Forums: Climbing Disciplines: Sport Climbing: Re: [shotwell] Question about polished limestone - WTF?: Edit Log




Partner cracklover


Jun 25, 2013, 3:24 PM

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Registered: Nov 14, 2002
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Re: [shotwell] Question about polished limestone - WTF?
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Since billcoe resurrected this thread, I'll highlight what seems like (I can only say seems like, since I haven't tried to put it to the test) the best and most comprehensive advice I got in this thread. It's Shotwell's post quoted here:

shotwell wrote:
cracklover wrote:
Sounds like the general consensus is: suck it up Nancy. That's fine, if that's all there is. Not what I'd hoped to hear, of course, but so be it. lol

One last question - anyone think one type of shoe is much better on these super-polished holds? More downturned better? More sensitive better?

GO

I like to do a couple things to mitigate the difficulties of polish. This works for me on very polished tuff, limestone, and dense sandstone (think Font or South East US.)

1) Clean your shoes. Use a little water and rub them till your hand chatters. Sand them if you're really obsessive.

2) Wear slightly softer shoes than you normally would for the same move. Surface area seems to make a difference on polish contact. Stiffer shoes seem to skate a little, whereas the softer shoes 'melt.' You'll probably need to learn to think and move faster while in control to keep the 'melt' from affecting you.

3) Push harder than you think you need to. The note to focus on keeping a very tight core is critical. There is typically a very small window of 'right' body positions on polish.

4) Most importantly, climb a lot of polished stone. It is really the only way to get used to it. You'll climb smarter and faster.

5) The tips to step on the wrong holds work, sometimes. Sometimes you have to use the polish. If you always try to get around it you'll just short circuit the learning process.

Thanks, Shotwell!

For me, after thinking about it, the three things I think I can do to improve my chances are:

1 - make sure my shoes are really clean. I doubt this will have a large impact, but perhaps some.

2 - Move faster. I have the tendency to get try to get in a restful position and suss out the next sequence - to a fault. I suspect this will help a significant amount.

3 - Don't try to do quite so much with my feet. Finding the balance point is key. I think what I tend to do is feel my feet slipping and instinctively overgrip and stop using my feet. I have to find just how much force I can get out of them, and be happy with that. I suspect this will pay even bigger dividends.

4 - Practice. This would obviously be the biggest winner. I know because I've worked thin slick flaring cracks, and when I started I felt like my feet were nearly useless, and after enough work they felt much much better. Unfortunately, the body position and other subtle changes I learned from that don't seem to have any direct crossover into face climbing. The only crossover is the knowledge that the solution *is* there. My experience tells me it must be.

Cheers,

GO


(This post was edited by cracklover on Jun 25, 2013, 3:25 PM)



Edit Log:
Post edited by cracklover () on Jun 25, 2013, 3:25 PM


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