A move made famous by the sport route "la Rose et le Vampire" in Buoux. The Rose is an iconic cross-through method, threading the upper body through one arm - in most cases you end up facing outwards from the wall!
Mostly found on hard-to-match pockets, forcing the movement, the Rose is a classic "hero" move. You'll feel spectacular after completing one!
Today we've enlisted the help of Archie for a demonstration on a fantastic Black climb on the Shutter Wall.
In image 1, we can see Archie beginning the movement. His left handhold and primary foothold, marked in blue, are roughly in line with his body weight. This means that he is in a comfortable position before the movement. In order to reach the next handhold, indicated in red, he's had to push his right shoulder and head under the gap between the wall and his left shoulder. This movement requires good flexibility, and confidence to gradually let go of the first handhold (hold on too tight, and you won't be able to "thread the needle"). Once Archie has the next handhold, the true movement begins - the unwind! Archie needs to manoeuvre his body to be underneath the next hold, without swinging off the climb.
In order to execute this move, Archie has found a foothold roughly below the next hold (out of camera shot), and begins to rotate his torso. His lats will be working hard here to stabilise his body, and ensure the movement is slow and smooth. The faster Archie does this movement, the more force will go through his fingers.
As Archie rotates, he gradually releases his left arm, and begins transferring his weight onto the right arm.
We can also see Archie has moved his right foot to near the next hand hold, in order to transfer his body weight to the left as smoothly as possible.
As Archie nears the end of the rotation, the move begins to get more difficult. There are multiple forces at work here, pulling him in different directions. Archie will need to gently release the left arm, now over his head, and tense his right arm to counteract any swing. He moves his hips closer to the wall to transfer as much weight as possible to his feet.
Now Archie has completed the turn (aided partially by the Drop Knee, covered in a previous MotM), he is able to fully release the left arm. Note how his hips are close to the wall, and directly underneath the handhold. He also has a left foothold almost in line with his hips (out of shot). Archie is using his right foot to push his hips into position, once again relieving a small amount of pressure from his arms.
Now in a comfortable position, Archie is able to fully release the left hand and move up towards the next hold. The animation below shows the sequence in full.
Remember to warm up fully before attempting this move, especially your fingers and lats. Try the move out on jugs before gradually reducing the hold size. See how far you can reach through your arm before it becomes too difficult! As always, have fun whilst trying it out.
Want to learn more about this move and others? Why not book on to one of our improver courses:
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