Problem 2 Traverse

About V3. The wall overhangs 10° and runs to the right, seen from behind. D’s back is smooth, so you can’t pinch it. Start: both hands on A. Finish: both hands on E.

A traverse from behind, running right, with five lettered holds above seven footholds. — Figure 4

Read it yourself

Step 3. Which way does each hold face? Where does your body go for each hand on D?
Step 4. Give each hold an L or an R. Which holds have room for both hands?
Step 5. Which foot do you stand on as your hand lands on D? What does the other foot do?
Step 6. Where does the wrong hand cost you most?

The answer to problem 2

The same traverse with a climber crossing the left hand under the right arm, left hip to the wall. — Figure 5 Move 4. You stand on your left foot with that hip at the wall. The right foot presses. The left hand crosses to D.

The moves

Left foot on 1, right foot on 2. Right hand, then left hand to B. Walk your feet to right foot on 4, left foot on 3.
Right hand to C, which faces up. Hang under it on a straight arm.
Right foot to 5 as your off foot (it presses to stop a swing). Left foot to 4 on its outside edge, toes right (a backstep, to clear your chest).
Turn your left hip to the wall as your left hand leaves B. Left hand under your right arm to D, which faces left. Keep your right foot pressing.
Move your hips towards foot 5. Stand up on that foot as you let go of C. Lean right off D as your left foot pivots, toes left. Right hand to E. D is now a sidepull.
Walk your feet along to right foot on 7, left foot on 6.
Left hand to E.

Crux. The cross in move 4. Then letting go of C. C is a flat edge, which loses grip as you turn [121]. D holds nothing yet, so C holds you. D becomes a sidepull only once your shoulder passes it. Your right arm stops that. For a moment no hand holds you in: keep moving right.

Why the obvious try fails. The mistake is arriving at D with the wrong hand. C is too small to match and D is too thin to share (judgement). So your right hand goes on to D with your left still on B. With your body on D’s left, D is a thin gaston. You then let go of B with only that to pull on. Your shoulder does most of the work [102]. It can go, but you pay twice: this gaston, then E with your left hand on C pulled sideways (judgement). Swapping hands on C leads to the same catch, after a moment on two or three fingers of a flat edge. A hold that faces back the way you came only works as a sidepull once your shoulder is past it.

What to try next. If your chest blocks the cross, roll further onto your left hip [143]. If you can’t let go of C, cross your left hand from B to C instead. Then take your right hand past D to E. You pull C about 30° sideways at the catch. If you are small, E is out of reach from C.

Entries: Traverses, Crossing hands, Sidepull, Backstep, Gaston