are where it's at, but doubles usually aren't necessary for moderates. In most OW cracks you can just push/walk the cam ahead of yourself, basically providing a moving toprope. This makes them way better than bigbros. Crystals in Vedauwoo can be crumbly, so having cam lobes is probably safer than the small contact area of a bigbro. Getting 1-2 4s, 1 #5, and 1 #6 will get you up alot of things. Everything, almost, is flaring in vedauwoo, so ex. if you're climbing a #4 crack, you can often place #3s in the back.

I go with C4s. I dont climb much roofs/overhangs where a big bro would come into play. When it hits that wide and dead vertical, I'm pretty comfortable running it out as I can general get in the crack.

Go with C4s - more useful down the road too.

Go to Castle Rock (When its not F*ing hot) and try
Coffin Crack
By Gully.
Dont use the cheater holds inside the crack. That would be good for your GF to get a feel w/o the Vedauwoo Crystal effect.

Cams are more useful at Vedauwoo. The cracks are often flaring so it can be difficult to place a Big Bro, and as other have mentioned, you can walk a cam.

A double set to #6 Camalot will get you up just about anything at Vedauwoo. Once in a while a larger Big Bro comes in handy, but after a season of carrying two #6s you will be very strong and would never fall out of that size crack.

James Beissel wrote:after a season of carrying two #6s you will be very strong and would never fall out of that size crack.

^^^ yep

The bigger the better there the Big Bros actually come in handy too as they are low profile and light I have an old set I actually bought from Craig Luebben back in the 90s and I have kept them for this very purpose...

Like everyone else said, given the choice of one or the other, get the cams. But sometimes I carry a bigbro to place mid route when I'm sliding the cam up the crack. This is just a marginal piece of mind - few things scare me as much as the idea of falling on a big bro.