Wild Country 'Crack School' is a series of eight short videos designed to utilise the skills and knowledge of Wild Country climbers Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker to give an introduction to crack climbing. Over 8 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. In the first episodes of Crack School Tom and Pete looked at the basic techniques of crack climbing, the all important building blocks for any would be crack climber - how to jam, what to do with the feet and when to place gear.
In these more advanced sessions Tom and Pete looks at more advanced techniques for when the crack doesn't do what you want to - when it's too wide, too thin or non existent!!! They look at what tricks and techniques you need in your armoury to take your jamming one stage further.
If you want to know more about crack climbing and even to learn direct from Tom and Pete Wild Country are running a series of crack school masterclasses across the UK for spring 2014 - see more here: bit.ly/1fva7r0
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!!'