Advanced Climbing Techniques Summary

So how "advanced" are we talking?

Why are advanced movements important?

Because they LOOK PRETTY BADASS!

 

 

Mostly kidding...

 

It's because they help save precious energy when climbing.

The moves feels easier so you can climb longer:

• On longer climbs, you need to conserve energy as much as possible since you have to continue moving. There are also "crux moves" that highlight the main challenge of the climb, and these are usually the moves that spit you off.

How so?

The move becomes possible so you can even continue:

• Without the correct technique, you likely won't have the ability to "do the move".
• You can sometimes burl through a move via strength, but on hard climbs the moves will be too difficult to cheat in this way.

Here are some of the most common advanced climbing techniques ✨

The drop knee

• Allows you to leverage the mechanical advantage of your legs to pull your center of gravity into the wall, thus locking your weight between and over your feet.
• Repetition of exaggerated drop knees can be hard on your knees, stretch and massage legs often.

The heel hook

• Allows you to use your strong leg muscles in place of your arms. Commonly for higher, even overhead holds.
• Helps absorb lift of your weight since you can leverage your legs and skeleton instead of your arm musculature.
• Stretch hamstrings and calves, also massage LCL and MCL.

The gaston

• Allows you to get fingers into distant holds that are facing the wrong way. Some of the hardest moves in the world are to gastons...because the human body is weak at this motion.
• The farther away you gaston, the harder this becomes on your shoulder join and stabilizer muscles.

The full crimp

• Ah, I love crimps. Building a crimp grip is loving called "rolling it up" or "closing on the hold". You're dedicated!
• Allows your thumb to drive your pointer finger into the hold, good for grabbing desperately small holds.
• Very strenuous on your pointer finger finger A5 pullies.

The dyno

• For those times you just HAVE to jump to a far away hold.
• Takes a high amount of coordination. You also generate mostly with the legs, which is hard to learn!
• Very explosive and powerful. The "other" hardest moves in the world are dynos to tiny-ass crimps.