Improve your pinch strength
Pinch strength is hard to gain and easy to ignore … until you need it, like I did trying to climb a new 8c+ at Malham last year. The top bulge featured a hideously flared open-handed horror-pinch that stopped me in my tracks … until I went away and trained specifically. The next year I returned to finish the job.
While elite boulderers seem to be able to crush the most marginal sloping features, many sport and trad climbers lag behind in this respect, and favor routes and problems with incut holds. With sloper strength and pinch strength linked, since most slopers require use of the thumb, many climbers are weak in both. Conversely, training in either improves the other.
This story is from the February 2018, #248 edition of Rock and Ice.
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This story is from the February 2018, #248 edition of Rock and Ice.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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