UKC

I've found myself climbing on polished limestone quite a lot recently. Sometimes it's okay, and sometimes very frustrating, especially when feet slip. It occurred to me that i might be missing a good training opportunity, so:

* is there a secret to climbing on polish?
* does climbing on polished rock make you better at anything except for ... climbing on polished rock?
* are there any good drills you can do on really polished stuff, either to make it easier or which transfer well to non-polished stuff?

In reply to humptydumpty:

I thought this was going to be an anti immigration rant...

In reply to Oldsign:

Same here.

You could probably work on a system board while at the gym to focus on footwork/core strength. I haven't done that for ages (not feeling that strong), but it's fairly difficult to make the most of your feet.

I suppose that climbing on polished rock can force you to focus more on the footwork, but I don't know if that's any useful.

I guess the best thing to do is to clean your shoes as much as possible before you start climbing. That might not be very different for you, but will make a difference in long term as grit/sand/soil/whatever will contribute in making the holds even worse.

In reply to humptydumpty:

This is my favourite piece of advice on getting the most from your shoe rubber. From Vermin Sherman himself no less:

youtube.com/watch?v=ObtZPW3fD-o&

Actually you can see where the nickname came from can't you?

In reply to humptydumpty:

Personally I don't think it's as much of a problem as people make it out to be. My feet have only slipped off because of polish a couple of times and that was on the uber polished cuttings at Portland and the New Quarry traverse in Avon and I didn't fall off either time. It does intrigue me though whether polish can improve with a lack of use or whether it just gets worse and worse, and if so will lots of climbs slowly become more and more slippery? Anyone know of a very popular polished crag that got baned? Does the polish 'rough up' with weathering?

As for the questions
* No other than it actually doesn't make too much difference
* No it probably makes it worse as you worry about trusting your feet
* I doubt it other than avoiding downward sloping holds completely

In reply to humptydumpty:

Coming over here with their work ethic, making us look really bad.

In reply to humptydumpty:

There's no way round the problem, really, if the rock is polished. You just have to decide at the end of the day what you want out of climbing: roughly, quantity (grades, footage, irrespective of the merit of the route) or quality. Many mortals, given the dictum that 'life's too short', will opt for quality, and I'd urge you to do the same, choosing as far as possible unpolished routes on high quality rock in preference to polished crap. For me, much of the joy of rock climbing was about using the holds as lightly as possible, and the problem with polished rock is that it forces you to put far too much power into the holds. Which takes away much of the charm, imho, unless you have some other rather perverse idea of what the sport's all about.

In reply to humptydumpty:




Yes, stand on one foot. Then place other foot and fully commit to it straight away to get it under your centre of gravity. Never share the weight between two feet, you will be off.

In reply to humptydumpty:

While I'm not keen on polish, it seems to me, that if the grade reflects the increased difficulty resulting from it, then it just becomes part of the routes character. I've done a few routes that have been less than pleasant due to polish but I've done plenty that are great even with a lot of polish.

In reply to PPP:

I am quite agree with you ,in additional ,courage and focus are both important ,just do your best !

In reply to humptydumpty:

Keep your feet still on the holds, shift your body weight a little (usually out) so you're making use of the hold's shape more than surface friction then try to keep it still until you need to move off, keep feet weighted. Commit to the hold or don't, fidgeting about risks a slip.

jk

In reply to humptydumpty:

Polish on the rock makes you very aware of foot placement. You have to place and weight very carefully and confidently. Just dab your foot on polished holds and you will skid straight off! Seen it happen to many people at Stoney (especially the first few feet of the hyper-polished bottom 15ft of minus wall area.)
So climbing on polished rock can help with your foot use on all other kinds of rock. Enjoy the learning experience , there are some very good 'polished' routes around.

Thanks for the suggestions - sounds to me like it's all about:

1. avoiding polish - Gordon, this is obviously preferable - if I had my way I'd probably climb on limestone once a year to remind myself why I don't like it. But really, it's better than not climbing.

2. good footwork - so probably this *can* be a learning opportunity

In reply to sheelba:


To me, any foot slips are bad. I'm probably less bothered about falling off, and more about tearing tendons in hands or shoulders.

And from what I've seen of polished routes at Avon, it could be a whole lot worse.

In reply to humptydumpty:


Load your feet at 90 degrees to the rock.



Yes greatly improves your foot placement and helps with core strength due to the different way you load your feet


The same drills will work, but maybe concentrate on smearing techniques and foot work

In reply to humptydumpty:
Yes, try really hard. This is also applicable advice for most of climbing.

In reply to humptydumpty:

Go to Malham and climb Consenting Adults - you'll gain a new perspective on polish and never moan about it anywhere else again!!

More seriously, I think you can use it to really improve your footwork. Being precise about where you put your foot then properly weighting it will allow you to use the holds. The problem comes when you (the general you, not you specifically) fanny around and don't weight your foot, it slips and provides negative feedback that you can't stand on the hold. It's a similar thing to learning to smear confidently. I joked above about Malham but climbing there has improved my footwork and precision no end.

In reply to humptydumpty:

Dynamite.

Most popular limestone routes would be improved by it... maybe I am biased though as my local limestone crag is Chudleigh.

In reply to climbingpixie:


Totally agree. And Consenting will reveal footwork (and any other!) deficiencies faster than any route I know.

Mick