Learning to Crack Climb on Exasperator (Pitch 2) in Squamish, BC 

how did he even catch that fall? lol didnt look like he had a belay device in his hand? Am I missing something? is he redirect belaying from below?

I get that it's a GriGri, but that's the last time I'd climb with him.

@@jglantz08 I think he had the rope in his hand. But im not sure too...

Lax-Sharks he had rope in his hands.

You can clearly see the Grigri at 04:02.

All Good my man. By halfway through this pitch, things starting feeling pretty good. All in learning the technique. I enjoy the process.

Leader falls, belayer puts hands on wall. Oopsie

They are nice and thick but the sizing is really odd. I’m usually a medium but I need the XL and it still constricts my hand from touching my thumb to pinky. I put them on super loose and. They work quite well.

It's not vertical and the smears are bomber. Just an amazing climb. Jabberwocky and this are the best 10ish cracks in Squamish

yolo

Conserve your cams maybe?

Well the 2nd nut was solid but the first one seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

Also, he had a quickdraw on the bolt as his first piece which eliminates the need for a multidirectional first piece.

The pitch is planar so there isn't a huge concern on zippering gear since the belayer, first, and second piece are all on the same plane as the potential fall. While cam as the first piece is far from a terrible habit nuts feel way more secure on this first pitch than cams. Omni directional first piece are super important if you have a lazy belayer standing 20 feet back from the base of the climb :P.

There's always a concern with zippering your gear when using only nuts. You said there is some concern with zippering, so why not remove all concern with a cam or other omni-directional pro? I'm responding so novice/beginner trad climbers don't think it's ok to place a nut first.

@@dhoule2188 Just so we are on the same page we both mean zippering as when more than one piece is in and a fall occurs and results in the gear placements failing from the bottom up? If the rope runs straight between, in this case the belayer (or the anchor redirect) and the second piece, then once the second piece is placed the first piece won't have any secondary load applied unless the second piece fails. You are very right, secondary forces are a very important thing to keep in mind. I was just responding so motivated beginner climbers could start thinking about when that rule of thumb isn't always required. I have seen climbers forgo bomber nut placements and climb dangerously off the ground waiting for a cam placement because they adhered to the cam as first piece too strictly and didn't know the reasoning behind it. I love these sort of nerdy climbing conversations!

my first thought

At 19:00 the crack becomes thin hands!