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How does polish affect your climbing?

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hi

So took a Trad newbie out up twistleton crag in Yorkshire, lots of very polished limestone.

Now for a long while now I have been actively avoiding polished routes and I rediscovered why, I felt very insecure with my feet and completely unwilling to commit, leading on what should be easy moves. It was almost an irrational fear because the grip was there, I just did not trust it at all.

i rekon it knocked me down like 2 grades.... which is a lot when i only climb HVS on a good day!

I wonder if anyone else has an irrational issue with polished routes?
1
 Trangia 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:
Not significantly so long as you are positive with your foot placements and once you've placed it don't scrabble it around. It's all the more important to stand upright and not lean in.

As you say it's about trusting your foot placement.

It goes without saying that the soles of your shoes should be clean and dry.
Post edited at 18:07
 jsmcfarland 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I don't speak the language at all so can't really comment. Maybe I should take lessons
1
 afshapes 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:
I think it's somewhat racist to pick on one nation. How on earth do you know if the rock is polish?
Post edited at 18:09
2
 Greasy Prusiks 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I'm the same. Bloody hate polish, makes me feel really insecure on the rock.

I did take a big free solo fall this year though courtesy of heavy rain and mirror finish polish. That's probably the reason I don't like it.
 Brass Nipples 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

Polish coming over here and taking over our climbs.
2
 Greenbanks 25 May 2016
In reply to Lion Bakes:

I think he means the polish that's shiny and unnerving on climbs, not the nationality
32
 Billhook 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:
Ye, I climbed a route after some polish guy and it was really slippery. Totally dropped a grade or two.
Post edited at 19:33
1
 alan moore 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

Adds half a grade. Takes away half the pleasure.
 Jimbo C 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I love climbing with Polish. They're always so enthusiastic and like to take on a challenge.
 humptydumpty 25 May 2016
In reply to Jimbo C:

This has always been my experience too. Love Polish, hate polish.
abseil 25 May 2016
In reply to humptydumpty:

> .....Love Polish, hate polish.

"Polish" is the law in Glasgow on a Saturday night.

Apologies to my many dear beloved sensitive Glaswegian friends.
In reply to paul_the_northerner:
Don't you just love it when a thread gets high-jacked by an ambiguous term like 'polish' and descends into farce.
1
 Greenbanks 25 May 2016
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Mmmm - I did try, but was hugely disliked for my intentional humour by-pass
3
 springfall2008 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I agree it makes a big difference, perhaps half a grade to a grade, but not 2 grades. I mean I have climbed polished VS but I won't be leading E1 any time soon

But yes, I'd agree it makes you question every move, I guess practice on polished rock is the only way to improve at it - or just find nicer routes?

 aln 25 May 2016
In reply to abseil:

> "Polish" is the law in Glasgow on a Saturday night.

> Apologies to my many dear beloved sensitive Glaswegian friends.

It's 'polis', apology accepted.
1
 Brass Nipples 25 May 2016
In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

> Don't you just love it when a thread gets high-jacked by an ambiguous term like 'polish' and descends into farce.

That's the beauty of the Polish language.
 zv 25 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I really don't mind polish on limestone. You are generally looking for a small but positive edge to stand on.

Polish just makes you look harder for that small bit to place for your foot. In my opinion, doing routes at places such as Cheedale or certain routes at Kilnsey makes your technique better.
 Cheese Monkey 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

Makes me laugh some comments in the logbooks about polished horrorshows bla bla bla whine whine moan. No mate, you just cant climb for shit- a bit of rubber is not polish Armageddon stop making excuses

I can think of two routes I have done where polish has made things harder. Even then it was probably down to crap technique.
4
 Mr. Lee 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I can usually climb polished stuff at about the same grade but never much fun. A bit like climbing wet rock.
Rigid Raider 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

Fotnote: Polish is the only word in the English language whose meaning is completely altered by the presence of a capital letter.
1
 EddInaBox 26 May 2016
In reply to Rigid Raider:

No it isn't:

Ionic - ionic
Cancer - cancer
Lent - lent
May - may
Scotch - scotch
Welsh - welsh
Labour - labour
Evil Bastard - conservative.
1
 Oogachooga 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I have a dirty secret...I dont mind a spot of polish. As long as i know its there, adds to the spice.
 Adam Perrett 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

There is a lot of polish here on Portland limestone.

IMO, a lot of polish is caused by climbers (especially learner groups) walking about in their climbing shoes, collecting grit and sand on the bottom, then climbing, pivoting on their feet and polishing the rock. It is like having a pad of sandpaper on each foot.

We should be actively educating new (and existing) climbers to use a mat to change into their climbing shoes next to the rock and make sure the shoes are clean before they climb.

F1 drivers don't race with muddy tyres. Our expensive rock boots will stick much better if they're not covered in mud and grit.

The issue will only get worse as climbing becomes more popular. Once a hold is polished, it will take a looong time to weather back naturally.

Let's all start cleaning our shoes (where possible) before we climb
 springfall2008 26 May 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Have you tried Freedom at Wintours Leap??
 Cheese Monkey 26 May 2016
In reply to springfall2008:

Yes
abseil 26 May 2016
In reply to Cheese Monkey:

> Makes me laugh.... I can think of two routes I have done where polish has made things harder. Even then it was probably down to crap technique.

Have you tried Piton Route at Avon? If there was no polish it'd be about V.Diff., whereas in it's currently supremely polished condition it's about E11 Sunlight reflecting off it probably increases the Earth's albedo by a billion points or however they measure it
 Mr. Lee 26 May 2016
In reply to springfall2008:

Yeah, fun hand rail traverse but don't know how something so polished can get three stars.

Butterfly I remember feeling the worst of the Fly Wall routes in terms of polish. I'd say I'm a pretty strong lay-backer but I remember my feet pedalling on the spot on the moves above the ledge. Polished lay back moves are the worst type.
 spartacus 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I remember doing the Giants Crawl on Dow Craig in the wet in boots. It was virtually ungradeable. Large polished footholds were like glass and unusable which meant using smearing in bendy boots on slippery handholds. Did it in the dry the next year and it felt like a different climb
 achaplin 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

The other way of looking at polish is to accept that thousands of people got there before you. Before it became shiny the route was chossy and loose. You missed the sweet spot.

The trouble with moaning about polish is, it makes you sound like the tourist at Machu Picchu moaning about all the tourists ruining the place and no-one wants to be that person do they?
1
 GrahamD 26 May 2016
In reply to achaplin:

Alternatively some rock is naturally polished.
1
 GrahamD 26 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

The better my footwork got (on its upward crawl towards mediocre), the less difference polish made to me. I think its because I started to make a conscious effort to weight my feet on the holds rather than be tentative on them.
 alan moore 26 May 2016
In reply to GrahamD:

Glacier Point Apron!
I remember getting there and thinking ' just like Etive; only easier angled'. How wrong I was; slithering round like an eel on wet grass. Mostly downwards once the sun got on it.
 Cheese Monkey 26 May 2016
In reply to abseil:
Yeh it's pretty polished but it doesn't detract from the route. Or make it any harder.
 bpmclimb 26 May 2016
In reply to all:

A bit of polish is part of climbing life. No point moaning about it - embrace the challenge. Climbing on polished footholds is good practice; it encourages deliberate movement and smooth transfer of weight. Place feet slowly and accurately, keep them as still as possible, and weight them fully. And get shoes squeaky clean. I've heard a fair number of climbers at crags moan about polish, yet their shoes look like they've been stamping around in cowpats!
 springfall2008 26 May 2016
In reply to Mr. Lee:

> Yeah, fun hand rail traverse but don't know how something so polished can get three stars.

> Butterfly I remember feeling the worst of the Fly Wall routes in terms of polish. I'd say I'm a pretty strong lay-backer but I remember my feet pedalling on the spot on the moves above the ledge. Polished lay back moves are the worst type.

Butterfly is one of my favourite routes (and my first VS lead I think), I don't remember the polish being quite as bad as Freedom which would be a lot easier with good friction smears.
 bpmclimb 26 May 2016
In reply to all:

Try Jasper HVS 5a, Sea Walls, Avon. Super-polished but well-protected and a really good route - a great test of footwork (and rock shoe cleaning skills). Pretty much any route after that will feel grippy as grit
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

I climbed at Port de Soller 2 days ago and while it's super polished I have to say it didn't affect me that much. I just approached the moves with a different mindset and movement. I think you have to get used to polished routes - the more you climb them the easier they become.
 BrendanO 27 May 2016
In reply to aln:

> It's 'polis', apology accepted.

Late Saturday night, it becomes 'polish' as you slur yir speech
 aln 27 May 2016
In reply to BrendanO:

True enough.
 Robert Durran 27 May 2016
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

> I wonder if anyone else has an irrational issue with polished routes?

No, but I have a perfectly rational one - it made almost every starred route I went on from the Costa Blanca Rockfax on a trip last year into a bag of shit. ie all but one route in a week.

1
 ThunderCat 27 May 2016
In reply to Rigid Raider:

> Fotnote: Polish is the only word in the English language whose meaning is completely altered by the presence of a capital letter.

"Cleave" is another interesting word, having two diametrically opposing meanings depending on context...either splitting something apart, or sticking two things together.

It's 4:49am. I've been awake since 2:18am thanks to some c*nts alarm going off.

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