Crack climbing is back! Or, as Pete Whittaker of the Wide Boyz would say, “Crack is back.” Instead of using holds on the face of a rock, crack climbing uses negative space.
Using jamming techniques, a climber can ascend a rock face where there may not be any holds. Jamming is sticking your limbs in a crack and expanding them to create a secure “hold.” Although unintuitive, a seasoned crack climber would argue that a solid jam is better than the largest bucket.
Crack climbing technique even decided the winner of the 2019 Meiringen Bouldering World Cup! See Adam Ondra flash the final boulder in the video below to put himself on top of the podium. Further, Ondra climbed the hardest route in the world, Silence 9c (5.15d), which has a crack at the crux sequence.
We also saw a crack climb from the route setters in the 2024 bouldering IFSC World Cup Series so expect to see more crack climbing in the future:
Learning how to crack climb is challenging, but it opens a whole new world, so it’s worth the effort!
If you want to learn all about crack climbing, follow along, and I’ll show you the basics. I’ve provided some resources to help you practice your jams, make tape gloves, and refine your techniques. Without further ado, crack is back!
History of crack climbing
Before sport climbing, trad (traditional) climbing was how people scaled rocks. Climbers would place removable protection to secure themselves to the wall in case of falls.
Crack climbing was the only style of climbing! The original gear used in the early 1900s was rudimentary and all passive protection. Then, as modern climbing gear developed, active protection became widely popular.
Nowadays, a typical crack climber will carry various passive and active gear when climbing.
Passive protection: Removable gear without moving parts slotted into the wall, such as stoppers, hexes, or tricams.
Active protection: Removable gear with moving parts that can retract and expand within cracks, such as cams (camelots) or spring-loaded wedges.
Some legendary climbers who excel at crack climbing are Peter Croft, Lynn Hill, Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall.
Areas like Yosemite, Chamonix, and Indian Creek have amazing climbing and incredible cracks.
Without any crack climbing technique, you’re missing out on what else is out there!
The Wide Boyz
The Wide Boyz, Pete Whittaker, and Tom Randall have since re-popularized crack climbing.
The pair own Wide Boyz, a company that deals with all things crack-related. They make crack gloves, crack trainers for your home, crack volumes for gyms, and even their own climbing tape!
Check out their feature film in which they climb cracks all over the U.K. and the U.S.:
During Covid lockdown, the pair climbed the underside of a 762-metre (2,500 ft) bridge! They named it The Great Rift 8a (5.13b) and accomplished it in a total of four days.
Imagine hanging in a portaledge under a bridge while vehicles race overhead. It was loud, dirty, and sometimes scary.
The Wide Boyz commented that the bridge would flex every time a large truck passed overhead. Talk about nerve-wracking!
Check out the trailer here:
How to start crack climbing
To begin your crack climbing journey, you must first learn the different techniques. I know it’s a lot to learn, but you may find that crack climbing is your jam!
Jamming
When jamming, climbers position their hands, feet, fingers, and sometimes entire body inside crack features to scale routes. Once inside, the climber engages their limb to create a constriction within the crack.
This style of climbing may sound uncomfortable, but I promise it will get better.
The characteristics of the crack determine how a climber will jam. Some cracks only allow fingers inside, while others can fit your entire body. An entire body jam is climbed in what is called an “off-width” crack.
Tip for jamming from Pete Whittaker: “Crack climbing is climbing the spaces between and inside the rock. So, with all jams, you should try to fill those spaces as efficiently as possible. You therefore want to insert as much of the body part you are jamming with inside the crack before you even start doing any of the techniques needed to execute the jam itself.”
Check out this video to find out more about finger jams:
Check out this video to find out more about hand and fist jams:
Check out this video to find out more about foot jams:
Stacking
Stacking is used when the crack is wider than a single hand or foot. You must use multiple since you can’t create a constriction with just one limb.
For example, a hand stack involves pressing the hands against each other in a crack to fill the space.
This applies opposing forces to propel a climber upward.
Check out this video to find out more about stacking:
Stemming
When a crack feature is larger than a climber’s body, they must stem their way up the rock. Stemming is using all four limbs pressed outward to hold yourself in space.
Progress is slow going and must be done delicately to transfer the weight to each limb.
You can stem with feet on opposite sides of the crack or the same, using your back/hands as opposing forces.
When you see a route description of a chimney, expect you’ll need to stem.
Check out this video to find out more about stemming:
Off-width
Off-width climbing feels more like fighting against the rock to make your way up. This technique is used when you can fit your body into a crack, but it’s too narrow to stem.
Use your knees, palms, elbows, feet- anything to inch up the crack.
Check out this video to find out more about everything off-width:
Now that you know the different techniques used when crack climbing, check out this video below where Pete Whittaker coaches Geek Climber how to crack climb, and the results are incredible:
What you need to crack climb
You likely already have everything you need to crack climb, so tick off this list as you prepare to start jamming.
Remember that you will also need traditional climbing gear if you plan to lead cracks. This article is here to help you learn to crack climb and is not a resource to start placing gear.
Tape/Crack gloves
Crack gloves are a great way to save the skin on your hands when jamming. They’re easy to slip on and come in a variety of sizes. Crack gloves loop through your fingers, allowing you to still grab onto holds.
The back of the gloves is sometimes padded with rubber to relieve your hand when you jam. They last longer than tape gloves and allow you to climb longer with added comfort.
If you’re dabbling with crack climbing, maybe you don’t want to commit to purchasing a pair of gloves. If you don’t want to shed out for some crack gloves, make your own out of tape!
A tape glove works the same way: to provide some relief to your hand when jamming. The Wide Boyz sell their signature tape with instructions for how to make tape gloves.
To make tape gloves
Step 1: Tear 7-8 strips of tape 6 inches long.
Step 2: Wrap a few strips around your thumb and back toward the back of your hand.
Step 3: Stick pieces of tape from your knuckle to your outside wrist. You’ll want to cover the entirety of the back of your hand.
Step 4: Wrap a long piece of tape along your knuckles. Wrap around the knuckles and across the back of your hand diagonally.
Step 5: Wrap it around your wrist loosely so you don’t cut off any circulation.
Step 6: Then, wrap it in a counter-diagonal position opposite the previous diagonal.
Step 7: Wrap a small amount around the front of the hand and rip it off. Tuck that little excess underneath the tape on the palm of your hand.
Step 8: Pat it down so it all lays nice and flat.
Tom Randall has made an excellent video demonstrating this tape glove method:
You can reuse your tape gloves by cutting off the wrist and rewrapping it when you climb again.
Tape gloves require a lot of tape, so reuse them when you can to limit your waste.
Popular crack gloves
Many different companies make crack gloves! Some are thicker/more padded, others have hidden closure systems, and some are even more breathable.
Here is a list of crack gloves to check out:
- Ocun:
– Ocun crack gloves
– Ocun crack gloves lite
– Ocun crack gloves pro - Outdoor Research splitter II gloves
- Black Diamond crack gloves
- G7 hand jam
- Grivel star crack gloves
- Singing Rock craggy
- Garra kiretsu
- Red Chili jamrock
Shoes
Crack climbing shoes are much different from those for steep bouldering or sport climbing. You’ll want something flat and with a lot of support. It’s easier to jam your foot into a crack without a downturned shoe.
As you progress with crack climbing, you may find that a softer shoe is better to jam with. It all depends on personal preference.
To start out, I recommend choosing something with more support. Jamming is painful when your feet aren’t used to it!
A place with cracks
Many gyms have artificial cracks where you can practice your crack climbing technique. If your gym doesn’t, you’ll need to find a crack with an anchor accessible from above. Once you find this, throw up a top rope and get to jamming.
You’ll also need a rope, a harness, a belay device, and something for your anchor.
Why you need to know how to crack climb
Crack climbing is re-growing in popularity. This style of climbing allows you to climb places that feel more adventurous. There are no preplaced bolts telling you where to go.
When all you have as beta is a crack, you must figure out where to jam on your own.
While a jug or a crimp will be the same for everybody, not all cracks are created equal. How you climb a crack will depend on your hand size. A perfect fist jam for you may require another climber to stack.
This is also why I find it hard to understand the grades of crack climbs. If everybody had hands of the same size, it would be the same for every climber! Nevertheless, learning how to crack climb opens a whole new world of climbing. Make sure to explore it responsibly!
Crack is back!
Little is needed to start crack climbing. If you really want, you don’t even need tape/crack gloves, but jam at your own risk!
I’m still learning and end up with scraps and bruises when I grovel up a crack. But when people talk about that ‘perfect hand jam,’ they’re being serious!
There’s nothing like holding yourself on a wall with just a jam and your feet.
Do you do any crack climbing? If so, where’s your favorite place to climb? Let us know in the comments so we can check out those cracks!
Products related to this article
Kletter Retter
0 Comments