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tim_b
Jul 24, 2009, 5:46 PM
Post #26 of 28
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Registered: May 9, 2006
Posts: 34
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And then there's the mistake I made when I first started crack climbing ... DON'T place your gear in the spot where you want to put your hand jam !
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zchandran
Jul 24, 2009, 7:34 PM
Post #27 of 28
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Registered: Aug 11, 2008
Posts: 120
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petsfed wrote: About a week ago, I was on a real perfect splitter handcrack and I thought back to when I first attempted to lead it years ago. I kept making the mistake of putting my gear up as far as it could go, then fighting to get my arm around the rope so that I could actually jam. Its frustrating but its true, if you weight the rope on lead while climbing a good splitter handcrack, it will instantly go from 5.7, 5.8, 5.9 to like a grade or two harder. All because the rope got in the way. And it won't ease up until the rope is relatively loose again.
Point taken, and thanks. This is not perfectly vertical so I don't think rope interference will be a big issue. I'll try placing pro below my jammed hand and not weighting it unless I absolutely have to.
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bill413
Jul 25, 2009, 2:56 AM
Post #28 of 28
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Registered: Oct 19, 2004
Posts: 5674
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petsfed wrote: zchandran wrote: I'll be setting a cam every 3 feet or so since I'm new to trad, but the sooner I get over the fear-hump the better... So you're looking to find out how to turn a 5.9 into a 5.10, eh? Perfect splitters can be a little bit hard to work with if you don't have much experience with them because the rope likes to fall back into the crack, right where you keep putting your hands and feet. It takes some chutzpah to deal effectively with it since the best solution is to consistently get above your gear, and place gear below your shoulders. The upshot is that perfect splitters are nearly idiot proof when it comes to cam placements. Don't misunderstand me, definitely get out there and do it, but fight the urge to always toss gear in above you, it'll screw you, hard, in the end.
Fantastic advice. It can be hard to get over the desire to be top-roped when you're on lead.
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