Intermediate MovesWe're going to delve into some of the most important intermediate/advanced moves in rock climbing. If you master these techniques, then it becomes simply a matter of strength, creativity, determination and stamina that will get you up the rock!
Here is a video of Lynn Hill climbing in Hueco Tanks. Not only is she one of the smoothest, cleanest climbers out there, but she utilizes many of the techniques we will be talking about. She creatively uses heel and toe hooks throughout. On the second boulder problem, she does a classic flagging move at the top out and then again towards the end of the video. She masterfully uses wicked slopers, pinchers, and crimps. She has beautiful technique and is one of the best out there. |
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Here is another good video that shows some important climbing techniques. Nalle Hukkataival is on a V13 slab using good smearing technique as well as some flagging, mantling, and utilizing the sloper/arete to ascend.
Flagging
Flagging is an incredibly useful
technique and quite necessary if you're pushing into more intermediate
climbs. When flagging, you use one limb (usually a leg) to point and
balance your weight in order to keep from swinging out from the rock
(i.e. barn dooring) or extend in the opposite direction of where the
limb is pointing. You are not using this leg for support, but rather
using it to shift your center of balance. It usually is not touching
the rock. This is useful on big, reachy moves and allows you to gain a
bit more span with your body without expending too much extra energy.
This technique is also necessary when a right hand/foot combo is not
possible. If you don't flag when you don't have a good hand/foot combo
on one side, you'll notice that your body wants to swiiiiiing out
towards the side that is more solidly positioned on the rock. This is
known as the "barn door" effect. If you flag with the foot that doesn't
have a good hold and point it towards the side of your body that is
solid, while maintaining body and leg tension, your barn door will be
easier to keep shut. Both climbers in the videos above use flagging;
watching their technique is a good way to incorporate it into your
climbing.
Heel Hook
Cristina heel hooking in Wendell, MA.
A heel hook involves you placing the heel of your foot on a hold that is usually waist level or higher. The move is most useful in situations where there is an arete or an overhang. The heel hook helps you keep your balance and can also provide important leverage for moving your hands and body higher up the route. Also, the heel hook looks awesome - so use it!
If you haven't watched the video at the top of the page yet, you should. Lynn Hill uses so many heel hooks it is dizzying. What a pro.
If you haven't watched the video at the top of the page yet, you should. Lynn Hill uses so many heel hooks it is dizzying. What a pro.
Toe Hook
Toe Hook on an arete
Toe hooks are great for keeping your center of gravity pulled in towards the rock and they give you balance and leverage for moving up. You can use a toe hook on an arete, side pulls, or on underclings. To place a toe hook, you use the top part of your toe (that's why they put rubber there!) to pull sideways against an arete or side pull or you can pull inward on an undercling to help keep your body from swinging out. They aren't quite as flashy as toe hooks, but they are incredibly useful and actually have a better transition than the heel hook. As you move up and above your toe hook, your foot easily transitions into using the hold to step up.
Stemming
Stemming like woa on Devils Tower, WY
Stemming is great - it feels awesome, doesn't require a ton of strength and takes some creativity to master. When stemming, you use the tension of your body to move upwards while pushing on holds. Stemming is most useful in a dihedral (a.k.a. an inside corner) where you have holds on the left-facing wall and the right-facing wall and your body follows the line of the corner. The climber in the photo is utilizing the oppsotional force generated by pushing her feet into the two opposing walls to stay on the rock. She looks a little over-extended in the photo, meaning that she will probably have a hard time moving to the next hand hold because she has little extension left in her body. Most likely, she used this position go get a much needed rest, asses her next move, or get a slight advantage upward to a handhold barely out of reach.
Stemming requires some balance, technique and flexibility, but once you get it, it feels awesome (and looks good too!).
Stemming requires some balance, technique and flexibility, but once you get it, it feels awesome (and looks good too!).
Back Stepping
Back stepping is a valuable technique, especially in overhanging, reachy situations coupled with flagging. If you step on a hold in such a way that the outside of your hip faces into the rock, you are backstepping. Compare this to a more common step, where your leg would be rotated so that the inside of your hip faces the rock (not back stepping). Back stepping elongates and opens up your torso for a longer reach in the same direction as the foot that you back stepped. Flag your other foot and your reach will increase even more. Ex: You are working a boulder problem with a hold up and out to the right that you simply cannot reach. If you rotate your body and backstep that right foot, your abdomen will open up and extend your reach out to the left. To make the move even smoother, you throw your left foot out into a flag to give yourself balance for the big movement.
Smearing
Mmmmm slab. Whether you love it or hate it, smearing makes climbing slab possible. What is slab, you ask? Well, slab climbing involves ascending virtually blank rock faces that have a less than vertical incline (watch the Nalle Hukkataival video above). By using your gravity-advantage, balance, and smearing technique, you will be amazed at what is possible! Smearing is when you apply pressure into an essentially blank face with the bottom of your toes. The goal is to make as much contact as possible between the rock and the climbing rubber on your shoes in order to create the friction to stay on the rock and stand up. The rock face needs to be slightly less than vertical for smearing to really work (or you need to be a climbing god). Your climbing rubber is incredibly sticky and with some good body tension it will grip onto mind-bogglingly blank faces. What makes the difference between smearing and sliding off the rock is your confidence, pressure into the rock, body tension and your ability to spot the best footholds. Most faces that you will be climbing are actually not blank, so by placing your foot over tiny crystals, you will get more friction and be able to stand up. Also, by looking for places where the rock face levels out, you will be able to take better advantage of the face. It may look like the Nalle Hukkataival doesn't have any footholds at all on the climb in the video, but rest assured that he is taking advantage of tiny crystals or ledges in the stone that we cannot see from so far away. When it comes down to it, slab climbing is ALL IN THE FEET. Use small hand holds to maintain balance while focusing on spotting foot holds and smearing on them to move up the route or problem. Smearing is great practice for beginner climbers to hone their footwork technique and to develop a more graceful, less strength-exhausting style.
Crimpers
Crimpers hurt. They also will get you up a route or problem that is otherwise impossible. A crimper is a tiny hand hold that, depending on your strength and ability, can be as small as pencil or as wide as a ruler. They generally are only big enough for just the tips of your fingers to grasp a hold. They hurt because they require you to pull up on just the tips of your fingers, thus straining the tendons and muscles in your hands and pulling hard on the sharp edges that characterize crimpers. The key to using crimpers is locking-off your hold. By getting your joints into a "locked-off" position, your grasp is much stronger and you will spend less energy to maintain it and pull up. Lock-off your hold by curling your fingers down over the crimper so that your hand forms a hook and is hanging off the hold. For especially small or difficult crimpers, lay your thumb over the tips of your index and middle fingers (as in the photo). As you pull down, the added pressure and tension from your thumb will help you stay on the hold.
Pinchers
A large pinch.
Pinchers are exactly what they sound like: a hold in the rock, usually vertical, that you pinch with your fingers on one side and your thumb on the other in order to pull up or maintain balance. Pinchers range from full-handed pinchers (photo) to tiny spines in the rock that you grasp tenuously with the tips of your fingers - both can be excruciatingly difficult. Pinchers require hand, arm and back strength and if you aren't up to snuff, pinchers will be the first to let you know. After grasping a pincher, you can usually find a less tenuous stance by pulling your body in toward the pinch hold and popping the shoulder closest to the hold out toward the rock. This movement will lock of the joints in your shoulder and elbow and get you into a stance that is easier to maintain. From here, you can chalk up, get ready to make a clip or placement, or asses your next moves.
Slopers
Holding a sloper is like trying to hold on to a half a watermelon mounted to the wall. There is something there, but not much. They require an immense amount of hand strength. There is no way around it, you will need to practice a lot to get good at slopers. Try to get as much hand surface area as possible on the rock. You can even use your forearm if possible.
Mantle
The technique to mantling is hidden in the title. Imagine you wanted to climb onto the mantle above the fireplace. You would get up close to it, pull yourself up, rock sideways, turn your hand around and push yourself up, until you could slip a foot onto the mantle and stand up. That is exactly what you do when mantling in rock climbing. Watch small children climb onto counter tops for inspiration. You can also mantle off smaller holds and ledges to get your feet higher. Mantling is particularly important in slab climbing and in dihedrals and chimneys. You will often get better purchase by turning your hand around.
Figure Four
Showboat. This move is almost always useless. It looks cool but it is somewhat hard and has little advantage over muscling yourself up, or - gasp! - using your feet. Grab a huge overhanging jug and hang on with one hand. Stick your opposite leg through your arm so your the back of your knee is in your elbow. Simultaneously pull up with one arm and push down with your leg. You will get a lot of altitude, and can reach pretty far up. If you watch enough pro climbers in videos or wherever, you will see that they almost never use this move. This is gym showmanship at its best.
