Wide_boyz

Wide_boyz We are the Wide Boyz and want to share, educate and spread the crack climbing joy

In this week’s newsletter Pete Whittaker talks about a recent first ascent crack climb, in Kristansund, that he made wit...
09/09/2026

In this week’s newsletter Pete Whittaker talks about a recent first ascent crack climb, in Kristansund, that he made with Mari. Plus the big takeaway from the climb; which is something we can all think about when going crack climbing.

If you didn’t know we have a weekly newsletter packed with crack climbing tips and knowledge that is written by Pete. If you want to improve your crack and trad climbing for FREE then this is the best place to start. Use the link in our profile 👉 The Crack Climbing Community and sign up.

Even better, we now have the newsletter in podcast format over on The Wide Boyz Show Podcast, so if you’re busy and don’t have time to read, you can easily listen whilst you’re on the go.

📸 photos taken by Mari, of Mari and Pete climbing Kong Harald.

08/09/2026

We've been asked for quite a while about when is the Wide Boyz Podcast coming...

Well if you didn't already know we started one earlier this year.

Our latest episode has been one of our most popular ones!

If you want to tune in to all things cracky, check it out on either Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music or YouTube!

The cracks and walls of Stetind 🤩In this weeks newsletter Pete Whittaker talks about some recent reminders from a trip t...
02/09/2026

The cracks and walls of Stetind 🤩

In this weeks newsletter Pete Whittaker talks about some recent reminders from a trip to northern Norway!

If you want these weekly tips, tricks and stories to land in your inbox to read over a cup of tea in the morning, then sign up using the link in our profile.

You will also notice you can now listen to our newsletters on our podcast. So if you're busy busy and don't have time to read, you can pop it on and listen as you go.

Our Podcast 'The Wide Boyz Show' can be found on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube. Follow or subscribe on your preferred platform so you don't miss any crucial tips again!

You will also notice you can now listen to our newsletters on our podcast. So if you’re busy busy and don’t have time to read, you can pop it on and listen as you go.

Our Podcast ‘The Wide Boyz Show’ can be found on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube. Follow or subscribe on your preferred platform so you don’t miss any crucial tips again!

When we teach Crack Schools,the biggest pain point that we often see is foot pain, more so than hand pain.There are 2 si...
24/08/2026

When we teach Crack Schools,the biggest pain point that we often see is foot pain, more so than hand pain.

There are 2 simple reasons why this can happen:

1. Climbers reach there foot jamming threshold. When they go over their threshold then it becomes painful.

Your foot jamming threshold increases or decreases the more or less amount of time you foot jam. Do more foot jamming and your tolerance for it increases.

It’s exactly the same as when you do ‘normal’ climbing at the bouldering gym for example; do it more and the skin on your palms will become more tolerant and your session will be longer. Do it less, your skin gets softer and your session time decreases.

This is where many people tend to go wrong...the expectation. They try crack climbing a few times and immediately expect their jamming session to be as long as their normal climbing session. It won’t be because they haven’t built the tolerance. Any new climbing style or technique needs some time and sessions to let the body ‘warm into it’

Swipe for reason 2 👉

2. The second reason that climbers can get pain in their feet when foot jamming is a loss in technique.

This isn’t the sort of technique that we regularly teach (I.e. Turn foot to its thinnest dimension, twist, knee to the crack, straight leg up and away from the crack), this is subtle things you can do which other people aren’t thinking about.

In our free newsletter this week Pete Whittaker gives you those tricks! Link in our profile to sign up.

If you want more than just a newsletter, you can now get direct feedback from Pete on your crack climbing and jamming skills inside Global Crack School. The course re-opens 13th of September. We won’t be opening it another time in 2026, so if you want to level up, join the waitlist and don’t miss out

Get free weekly tips from Pete: sign up to our newsletter 👉 link in bio The Crack Climbing Community

Get direct feedback from Pete and REALLY level up your knowledge: join Global Crack School 👉 link in bio The Crack Climbing Community

What mistakes do we see time and time again when teaching crack climbing?1. Pushing too hard with the fingers and not sq...
19/08/2026

What mistakes do we see time and time again when teaching crack climbing?

1. Pushing too hard with the fingers and not squeezing enough with your thumb.

The squeezing action with the thumb whilst jamming is very different to the process of grabbing and pulling on holds with our fingers, as we do in 'normal' climbing.

It's important to train the familiarity of this sensation, so you understand how much force can actually be put through the thumb.

If the backs of your fingers are hurting when jamming, it probably means you aren't putting enough force through the thumb.

2. The outside foot when offwidth climbing...

If you don't use your foot on the edge of the crack effectively, you'll end up pulling far too much with your stack or armbar. If you do this it leads to poor technique and inevitably the feeling that offwidths are desperate.

Get that outside foot working effectively and everything will click into place

3. This is the most common mistake we see.

As it's the most common it deserves a fully written and audio explanation.

Sign up to our newsletter to get both of these, for free directly to your inbox.

Link in our profile 👉 The Crack Climbing Community

17/08/2026

If you missed our latest video of on Kjerag, it's a classic Wide Boyz adventure

Quality cracks
Slimey cracks
Chossy cracks
Mossy cracks
Wet cracks
Friday fist cracks

It's all in there!

Head over to our YouTube channel to check it out!

Climbers always tend to lean towards what they're good at, which size what you should do when setting goals. However to ...
17/08/2026

Climbers always tend to lean towards what they're good at, which size what you should do when setting goals. However to reach those goals it's important to trainer the weaknesses. In jamming it's no different. However there are a fewer things that we always say that will help now matter what!

Get your hand jams DIALLED. And we mean dialled. The hand jam is THE staple, if it's still feeling hard, work on it some more...and some more.
The hand jam forms the base of many other jams so taking the time to get it right from the beginning will pay off in the long run.

After hand jams, the best physical gain you can get for your training time put in, is working your Paddle Hand. We often say the Paddle Hand is like the 'half crimp' of the crack world. Work your paddle and it will automatically have a positive strengthening effect on your hand jam, stacks and cupped hands (and of course your paddle).

Want today become competent in a specific size? Start to work towards that mile. The mile in a specific size is the golden length to becoming top notch.

We gets asked questions about crack, crack training, jamming techniques all the time.

If you want your question answered by Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall then join our Listeners Questions podcast inside the Inner Crack Community.

Previous episodes have been full of both education and banter.

Use the link in our profile 👉 The Crack Climbing Community to join the Inner Crack Community

15/08/2026

Looks appetising...
soloing the final 2 pitches of Wild Stories on Kjerag.

Pitches like these require a different skill set to climb them effectively, compared to ‘normal’ cracks. In a recent newsletter Pete explained these differences (which are also useful tips and apply to climbing slick or polished rock).

So if you don’t want to miss future tips from Pete you can sign up for free to our weekly newsletter, always educational and never spam.

Or if you’ve missed past newsletters just get the full back catelog from our Inner Crack Community.

Both the links for our newsletter and Inner Crack Community can be found in our profile 👉

14/08/2026

It's Friday and that means 1 thing!!
Check out our new video over on our YouTube channel

What is the #1 reason people start thrutching on offwidth climbs?Firstly, not using their 'outside' foot at all.Secondl...
12/08/2026

What is the #1 reason people start thrutching on offwidth climbs?

Firstly, not using their 'outside' foot at all.

Secondly, not using their 'outside' foot effectively. I.e. The position of their foot isn't optomised.

Very small, but subtle changes can make a huge difference.

We often say in crack climbing it is the tiny details, which make a big difference. A couple of millimetre difference in hand/foot position or depth, can make the climb feel a grade easier or harder than it should.

In this week's newsletter we look at WHAT the outside foot does, and importantly HOW to use it effectively.

Sign up to our newsletter before Thursday 13th of August to get this week's edition directly to your inbox. Go to our profile 👉 The Crack Climbing Community or www.wideboyz.com/subscribe

If you are reading this afterwards then sign up so you don't miss any further weekly tips from Pete Whittaker

We always offer value (never spam) and it's always free!

Address

17 Water Lane
Oakham
LE157LS

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Wide_boyz posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category