A traverse moves sideways rather than up and rewards fewer, longer moves. Cross your hands through instead of shuffling them, and flag a leg instead of swapping feet [35, 247].
Grade Traverses appear at every grade. Moving efficiently along them pays off from about V2, once you have learned to cross through and flag. The back flag in the figure comes at V3, so until then use a side flag where you can (judgement).
How to do it
Read which way each handhold faces. On traverses many are sidepulls that face back the way you came. You lean away from them, towards where you are going [42].
Cross through. Move the trailing hand over the leading arm to the next hold. Each move then covers two holds’ distance [247]. See Crossing hands.
When the feet don’t line up with the hands, flag the trailing leg instead of swapping feet on one foothold. Double foot swaps are a common fault [35]. See Side flag and Back flag. Save a foot swap for a stretch with only one good foothold.
When the holds line up, cross your legs and stand on the outside edge of the leading foot [39].
On steep sections, keep your arms straight. Move your hips sideways first, then the hand. See Straight arms.
Figure 87 Moving right. The left hand crosses over the right arm to the next hold. The left leg flags behind, so the right foot can stay where it is.
Common mistakes
Matching on every hold. Each match costs a move.
Staying square to the wall all the way. On steeper sections, turn the leading hip in. See Turning the hip in.
