Author: Justin Plaza

You can broadly separate free climbing into two classifications, face and fracture climbing, although you will typically use combinations of both. Splits are the most evident lines of weakness on high cliffs, but the techniques to climb them are not as apparent as in face climbing. The climbing method comes down to linking standard foot, hand, and body positions right into a flowing, upward movement. The fundamental placements are conveniently detailed, but the limitless variety of permutations complicates the free-climbing experience. Each climb is a Rubik’s Cube with an infinite number of methods to be opened, which is why climbing…