Laura climbs Annunaki (5.11+)
Emily climbs Annunaki (5.11+)
Crack climbing offers a unique climbing experience in which rather than grabbing and holding onto ledges in order to climb, climbers wedge a part of their body — whether that’s fingers, toes, a hand, or a foot— into different size cracks to pull themselves up.
After 6 months of crack climbing experience, Laura and Emily explain there is a learning curve to crack climbing, but once you give it a try, it’s a movement exercise which can easily lead climbers into a state of extreme presence and flow.
“I’m so addicted,” says Laura, a Climb-Cleveland member. Laura had been bouldering for about 2 years before she gave crack climbing a try.
“When people ask me about crack climbing, I say crack climbing is to bouldering as snowboarding is to skiing,” she describes. “I feel like like it’s hardest at the outset, there’s a huge learning hump, and then it skyrockets.”
She’d start by using the 25-lb counter weight at the gym, a pulley system to lighten your bodyweight load, which made it a little easier to get started. At first she would just try hanging with a solid handjam and get comfortable putting all her body weight on her jammed hands. Eventually, she’d train to do pull ups from that position.
At first it’s not an intuitive movement, but after some consistency, Laura compares the movement to feeling something like gliding or swimming.
Emily, another member at the gym, agrees that crack climbing is all about muscle memory and learning how to trust your hands and your feet. “It becomes a natural movement like walking or riding a bike,” she explains.
Most people see it and it’s intimidating she says, but climbers should “try, suck, and stay with it. Eventually it becomes less painful and more enjoyable,” Laura says.
As a beginner, she suggests 1-2 crack climbing sessions per week, which don’t need to be more than 20 minutes to gain strength.
Laura recalls having moments where the soreness in her hands and feet made it seem much less of an appealing hobby, but the prospect of getting better in order to climb during a trip to Indian Creek pushed her forward.
Emily was also inspired to improve her crack climbing before the trip to Indian Creek.
From the first time Emily set foot in Climb-Cleveland, she was intrigued by the cracks in the wall and attended one of the gym’s crack training classes. She was instantly hooked. She would start to set small goals for herself to get better, and gradually gain confidence and improve.
She soon learned that crack climbing would give her the skills to climb almost anywhere— inside or outside. Though Emily had plenty of doubts about her ability to climb outdoors, she decided to push herself and go on the trip anyway.
“It was amazing; it changed my perspective on a lot of things,” she said. “It helps you see the bigger picture of why you’re inside a gym training — for bigger goals outside.”
At Indian Creek, her focus was to try and experience as much as she could, not caring if she looked silly, and in doing so, she tried and completed climbs — like a 5.12 route — she never thought she’d be able to climb.
Going on the trip, part of her was afraid that she’d need to sit most of the climbs out and not be able to do much. Instead, she found a great community of climbers who were supportive to her trying new routes and taught her plenty of new climbing techniques.
“A unique thing about Climb-Cleveland is people here in this community will help you with your goals,” she said. “It’s very beginner-friendly.”
Both Laura and Emily relate to the excitement that comes from a good crack climbing session.
“There’s nothing like a good thumb pump after a good workout!” Laura confesses.
“There’s this surge of excitement when there’s a really strong jam placement,” Emily agrees. “It’s really exciting, like a dopamine rush when I finally got it to click.”
In addition, most women have an advantage in crack climbing in that the climbs that are harder for men are usually easier for women, given their smaller hands.
Laura says taking the training outside on an outdoor climbing trip was a great culmination of all that she was working for. “There’s an amazing, beautiful landscape. No camera can capture that beauty,” she said. “It’s about conquering your fears. The accomplishment, the flow — it’s the best high ever.”
Crack climbing is all about pushing your body to what you think isn’t possible, and then finding the joy that comes from conquering your fears and learning to trust in your abilities. In the meantime, crack climbing at Climb-Cleveland offers the benefit of a climbing community of members who are genuinely interested in helping you reach your climbing and fitness goals, however large or small they may be.
“Climb-Cleveland is a really great place to start climbing because people here will integrate you into the community. I’ve developed a lot of friendships since I’ve started here — it gives people a sense of belonging,” Emily said.
Both Laura and Emily aspire to try lead climbing in the near future.
