An Ode to Finger Cracks

“When did she get into this? I blame you Will.”

One of my climbing partners, Kathy, shook her head on our latest climbing trip in Joshua Tree over Thanksgiving. Our friendship started with a fetish for offwidth cracks and a Moab Clinic but a year later, I expanded my tastes to include the very thin world of finger cracks.

A day later, after Kathy left, Will and I hopped on what I hoped to be a new project, Right V Crack (5.10b) but after even several TR and mock-lead burns proved to be very challenging - I knew something had to change. Generally, I can climb gear to gear on leads that are far from what is even onsightable for myself - a strategy I employed to work on another finger crack, Dinkum (5.9). But this only goes so far - especially when the gear is finicky, the stances are tricky, and the crack itself requires laybacking and is very strenuous.

This led me to crack open the old Wide Boyz Finger Crack Tutorials and rewatch all of them - including the long video on taping for finger cracks. Combined with advice from my coach Karly Rager from Project Direct, I’ve jotted down a small cheatsheet for myself for finger crack techniques:

Hand movement in finger crack

1. Thumb sprag in corner

2. Donut jam

   • one finger
   • two finger
   • three finger
   • Joining thumb in
     • look for small crystals
     • offset edges

3. Micro-pinch - thumb + two fingers

   • Pin scars - hammered out pods
     • square or hole shape

4. Thumbs down finger jam

   • hook/curl index finger if crack slightly wide
   • (Wrist, forearm, hand should all be in a straight line)

5. Thumbs up finger jam

   • twisting only comes from wrist
   • look for constrictions in rock
   • can use different combination of fingers depending on width of crack

6. Front tips

   • First joint or less
     • if can be on knuckle at all, helps a lot
     • try to wiggle first joint in, if possible
   • If can’t get first joint in, full crimp in
     • less rotating and more of a Gaston
   • Single mono crimp with index finger - slightly dangerous but could work
     • For super thin crack - use last two fingers

7. Ringlocks

   • Thumb in - back of thumb against crack. Fingers moved over top of thumb (keep thumb in place)
     • keep forearm close and pull through length of jam
   • Slightly wider ring lock
     • Use two fingers instead of one over top of thumb

8. Finger bar

• Use either fingers or smthg to jam them in there

9. Baggy ringlocks
   • Pete : thumb supports other fingers
   • Tom: hook, o-kay sign and thumb

Foot Techniques

Foot movement in finger crack

1. Ideally - try to find foot holds outside of crack if possible

2. How to place foot in crack - all quite uncomfortable

   • Rand smear/twist - (drop heel down)
   • Front smedging - smear + edge
   • Frogging foot Gaston

3. Shoe selection

   • Soft shoe might be better on narrow jam
   • Downturned shoe, flat shoe, worn-in pair of shoes ====>
   • Worn-in/Supple is ideal for very thin edge inside crack - more rand smear/twist
   • If smedging + face holds - then worn in but stiff edging shoes
   • Downturned shoe - not ideal for finger cracks

Special Cases

1. Corner Cracks

• Keep the feet together as you are lay backing up the crack

2. To layback or not?

Taping the Fingers

1. Keep joints free. Don’t tape too tight
2. Second option crosses knuckle and covers all skin -
   • cross in both directions
   • leave hole open at second joint
3. Diagonal and cover all the skin - slightly offset for double layer of tape