Squamishrock

Hands  and  arms  are  what keep  the  climber  balanced.  They  help  in  moving  up  the   wall  only  a  little  - the  main  power  for  upward  movement  comes  from  the legs and feet.  No  two climbing  holds  are  ever  the  same  - so  each  hold  is gripped  in  a   slightly  different  way.  The  most  common  hold  is  the  cling  hold,  or  edge.  For  a  horizontally  running  hold  with  a  normal  downward  pull,  there  are  two  basic  grips:  the  crimp  grip,  and  the  open  hand  grip

The crimp grip works best on small to medium sized holds. The open hand grip is used for large, wide, and sloping holds. The open hand grip relys more on the friction of the hand of the rock, while the crimp grip uses more finger strength. Because of this, the open hand grip is a less harsh on the tendons.

The mantel involves pressing down on a shelf with the hand and the shoulder. A foot often ends up next to the hand on the shelf. The mantel is used to get the feet on top of an edge when there are no reachable handholds above it from where the climber is below the edge.

Pockets can be great sometimes - if they are big enough. Small pockets can put a lot of strain on your hand. Depending on the size, pockets can be used with the whole hand, or just one finger.

A common grip for a vertically running hold is the pinch grip. Do the pinch grip like it sounds - find the hold and pinch it!