Toe hooks for steep climbing

The opposite of a heel hook

Where a heel hook pulls a hold towards you, a toe hook pulls you towards the wall. You catch a hold with the top of your foot, over the laces, and pull with the front of your shin and the top of the foot to stop your lower body swinging out. On steep ground that is exactly the fight you are in. Once the wall tips past vertical your feet want to cut loose and your body wants to swing away, and a toe hook is one of the cleanest ways to shut that down.

It is a quieter tool than the heel hook and easier to overlook, but on roofs and steep ground a well-placed toe is often the difference between staying composed and getting spat off.

What it does for you

A toe hook does three jobs. It keeps your feet on the wall so you do not cut loose. It lets you generate body tension by opposing a hand or another foot, so you can pull yourself into a position and hold it. And it gives you something to pull against during a reach, which turns a swinging slap into a controlled, static move.

The most obvious place is the roof, where there is nothing to stand on and the only way to keep your hips up is to hook a toe over a hold and pull. But you will also use them on the way out of overhangs, to stop a swing after a long move, or to lock your body in while you reach through with a hand.

How to place one

Catch the hold with the top of your foot, getting as much rubber and shoelace area onto it as you can. Point your toes and pull your foot back towards your body so the top of the foot grips. The pull comes from your shin and the muscles on the front of the lower leg, plus your core holding everything together.

The key idea is opposition. A toe hook only works against something. You pull in with the toe while pushing or pulling somewhere else, and the tension between the two keeps you locked to the wall. A toe hook on its own, with nothing to oppose, just dangles.

Watch for these:

• Get the foot back behind the hold so the top of the foot can bite, not the toe tip.
• Keep your ankle firm and toes pointed so the hook does not roll off.
• Engage your core. A toe hook with a slack midsection leaks all its tension.

Training the tension it needs

Toe hooks demand a particular kind of strength: the front of the shin, the foot, and a core that can hold opposing tension. The best way to build it is by doing them, but a few things help.

• Spend warm-ups on a steep board or overhanging wall deliberately hooking toes, even on moves that do not need it.
• Practise holding a position with one toe hooked and one hand off, feeling the opposition that keeps you on.
• On a roof problem below your limit, climb it focusing only on keeping your feet engaged the whole way, never letting them cut.

Toe hooks reward commitment in the same way heels do. A timid toe that you do not really pull with does nothing, so once it is on, drive it back and trust the tension. Build it up gradually rather than yanking maximally on a cold ankle. Spend a few steep sessions hunting for toes and they will quickly become part of how you read overhanging ground, and the wall will stop throwing you off when it tips back.