This is the first of a series of posts from Malcolm Kent who is going to be writing about his adventures on the international competition scene over the next few months!
Danish Bacon
I just sent the red and white route first go. That just leaves the two fluorescent routes that are yet to be sent. Kris thinks it’s more like M10- than M10 and I’m inclined to agree with him now. I’m sure I’m strong enough to onsight M10 but something in my head says it was a little too easy. A few minutes later I onsight the fluorescent orange, a likely M10+. Now I’m sure. The red and white was not certainly not M10. But now the clocks have run on and it’s time to get the bus and go home. Kat’s arranged a dinner date for us at a friend’s apartment and this is one of those situations when you just don’t want to piss your partner off. A short bus ride takes us back into the heart of the city where we never fail to look very out of place amongst the fashion conscious chic late on a Saturday evening. One hour later and we’re in a plush designer apartment swapping stories of an expat lifestyle with folks that struggle to comprehend the value of an activity like climbing. That’s the funky thing about trying to be a passionate full on climber in a town like Copenhagen. But equally it has it’s upsides, there’s no doubt about that.
The Monastry
The Monastry indoor drytooling gym has been in operation now for almost a year. Ever since myself and Kat finished the laborious task of building it from scratch and starting to put up the first holds. It’s pretty close to what I had hoped. Maybe just another hundred holds and then it’ll be perfect! The Monastry is 25 minutes out of the centre of town in what I like to call the industrial Bronx. Basically because it’s packed full of grey warehousing, guard dogs, rented security people and dodgy looking fellows welding cars together after dark (only ever after dark). Physically it’s a big pile of wood and metal bolted together, but metaphorically it’s a symbol of obsession, drive and too much synthetically enhanced carbonated energy. It’s the key foundation for proving a concept… that you can live in a country with no climbing at all, a country that’s flatter than Holland and still climb at a high level.
I guess I knew from very early on that things would be a battle. As soon as I realised that only one of the five million inhabitants was what you might refer to as a
Tools of the trade!
committed winter climber. So here we are now, soldiers of fortune, doing our thing, no matter whether anyone in the rest of the country cares or not. At the time of writing we have the Monastry, probably the best indoor dry tooling facility anywhere. And the Banana Park. A 12m high, massively overhanging outdoor lead climbing wall with dedicated Schmoolz dry tooling routes. These 2 climbing training venues alone make our little corner of the world a pretty unique place to be. Then when you add in the super efficient and well connected airport only 10 minutes from the city and the super healthy living style that’s all around you, living in Copenhagen actually becomes far less of a case of… ‘Malc, what the %&#! are you doing moving there mate?’.
The Monastry is for sure the key piece of gear that holds this whole idea together. It’s the environment in which all the testing and experimenting can be done. Testing out different warm-up routines, different tooling techniques, different pick setups and even fine tuning how to dyno between holds with tools. All the kind of stuff that you can’t possibly play with outside all year round. The kind of stuff you want to get dialled before hitting the big routes and the competitions or whatever pushes you when your ‘game time’ begins. But like anything, you never really know if you’ve just been talking non-sense or not until the time comes to put your butt on the line when it really really matters. So I guess we’ll just have to see over the next couple of seasons. If you see me packing brown boxes that say ‘International Removals’ in the next year then I guess we’ll have the answer.
Let the games begin.
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About Malcolm Kent
Malcolm is based in Copenhagen, Denmark which he uses as a base for training and a place from which to explore the most interesting winter climbing the world has to offer.
Malcolm Kent
Malcolm competes regularly in competitions all over the world and has taken part in the Scottish Tooling Series since it’s inception. This year Malcolm is writing a series of Posts from his travels around the ice climbing circuits exclusively for the STS site.
Climbing highlights:
The Game. M13. Cineplex, Canada. 2007.
Alcatraz. M13. Glenwood Canyon, US. 2006.
Torchlite. M12+. Birnam, Scotland. 2008.
Riptide. WI 7. Mt Paterson, Canada. 2007.
Liption Direct. WI 7, M7. Rjukan, Norway. 2010.
Yo bro. IX, 9. Mamores, Scotland. 2008.
Ice climbing world cup and world championships.
Competing at an outdoor dry-tooling competition on a man-made tower.
Drytooling.
This has been found to be an effective way for walls to maximise the use of their space by offering what is becoming a very popular sport. Dry tooling is exactly that, the use of ice axes to cross ground that has no snow or ice on it. In a practical sense, this means climbing indoors on standard bolt-on or wooden holds, either on existing bottom-rope lines or in dedicated dry tooling areas.
This type of climbing is very powerful and gives rise to a number of spectacular and strenuous techniques, such as figures of four and nine, hanging rests and the like. We will look at these techniques in a while.
Whilst dry tooling would not be possible without the use of an axe in each hand, it will most often be carried out without the use of crampons, with standard rock-shoes taking their place (or often mountain boots in the case of competitions). The reason for this will most often be for safety, as to catch a crampon point on the wall during a fall, or to land on one when tooling across the roof of a bouldering cave, would almost certainly result in injury. Having said that, some walls may have areas where crampons are used, although these are often exclusively on walls made from natural rock, and where bottom-roping is the norm.
Dry tooling is a very useful skill for practising winter climbing techniques, but many climbers now view it as a skill in its own right. Dry tooling caves and walls have their own dedicated band of aficionados, with hours sometimes being spent working out a sequence of moves, just as boulderers will do with problems in conventional bouldering areas.
Most climbing facilities with a dry tooling area will require climbers to undergo a formal ‘induction’ session. This will cover topics such as the correct use of the equipment, dos and don’ts specific to the climbing wall as well as basic safety information.
Equipment.
Axes.
Dedicated dry-tooling axes.
Most climbers will start out with a standard set of climbing axes, which will often consist of one hammer and one adze, exactly the same as they use for winter climbing. However, a new generation of axes, designed specifically for the purpose of dry tooling, have evolved, and they will make a huge difference as to how hard or easy specific moves will feel. If you have no axes of your own, these can often be hired for a small charge (along with other essential items of equipment), from the climbing wall.
As one of the major benefits of dry tooling is the ease with which axes can be swapped from hand to hand, leashes are not used in the majority of cases. To allow for this, dedicated axes have a very pronounced bend to the shaft, often more like a right-angle, which gives a comfortable grip. This also allows the maximum leverage to be applied to the tip of the axe pick, essential when trying to stay in contact with the smallest of holds.
Most axes will also have a ‘trigger’ grip, which allows you to hold on to a variety of points up the shaft, essential when performing some of the more technical moves such as changing hands and short-tooling.
If you are going to use your own ice axes, it is worth protecting yourself from injury by taking off the hammer and adze sections. If this is not possible, think about covering them with some foam and tape so that, should an axe ping off a hold and hit you in the face, you won’t get injured.
Helmet.
This is important, as to be hit on the head by a flailing axe, or to have one dropped on your head by your climbing partner when bottom-roping would certainly ruin your day! The helmet can be a usual everyday climbing helmet, or one that has been designed for dry tooling, thus has built-in protection. This protection may consist of either a metal grid covering the face or a Perspex visor protecting the eyes. Bear in mind that even with those with a metal grid covering the face, a very unlucky climber could still find an axe pick poking them in the eye. Thus, you may decide to use protective glasses as well.
A helmet with a full visor that gives protection from flying axes.
Eye protection.
This is essential. If protection is not built in to your helmet, a pair of industrial quality safety glasses will be ideal, and these can be purchased from your local builder’s merchants. Pay for good quality and look after them, as scratched glasses are very annoying to use.
Clear plastic goggles could also be used, although these tend to make your face a bit sweaty and aren’t as comfortable to wear for a prolonged period of time.
Gloves.
To help you hold on to the axe and to negate the chance of you skinning a knuckle, a pair of gloves is important. However, these need to be thin so that you do not slide around in them, as well as giving more control over the axe. Although dedicated dry tooling gloves are available, perhaps the best is a pair of tight fitting mountain-bike gloves, available from your local cycling shop. These tend to do up tightly and minimise hand slippage, as well as having ‘grippy’ palms and fingers.
Amalgamating tape.
This is a very useful piece of kit, as it allows you to make the shaft of the axe easier to grip. Purchased from electrical trade counters, it is a stretchy tape that adheres to itself. Wrapped around the shaft of the axe it lets you hold on without your glove slipping. It does tend to ‘roll’ up after some use, thus requires replacing every now and then, but is a very useful addition to your kit.
Metal file
A very handy thing to carry is a small metal file. Axes won’t blunt too quickly on indoor holds, but when they do, or if they are being used for outside climbing as well and have lost their sharpness at the tip, they will skid off holds much more easily. A gentle filing along the line of the original tip shape will be enough; don’t overdo it and never use a power file or grinder as this will spoil the temper of the blade.
Techniques
Movement skills.
There are a range of skills that are peculiar to dry tooling, over and above those used for general climbing. Bear in mind that tooling is quite an intensive sport and that you should be well warmed up before taking on any of the more spectacular moves and sequences. Some normal bouldering followed by some traversing warm-ups on the dry tooling wall would be sensible.
Finding a good hold.
This may sound easier than it actually is! Although you will obviously have a good grip on your ice axes, the tip of the pick is the bit that will be doing a lot of the load bearing. Thus it needs to be placed securely onto a hold that will then allow you to use the axe in the way that you need to. For instance, if the tip of the axe is placed on to a shallow hold and you move your weight upwards so that the load is more of an outwards pull than a downward one, the axe will fly off the placement.
Before you place the tip of the axe, have a look at the hold. You may well be used to the same type of hold on the climbing wall, so will know what to expect. However, you will be using it in a different manner so take care to load it properly. If you cannot see the area onto which the pick tip is being placed, move the pick slowly along the hold from left to right or front to back until you feel it hook onto the strongest point. Carefully put your weight onto the axe and feel for any movement in the tip. If there is none, you may be fine to fully load the placement and move on to the next one.
Most placements will require you to maintain the same direction of loading on the axe shaft. Thus, if you are moving up and past a hold, keep the loading on it low by dropping your shoulder, elbow or complete body weight downwards, thus maintaining the same pull on the axe. Be aware that if the axe flies off from a hold, it does it without any warning, so be prepared!
It will only be after quite some time on the wall that you’ll start to get a feel for what will be, and won’t be, good placements. Once you have got a feel for the basics it will be time to move on to more interesting manoeuvres.
Matching.
This is where both tools are placed on the same hold. It is very common when traversing as well as moving upwards, and allows you to use a good hold to its maximum advantage. For instance, if traversing from left to right, having moved the axe in your right hand to a good ledge, you ‘match’ tools on the same hold which allows you to then move off with the right tool again. This stops you having to make awkward crossover moves or reaching through to gain the next hold.
A stein pull. Pulling down on the shaft will wedge the axe securely into place.
Stein pulls.
Also known as ‘can openers’, these are very useful and come in a variety of forms, and are one of the classic moves used by dry toolers. Basically, it is using the tip of the pick on a hold and the top of the pick nearer to the shaft to lever on to another suitable surface, wedging the axe in place. Stein pulls can be used on vertical or horizontal ground with the axe being held in a variety of positions. They can be used to gain height as well as to get a rest, and as long as there is pressure maintained on the shaft the axe should stay in place. You need to make sure that the holds being used are strong, as there is a huge pressure being exerted on them by the axe tip, especially when you are hanging upside down from the roof on one!
Swapping hands.
The great advantage of leashless climbing is that you are free to move around the wall almost as you like, with no restraining leashes keeping one hand locked on to one tool. For instance, if you were using leashes and had your right tool on one hold, with the next hold further off to the right, it would be quite tricky to reach across to it, and your balance would certainly be compromised. Without leashes, however, you stow the left tool, bring your left hand onto the right hand axe, take your right hand off and retrieve the spare axe, and continue. This is better explained with a series of photographs.
The starting position.
Stow the axe, in this case on the shoulder, and match hands on the other axe.
Retrieve the axe and move to the next hold.
So, the important thing to work out is what to do with the axe that you are letting go of? There are a number of answers to this, but the following are the most common.
Firstly, you could leave it in place on the wall or hang it on a suitable hold. Obviously, it needs to be positioned so that it is within reach and that there is no way that it can be dropped, but you may find a hold over which you can hang it whilst changing hands.
Secondly, you can use your shoulder as used above in the photographs. It will be best to have the axe shaft crossing your body diagonally as there will be less chance of it falling off to the side and being lost. Also, make sure that the handle is in a position where you can easily grasp it again when needed.
The third swapping method uses the thumb of the hand holding the axe shaft which is holding your weight. Move the free axe to your supporting hand and hook the pick over the crook of your thumb. Swap hands on the supporting axe and now move the pick up to the new hand, hooking it over this thumb. You can now move your free hand down to the axe grip and finish the sequence.
Hooking the free pick over the supporting thumb.
Having swapped hands, the pick is now over the new supporting hand's thumb. The handle of the axe can now be grasped.
Another possibility is to hook the pick of the axe needing to be stored into a hole or slot on the placed axe. This can sometimes make the axe a little difficult to retrieve once you have swapped hands, but is certainly an option.
Short-tooling.
This is simply using the placed tool as something to pull up on in order to reach higher with the other tool. Stow the second axe, in this case the most useful place being over the shoulder, and place your spare hand on the axe shaft above the supporting hand. Pull up, retrieve the stored axe and place it on a higher hold.
Figure of four.
This is not only one of the most spectacular techniques in dry tooling, it is also one of the most useful. It is generally used when crossing areas of horizontal ground, such as a large roof, where you may need to hang from a single point whilst moving the free axe to another hold in order to progress.
The term is used when an opposing leg and arm are linked, with, for instance, your right leg being hooked over your left arm, or vice versa. It is a very technical position to get in to but, with perseverance, you will find that it becomes possible to carry out one or more figure of fours in a sequence, useful for traversing roof problems.
Find a suitable section of roof (it is not realistic to carry this out on a vertical wall), and have both of your axes on good holds. Move your feet close to the axe heads and then bring one foot through and over the opposite arm, for the sake of this description let’s say right leg / left arm. Make sure that you get your knee over the crook of your elbow, as it will be more comfortable that way. The hardest part, apart from being flexible enough to finish the manoeuvre, is keeping a firm grip on the axe handle, so make sure that your supporting hand is comfortable and holding on tight. Once you are in the figure of four position, you can lift the right axe off its hold and move it on further to the next hold and repeat the process if need be.
A figure of four
Figure of nine.
This is very similar to a figure of four, except this time it is the same side arm and leg, left and left or right and right, that are used. Some climbers find it a useful technique when continuing on after a figure of four, as the leg that has been over one arm can be moved across without having to drop it down as you bring the other up to complete a second figure of four. Personally, I find this quite tricky and would rather figure of four my way across a roof section, but try it out and see what works for you.
A figure of nine.
Resting.
You will find that, perhaps unsurprisingly, dry tooling is really hard work! Thus, any chance that you get to rest and shake out should be taken. When climbing on slabs or steep walls, this should not be too much of a problem. Simply have one axe on a good hold, carefully store the other and then shake out each arm in turn, swapping hands on the placed axe as and when you need to – this is another benefit of leashless climbing.
That’s all well and good, but what about on roofs or overhanging ground? Well, for steeper terrain a good method is to use an inverted Stein pull. Find a suitable hold at around hip level and place the axe. You can now hook a leg over it which will allow you to drop your arm down and shake out. If you are balanced correctly you may also be able to swap hands on the placed tool and rest the other arm for a while.
Resting on an inverted Stein pull.
On roofs, the figure of four and figure of nine techniques will allow one arm to be rested at each move. Obviously, the loading on the supporting arm will be quite high, but at least you will have a chance of gaining a bit of respite for the other.
This article is reproduced in part from ‘Indoor Climbing’ by Pete Hill , published by Cicerone Press
Covering all aspects of indoor climbing for beginners through to instructors, it has had rave reviews and is recommended by Mountain Leader Training UK for their climbing wall schemes.
About the Author:
Pete has been involved with the STS for the last three years (including this year as joint co-ordinator), and has had event wins including the Mixed Masters in 2009. He runs drytoolingUK.com which puts on drytooling events across the UK, from Southampton to Aberdeen, including workshops, taster sessions and competitions.
Pete is a fully qualified MIC and has climbed in many places across the world, including first ascents in the Himalayas. His last 3 trips to Norway have been very much based around mixed climbing and drytooling, with his aim being to complete a hard tooling project this coming season before the locals get there!
Additional reading:
Will Gadd - wild stories, good technique and a training section at the end!
Mixed Climbing - Sean Issac
Jeff Lowe Ice World a must read!
Important Note.
Practising dry tooling techniques, such as figures of four and nine, can be done almost anywhere. Some climbers have converted section of their garages into dry tooling ‘caves’, where they can perfect certain techniques. Simply drilling pick-sized holes into the rafters is a quick and easy way of doing this. However, if you are thinking of doing something along similar lines, be very careful to give yourself ample matting. Falling when practising a figure of four, for instance, onto a concrete garage floor, would cause you serious injury, particularly to your back and head. Bouldering mats are very good, and a lot of climbers scour the local papers for old mattresses that can be used to pad out the landing area. Indeed, a colleague of mine uses second hand mattresses as he says that the thought of what used to happen on them keeps him from falling off!
