Another 'Crack School' down and another bunch of very soon to be happy customers who've won over £500 worth of prizes between them.

Last week's Crack School 'Hand Jamming' comp prizes were:
1st prize - Helium friends 2.5 + 3 - worth £110.
2nd prize - Set of Rockcentrics 1 - 8 worth £87.
3rd prize - Set of big Rocks 9-14 - worth £66.
4th prize - Helium Friend 3 - worth £55
5th - 10th Prizes - Wild Country Cargo Chalkbag and T shirt - worth £28 each.

And the winners were:

2nd Prize - Kirsten Donovan

3rd Prize - Cess Dolding

4th Prize - Richard Bloomfield

5th - 10th Prizes - Joseph Oros, Helen Blewitt, Dave Warburton, James Reeley, David West, Emily Heeley.

You can enter our new competition here...

Wild Country ‘Crack School’ is a series of six short videos designed to utilise the skills and knowledge of Wild Country climbers Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker to give an introduction to basics of crack climbing. Over six episodes the guys cover all widths of crack: Fingers, Hands, Fists and Offwidths as well as looking at the skills of gear placement and taping up.

Pete Whittaker on possible the UK's hardest fist, Ray's Roof E6 6C, (with a 21 kg weightbelt) Ph Richie Patterson.
Designed for those who know next to nothing about crack climbing and who want to make their first steps, the videos are made to illustrate what the guys think are the most pertinent points for starting out on each size of crack. They look at how to use hands and feet in the crack as well as gear and overall tips on technique and the way to approach each type of crack.
As Tom Randall says: ‘Crack climbing well is a fantastic feeling and learning how to climb cracks opens up a world of routes, and indeed some of the best routes in the world: from Brown and Whillans’ classics in the UK (try doing Cenotaph Corner or the Sloth without being able to jam) through to Yosemite and Indian Creek in the USA. And remember, the best climbers always have a variety of techniques at their disposal and having a variety of techniques always makes you a better climber!!’

Fist jamming is the third episode and you can watch it below as well as downloading a PDF of tips and routes from Tom Randall....

Enter our Fist Jam competition here open for 1 week only...

Download Tom's PDF's of 'Hints and Tips' and routes to try here:

•           Crack School #3 - Fist Jamming Hints, Tips and Routes by Tom Randall
•           Crack School #2 - Hand Jamming Hints, Tips and Routes by Tom Randall
•           Crack School #1 - Finger Jamming - Hints Tips and Routes by Tom Randal

"...I'm going to die."

I looked up in horror as the tube chock Johnny had placed slipped out and spiraled down the rope, coming to rest on a Friend 4. Johnny continued to struggle with the off-width, oscillating between sobbing and cursing. He was high enough on the route so as to make his last piece, the Friend 4, redundant. A fall from his current position would without doubt be to the ground and the best-case scenario was serious injury. I stood there cringing, scared to watch what I thought were the final moments of probably our finest climber.

This was 1983, the Johnny in question was Johnny Woodward, who without doubt is one of the most talented climbers I have shared a rope with. The largest Friend in production at the time was size 4. Death Crack, the crack Johnny was leading, needed bigger pro to make it safe, but all we had back then were tube chocks. Thankfully, Johnny made it to the top without falling, a lead of such prowess that it is still fresh in my aging memory.

Craig Smith and a rack of Wild Country Friends including the new Big Friends; size 5 (red) and 6 (green) U Craig Smith on the first ascent of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun E3 5c/6a, The Roost, Hebden Bridge UKC Gear, 23 Apr 2012 © Mick Ryan UKC and UKH

Over the last three decades, climbing protection has continued to improve. Undoubtedly, this factor has enabled the sport to advance. Large camming devices have tamed climbing wide cracks. Here I will review Wild Country Technical Friends sizes 5 and 6, cams that were essential for the successful ascent of probably the World's hardest off-width crack, Century Crack.

On first acquaintance these large Friends look a little otherworldly, like obese relatives of the already extensive Wild Country range. But don't let their size put you off, in use they perform amazingly well. They are easy to place, thanks to the ergonomic trigger and they sit solidly once placed. An enduring problem with large devices such as these has been their propensity to 'walk' into cracks or in some cases twist sideways and fall out of the placement.

Friends 5 and 6 have been designed to minimize these problems by incorporating strong springs and by having an optimum head width – basically this equates to the length of the axel that separates the pairs of cams. The head width of these large Friends is the widest of any cam on the market, meaning that they are very stable once placed. In use I experienced no walking or twisting out of the cams, an attribute that instilled confidence and lessened the frequency of trouser filling reflexes.

There is an on going battle of words between the major cam makers regarding weight versus the range of any given cam. In my opinion, the differences between the players are fairly minor. On a size for size basis, Friends are slightly lighter than comparable Black Diamond Camalots, but all we are talking about here is the weight of a bag of Bacon Fries (24g) between WC 6 and Camalot 6 or a bag of Minstrels (42g) between WC 5 and BD Camalot 5. As far as range is concerned BD Camalots just pip Friends, but again the differences are really negligible in my opinion.

"...On first acquaintance these large Friends look a little otherworldly, like obese relatives of the already extensive Wild Country range..."

Placing the Wild Country Big Friend: size 6 on the FA of Set The Controls For The Heart of the Sun E3 5c/6a UKC Gear, 23 Apr 2012 © Mick Ryan UKC and UKH

In these times of hardship, unless you're a banker, price is a big factor. Well, if you shop around you should be able to score Friends 5 or 6 for less than £90 each. This may sound like a lot for a single device, but it's the going rate for cams of this size irrespective of brand and you certainly get a lot of cam for your money! Furthermore, unless you are thinking of 'treating' yourself to an off width frenzy, you probably only need one of each size in your gear arsenal. Certainly, for most situations in the UK one of each should be enough.

Summary

However, if you plan visiting the States to sample some of their fine cracks then you may want to purchase more than one of each or simply go old school and stock up on toilet paper.

Wild Country and Climber Magazine ran a great comp last month where you could win our fantastic new Ropeman 1 and 2.

The new Ropeman 1 and 2 have forged sideplates making them easier to use....

There were ten to win - five Ropeman 1 and 5 Ropeman 2 and the lucky winners are:

Ropeman 1 Winners

Alison Banwell

Charlie Hume

Grant Mallison

James Donovan

John Proud

Ropeman 2 Winners

Lawrence Dowell

Simon Dennison

Vernon Authors

Wendy Molyneux

William Adams

Well done to all and remember you can enter our current competition here.

Read more about the Ropeman 1, 2 and 3 here...

Wild Country ‘Crack School’ is a series of six short videos designed to utilise the skills and knowledge of Wild Country climbers Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker to give an introduction to basics of crack climbing. Over six episodes the guys cover all widths of crack: Fingers, Hands, Fists and Offwidths as well as looking at the skills of gear placement and taping up.

Pete Whittaker on the first ascent of the 20m horizontal handjam crack of Our Forte E6 6B. Ph Richie Patterson.
Designed for those who know next to nothing about crack climbing and who want to make their first steps, the videos are made to illustrate what the guys think are the most pertinent points for starting out on each size of crack. They look at how to use hands and feet in the crack as well as gear and overall tips on technique and the way to approach each type of crack.
As Tom Randall says: ‘Crack climbing well is a fantastic feeling and learning how to climb cracks opens up a world of routes, and indeed some of the best routes in the world: from Brown and Whillans’ classics in the UK (try doing Cenotaph Corner or the Sloth without being able to jam) through to Yosemite and Indian Creek in the USA. And remember, the best climbers always have a variety of techniques at their disposal and having a variety of techniques always makes you a better climber!!’

Hand jammings is the second episode and you can watch it below as well as downloading a PDF of tips and routes from Tom Randall....

Enter our Hand Jam competition here open for 1 week only...

And you can check out our list of top crack gear here....