Climbing Holds Part II: Slopers and Pockets
Bill Brown July 31, 2008
Alright, now that you’re familiar with jugs and pinches, it’s time to get a little more serious. This time we’re going to up the ante and talk about some more difficult holds: slopers and pinches. 
- Slopers are holds that slope downwards away from the wall, and can be a bear to hang on to. They’re the liars in the climbing hold community. You see them from below and rejoice, thinking that it’s a much needed jug, until you reach for it and realize that you’re in trouble. With these holds you mostly rely on the friction between your hand and the slope to keep you on the wall, so you’re mostly going to want to take the open-hand “hang” approach to them. The hang gives your skin a larger contact area with the hold, therefore increasing friction.
- Pockets are exactly what they sound like-indentations in the rock that range in size to accommodate anywhere from a single finger to a whole fist. Depending on their size, pockets can be great or terrible. Single digit pockets are appropriately named monos, and are notoriously difficult (try hanging from a finger sometime and see how fun that is). With a pocket that’s big enough for two fingers, use your middle and ring fingers. I know it seems more instinctual to use your middle and index, but the ring finger seems to hang on a bit better. If you’re faced with a mono, use your strongest finger, usually your middle or index finger. You’ll figure out which fingers are dominant after a few tries on the wall.
Now here’s the good news-the best way to become a better climber is to climb. The more time you spend on a specific type of hold, the more familiar with it your body will become, and the less you’ll think about it. Soon you’ll be bypassing your former problem areas and moving on to better climbs and even more difficult holds.
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