UKC

So climbing in a new area today, and guide book had a traverse marked on the route. The line went along a horizontal break in the rock, do they intend the climberer to follow the break with hands or feet?! I went with hands as there was a parallel break below the one marked, but blank wall above it. What do most people do on a traverse?

In reply to girlymonkey:

Climb it the easiest way. The lines drawn on photo-topos aren't intended to be super-accurate; between the topo, the description and looking at it yourself you should be able to work out where it goes.

In general it's probably safer, more secure, but strenuous to swing along a break with bad footholds, and it's scarier to teeter along with bad handholds. So most traverse lines are usually done with hands rather than feet following the obvious feature.

In reply to girlymonkey:

I usually mark the traverse line on at about chest height.

In reply to girlymonkey: I once asked this and Chris Craggs replied that you climb with your heart, not yours hands or feet...

In reply to Malcolm Tucker's Sweary Aunt:

Difficult to rest with your heart draped over a jug though ... or jammed in a crack

In reply to Malcolm Tucker's Sweary Aunt:


I remember that


Chris

In reply to girlymonkey:

Marking in which specific features you use for hands and feet is a bit beyond the scope of a topo!

But for a serious answer, it's up to you and there is no general rule for which will be easier, other than that on an overhanging wall a juggy break will almost always be for hands (go along as quickly as possible and get as much as you can out of your feet), and on a low angled slab (requiring balance) the key traverse features will usually be easier treated as foot holds. Between these extremes is where it tends to get interesting (in terms of reading the rock) and you'll often want to get a good look and decide from a decent hold prior to the traverse.

In reply to girlymonkey:

There's a tendency for it to be the line of the hands. The latest, amazing BMC panoramic topo of the popular end of Stanage certainly seems to do it that way, for example.