Ahab, The Steck Salathe, The Harding Slot, Generator Crack, there are hundreds of wide pitches in Yosemite. From the single difficult pitch Twilight Zone to the sustained 5 inch cracks of long route Mental Block, climbing in the Valley requires a specific set of skills involving off widths. Learning these techniques is far from easy. Arm bars, t-stacks, leavittation, and chicken winging sound less like climbing moves than a combination of magic and mechanics.
Recently, Randy Leavitt, the originator of the leavittation form of offwidth climbing, put together a neat film showing how to climb wide cracks.
For the aspiring offwidth afficiando, there are numerous sources on the internet for those with a wide fetish. The Monster Offwidth web page cintains an excellent list of the classic routes on the hardman offwidth circuit. Also, check out the WideFetish page, which contains the Offwidth Almanac by master of large cracks, Jay Anderson.
In the meantime, head out to the cracks at Ironworks- there’s a good big fist crack. There’s also a great crack at Great Western Power Company to train your wide climbing on.
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