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After climbing out in the cold for a few days I have realized that climbing crimpfest routes really helps keep your fingers warm instead of freezing cold. I would like to know how people keep the fingers warm on overhanging stuff with pockets and jugs. i have tried hand warmers in the chalk bag but it doesnt help all that much. what has been sucessful for you all?

Conditions were PRIME at CT cinci yesterday. That is my advice.

Actually, the Red was perfect yesterday. My hands never got cold, and I did some slabby stuff, and some fingercrack stuff....and some offwidth bouldering.

Cold is relative. Its all in your head.

I agree with 512OW.

matt and i did 16 pitches on friday and climbed in the shade most of the day. we started before the sun came up and ended by headlamp. supposedly the high was 36 degrees but it was way colder at 7:45am.

our hands were definately cold at first the handwarmer in the chalkbag trick seemed to work pretty well. jugs were worse than crimps but if you just do a quick sqeeze every few moves it keeps your hands from numbing up. if you can't get to your chalk bag, touch the back of your neck with your hand, it works pretty well as well.

after 4 pitches or so I started to feel warmed up and my hands stopped being so cold. by the end of the day my hands didn't feel cold at all.

The couple of routes we did in the sun were perfectly awesome. in retrospect we probably should have tried to stay in the sun a little more. but hey it was still a frickin fun day.

I would suggest, use the handwarmers, expect some coldness and discomfort the first few pitches, follow the sun, don't start too early, and have hot drinks on hand.

oh and be psyched!!!

Yeah Amy Tackett and I climbed Friday too. It was great in the sun. We were at Skybridge and you end up belaying in the shade a lot. If it weren't for that, the weather would have been perfect...of course it would have been better if with hot tea. If I hadn't broken the thermos we would have been even warmer...but that's another dumb story.

My hands froze today! When it's cold, I just climb, hang, climb, hang.........

Oh wait! I do that all the time .......nevermind!

I don't get it....why did this thread get hijacked?

OW, you started it...look at your first post. wes is the only one who gave actual advice.

we used to take a small propane heater to the crag..it helped warm the hands before jumping on. also, keep your shoes in your jacket, or wear socks with a bigger pair.

My advice was real. Thats what I believe...and it works for me. Thats how the mind works.