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ballakano
Feb 17, 2006, 9:52 AM
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hi
I'm writing from Sardinia, Italy. I never climb on a crack, here we just climb on great limestone, but I always saw the incredible cracks you have in Utah. I'd like to try this kind of climb. I'm thinking to came in late April o in the beginning of may.
I need all informations for this trip. where is the biggest airport closer to the cracks. where are the best cracks? it's easy to find good partners there? what about locations?
thank you for all informations you can give me,
ballakano
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sevrdhed
Feb 17, 2006, 2:01 PM
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Finding good partners shouldn't be too hard, depending on when you come and where you go. You'll most likely be able to find someone from here that will either be down there, or be willing to head down there, during your stay. I met a couple of great climbers that were awesome to hang out with down there, that fortunately were ridiculously good climbers as well and lead everything for us. :D
The one thing I'd mention is, before you come to Utah, if you DO plan on going to indian creek... get as many cams as possible. Borrow your friends racks. Borrow THEIR friends racks. Borrow racks from complete strangers. You literally cannot have enough cams for indian creek, so bring as many as possible.
And the one final thing I'd say is, if you've got a lot of time, don't just spend time in Indian creek! There's so much else Utah has to offer, from great granite climbing in Little Cottonwood Canyon, to towers in Moab, to killer bouldering all over the place, to famous aid routes in Zions. IC is just one of the many incredible places that make Utah paradise for climbing.
And have fun!
Steve
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ballakano
Feb 17, 2006, 3:12 PM
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In reply to: The one thing I'd mention is, before you come to Utah, if you DO plan on going to indian creek... get as many cams as possible. Borrow your friends racks. Borrow THEIR friends racks. Borrow racks from complete strangers. You literally cannot have enough cams for indian creek, so bring as many as possible.
thanks steve for the informations.
...cams... what are this mysterious thing?!?!? :D
I always climbed on bolted routes! well I know that for the cracks I need cams but do you know if its possible to rent them in moab?!?
about leading I have no problem on bolted route, is so hard with the cams?
generally, on limestone, I climbed 5.11 on sight with no problem an much much more after work.
I want to go to indian creek to learn how to climb on the cracks, so any suggest will be appreciated.
I hope my english is good enough to explain me... I'll try to find the instructions for the cams in italian!!! :D
see u
ballakano
ps. thanks vanclimber for your links, I saw mountainproject and is good with good informations.
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sevrdhed
Feb 17, 2006, 3:50 PM
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Well, if you've never lead trad before, and don't have a partner that's going to lead for you, then it will be a little bit more difficult for you to climb in Indian creek.
None of the cracks are bolted, except for the anchors at the top, so you're going to have 2 options.
Either:
A) Learn how to place gear and trad climb safely before you come out here;
or
B) Either bring a partner that CAN trad climb, or hope to meet someone that's willing to lead stuff for you and let you toprope them.
As for your sport climbing ability, climbing crack is a lot different than sport climbing. It's been my experience that few sport climbing skills translate into trad climbing skills, so you'll be suffering up 5.9's even though you can onsight 5.11.
Also, the cracks at indian creek (Again, this is my experience) don't really translate well into grades because a lot of it depends on your hand size, and your pain tolerance.
Good luck!
Steve
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sevrdhed
Feb 17, 2006, 3:56 PM
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Evil double post
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guanoboy
Feb 17, 2006, 4:31 PM
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ballakana-
I fully encourage a trip to moab for many reasons - you are guarenteed to have a great time. There is no place like moab. I am not so optimistic about you doing a lot of crack climbing. If you hang around at the crags or find someone to take you out (i will probably be down there sometime in April) you will get up some climbs, but i think you will find 5.9 cracks very difficult and exhausting relative to 5.11 sport.
there is some bolted limestone climbing outside moab - but there are a lot of better places to spend your time around moab.
you'll have a great time.
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ballakano
Feb 17, 2006, 4:47 PM
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In reply to: ballakana- I fully encourage a trip to moab for many reasons - you are guarenteed to have a great time. There is no place like moab. I am not so optimistic about you doing a lot of crack climbing. If you hang around at the crags or find someone to take you out (i will probably be down there sometime in April) you will get up some climbs, but i think you will find 5.9 cracks very difficult and exhausting relative to 5.11 sport. there is some bolted limestone climbing outside moab - but there are a lot of better places to spend your time around moab. you'll have a great time.
doesn't a matter doing a lot of cracks, I just wanna learn the basic facts, moves, and how to tape my hands. and is not a problem the grade I'll climb, I only want to lead something hard for my skills, something where I can flight.
I saw the pictures you post in your profile... are amazing!!!
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pastprime
Feb 17, 2006, 5:24 PM
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I like your attitude, and I think you would love it here.
You might get a start by getting some books with crack climbing techniques, and practicing before you come over. Even if your local rock doesn't have crack routes, I'll bet you could find some short cracks near the base of the crags that would allow you to try using various hand and foot holds to stick to the rock, even if you didn't get more than a meter above the ground. Or find a friend and top rope something short that no one else ever thinks of climbing.
The kinds of holds and techniques used in cracks can feel very insecure at first. Know that you will get better with practice, and having done at least a little bit before you get here would give a headstart.
Come on over.
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jt512
Feb 17, 2006, 5:28 PM
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Euro Death Thread Rating: 7c+
Jay
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pt
Feb 18, 2006, 5:17 AM
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Fly to Salt Lake City, Utah. Rent a car and drive 4-5 hours to Indian Creek which is about one hour South of Moab. Lots of people will be camping and climbing. Go up to one of the more popular walls, be very friendly, offer lots of good beer, and people will be more than happy to let you top rope as many cracks as you can handle.
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jakewolf
Feb 18, 2006, 5:32 AM
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I think you will have a great trip. A few pieces of advice:
1. Learn how to "hand Jam" before you go. If you do this you will be able to climb many of the more famous moderates in good style. Read all you can about technique for hands. In my experience at Indian Creek, hands are 5.9 or 5.10 depending on the length.
2. Don't worry to much about your skills not translating. Many of the 5.11 finger cracks that are in corners will be very much like sport climbing, lay-backs.
3. Learn how cams work and if you can get your hands on some that would be great. Indian creek is a great place to start climbing on cams. The rock is perfect for bomber cams.
4. Agreed with previous post. Be friendly, modest, respectful, and offer beer and you will have no problems meeting some people to help you learn the ropes.
Good Luck
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jermeng
Feb 18, 2006, 6:22 AM
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Hello,
I might suggest that you check out the site for the "splitter camp" in Indian Creek. http://www.splittercamps.com/ They provide the cams, and I'm sure they'll set some top ropes. All you have to do is shell out some cash!
Like I said, just a suggestion.
Jeremy
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ballakano
Feb 18, 2006, 3:50 PM
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wow man, with all your suggests I think it will be an incredible climbing trip!
don't worry about beer, here in Sardinia is more or less the same, always a lot of beer after an hard climbing day!!! Our local beer is named Ichnusa, which is the very old name of Sardinia.
if everyone of you want to came here I'll give you all the informations for a wonderful climbing journey.
ps. where is the best place for sleeping, I have no tend with me, in the area?
pss. is better rent a car in salt lake city or arrive in moab by coach and rent a car there?
psss. the last thing.... I don't wanna top rope anything! I wanna lead!!!!
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ballakano
Feb 18, 2006, 4:17 PM
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and what about the super famous supercrack?
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ambler
Feb 18, 2006, 5:24 PM
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In reply to: and what about the super famous supercrack?
My advice is to start with some easier lines; then set harder goals as you go along. Many climbers find that leading Indian Creek-type cracks is a whole new world, at first.
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ballakano
Feb 18, 2006, 5:52 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: and what about the super famous supercrack? It will be there, with a line of climbers at its base, if you're ready. My advice is to start with some easier lines; then set harder goals as you go along. Many climbers find that leading Indian Creek-type cracks is a whole new world, at first.
thanks mr. ambler I'll follow your advice! and I really hope that it will be a new world, I will come from the other side of the world to try something special as your cracks.
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ballakano
Feb 18, 2006, 5:55 PM
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and what about parallelojams?!?!?!
http://www.bigupproductions.com/
::: Big UP Productions :::
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marc801
Feb 18, 2006, 5:57 PM
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In reply to: and what about parallelojams?!?!?! |
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ballakano
Feb 18, 2006, 6:02 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: and what about parallelojams?!?!?! Parallelojams is one of the segments in Return2Sender.
...yes. I didn't read all the article about it! my mistake.
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chalker7
Feb 18, 2006, 8:33 PM
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Hey Ballakano, how far is Sardinia from Naples? I will likely be visiting some family living near Naples sometime this summer, assuming they don't move again. Also, is there any decent climbing, or even bouldering near Naples. I checked the routes database but I'm not familiar with the way Italy is divided into regions so it wasn't much help.
-chalker
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ballakano
Feb 18, 2006, 9:41 PM
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In reply to: Hey Ballakano, how far is Sardinia from Naples? I will likely be visiting some family living near Naples sometime this summer, assuming they don't move again. Also, is there any decent climbing, or even bouldering near Naples. I checked the routes database but I'm not familiar with the way Italy is divided into regions so it wasn't much help. -chalker
Sardinia is the big island in the Mediterranean sea, you need one night by ship or one ore by plane to arrive. here climbing is great, is one of the most famous spot of the Mediterranean sea. and the sea in summer is wonderful. I don't really know the crags around Naples, in the north of Naples there is a place called Gaeta where there should be a good climb area. In Italy the other famous areas are Finale Ligure, close to Geneva and Arco di Trento in the north of the country. If you more information you can visit the site www.planetmountain.com one of the best Italian sites, and concerning Sardinia you can visit sardiniaclimb.com or my site www.shadrock.com.
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csgambill
Feb 18, 2006, 10:59 PM
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Sounds to me like this dude is bound for disaster, or at least disappointment. I can't say it's the wost idea in the world to head out to the Creek with no trad experience, but it's really not the brightest idea. Placing cams in splitter cracks can require a fair amount of technique, but it's not rocket science. I'm sort of an advocate of the trial-by-fire learning method, so I don't think it's a terrible idea to jump head first into Moab trad, but you may not enjoy the experience as much as if you knew what you were getting into. I'd definitely stay away from the towers. That is a disaster waiting to happen. Multi-pitch trad with no experience = BAD
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