Rock Climbing Hand Hold Techniques

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Bill with Zoar Outdoor on behalf of expertvillage.com we are here today at a Chapel Ledges at Ashfield, Massachusetts and in this series I'm going to be talking about the basics of moving on rock. Anyway that you look at it your are going to use your hands a lot for rock climbing. We want to use them in efficient ways possible and still get up the rock so here is a few things to think about. Holding on to the rock in different ways will make a difference on how your hands feel. So a open hand grip well my fingers are curved in a pretty natural way is going to be the most relaxing way to hold on to the rock. If the hole gets smaller I might need to use what is called the crimp where my fingers are actually bent backwards a little bit it helps when you are doing this to wrap your thumb over the top of your first finger so your thumb is really strong. This is strenuous, can be painful but it allows you to use smaller holes on your way up. The last thing to think about is can I push cause anything I can use a pushing hold then I don't have to use my fingers at all so if I can push down with my palm or push against a flat face in order to oppose a foot hold that is going to save my fingers a lot of trouble. So open hand holds, crimps and pushing 3 different ways to think about using your hands. "