Key takeaways
- Face climbing ascends the open rock face using holds — edges, crimps, pockets, knobs.
- It relies on gripping and standing on holds, with technique like edging, smearing, and balance.
- It contrasts with crack climbing, which jams hands/feet into fissures.
- It's the most common style and what most gym and sport routes emulate.
What face climbing is
Face climbing is climbing the open face of the rock using its surface features — edges, crimps, pockets, knobs, and other holds — to pull on with your hands and stand on with your feet. It’s the most common and intuitive style on featured rock, as opposed to crack climbing, where you ascend a fissure by jamming.
The technique
Face climbing combines gripping and standing on holds with footwork and body positioning: edging on small footholds, smearing where there are none, gripping handholds (crimps, jugs, slopers, pockets), and using balance and weight distribution to move efficiently. It’s the style most gym climbing and sport routes are built around.
On an open vertical wall with no cracks, a climber face climbs — crimping small edges with their hands, edging and smearing their feet on tiny features, and shifting their balance from hold to hold — moving up the rock surface itself rather than jamming any fissure.
Face vs crack climbing
Face climbing uses holds on the open surface; crack climbing jams hands, fingers, and feet into fissures. They demand different techniques, and many routes feature both. Face climbing is the more common and intuitive, and the foundation of most climbing movement.
The bottom line
Face climbing is the most common style of climbing — ascending the open rock face by gripping holds (edges, crimps, pockets) and standing on footholds, using edging, smearing, and balance. It's the intuitive counterpart to crack climbing's jamming, and the style most gym and sport routes are built around. Master its footwork and body positioning and you've got the foundation of climbing movement.
Frequently asked questions
What is face climbing?
Face climbing is climbing the open face of the rock using its surface features — edges, crimps, pockets, knobs, and other holds — to pull on with your hands and stand on with your feet. It's the most common and intuitive style of climbing on featured rock, as opposed to crack climbing, where you ascend a fissure by jamming.
What techniques does face climbing use?
It relies on grabbing and standing on holds combined with footwork and body-positioning skills: edging on small footholds, smearing where there are no holds, gripping handholds like crimps, jugs, slopers, and pockets, and using balance, flagging, and weight distribution to move efficiently. It's the style that most gym climbing and sport routes are built around.
How is face climbing different from crack climbing?
Face climbing uses holds on the open surface of the rock (edges, pockets, etc.), while crack climbing ascends fissures by jamming hands, fingers, or feet into them. They require quite different techniques and skills — many routes feature both, and well-rounded climbers learn both, but face climbing is the more common and intuitive of the two.
Sources
- Climbing technique & styles — American Alpine Club
- Climbing skills — UIAA