:? ........ another thread offically hijacked by drunken wise guys on a Saturday night. :?

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him a 5.9 slab!

Even better: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's patience, give him a 5.13 slab (Rainbow Wall). Thanks BH.

BTW - This is one of the best pitches in Eldo.

That's no slab, that thing is overhanging.

Drive up to Whitehorse in North Conway, NH. It's a good place to learn slab with routes as low as 5.3-5.5. Then when you master that, you can try some of the runout 10's and 11's.

Josh

Contrary to common conception reducing the area your shoe contacts the rock actually increases the friction. (One reason rock shoes are small and tight.)

You can think of it as a pressure problem if you like

The way to increase your pressure is to put the majority of your body weight over your feet and only use your hands for balance, thus using 100% of your body weight for the normal force.

I heard about a woman's high heel shoe; where a 100 lb woman, for example, put all her weight on the tip of the high heel, it would develope a force af about 1 ton at the tip of the heel...

You could but you would be wrong! The friction depends on the FORCE not pressure. Therefore if you reduce the friction generating area, the pressure increases resulting in the same net force (the component of weight normal to the surface). It's true the material has to do more work but the friction force is not affected

I remember the friction force vs. surface area debate from secondary school physics... my thought is: if materials like soft sticky rubber are part of the game, isn't it true that the climber's weight distributed on a smaller area of rubber would cause the surface structures of the rock to dig deeper into the sole, causing it to stick better?

Hand,

A few of the points giving in these posts were right on the money, and I'll expand on them. I have climbed up to and including some 5.13 slabs, so I think that some of my techniques can help you.

The easiest way to think about how to center yourself is to draw an imaginary line from dead north through the center of your hips downward to your feet. That is your starting point. The second, but more important rule, is weight distribution. It is very important that you stay light on your feet and keep your center over the weight bearing foot. Be very precise with your movements, because jerky and imprecise placement and movement can easily dislodge you from tenuous edges and smears.

When you place a foot on a micro hold or smear, you must gently and precisely shift your center so that it is over the weight bearing foot. If your center (core of hips) is not directly over the weight bearing foot, you will feel off balance. The out of balance forces can cause involuntary contractions in your muscles, also known as sewing machine leg, which can make it impossible to maintain your balance on very small holds and smears.

Sewing machine leg is a clear sign that you are out of balance, and it is easily remedied by shifting your center back over your weight bearing foot. Remember to also keep breathing and stay calm.

Next time you're out near a slab, try to apply these techniques just a few feet above the ground. With a little practice, you should start to feel what good balance is, and then you will find that your slabs will seem much less daunting. Let me know how it works out for you.