How to Do the Egyptian Climbing Technique

The drop knee, the rock-over, the Lollotte--the Egyptian climbing technique is known by many names but is essentially when the body finds itself in a position where one knee is lowered while the other is not, one arm is upturned while the other is not. The climber's body is ultimately lessening arm tension while using a side or horizontal grip.

Instructions

    • 1

      Twist your body to the left so that your left side is pressed against the rocks with your outer arm in front of you and your inner arm (the arm pressed against the rock) behind you. The left side of your hips should be pushed into the rocky incline. This posture will create body tension which will translate into power and strength to boost you up the incline.

    • 2

      Grip on to the side of the incline with your left arm lower than the right. The right arm is placed out and up. The left side of your hips should remain pushed into the rocky incline. You should be stretching and reaching with your right arm, your hand grasping for a high positioned grip.

    • 3

      Place your feet into footholds that have a distance between them that is comparable to the distance between your shoulders. Use Egyptian bridging and not regular bridging when attempting the technique. Bridging is used when trying to climb across or up a corner of an incline. Egyptian bridging or stemming is when your right leg is out in front while the left is spread very wide and away towards the back of the body. However, do not spread your legs too extensively, only shoulder-width.

    • 4

      Drop your left knee and push from the left foot while pulling diagonally with the right hand up towards the right. These movements are completed while the body is still in a sideways posture. Make sure to place feet and hands firmly. Make sure that your toes are really pointed into a foothold within the crevices of the rock.

    • 5

      Turn your body so that it is in reverse of the stance you started with. Face towards the left, where your right arm is low and behind you, and the left arm is stretching upward, searching for a grip. The side of your right hip should be digging into the incline now. Your body should be a direct mirror of the previous postures only in the opposite direction. Push up using the right foot and right arm while pulling up with the left arm.

    • 6

      Swap which side is propelling you as you go up the incline--your left arm and leg, then the right ones. The Egyptian technique is used on extremely steep rock when you want to cover more ground faster.

    • 7

      Move to the side or diagonally as you climb and only try to move directly up the incline using this move after much practice. Climbing directly up with this maneuver requires much higher footholds--a greater distance stretch between the legs-- which may then require extreme flexibility.