Bizarre beta: inside flag
The inside flag, when correctly applied, can make a sequence much more secure compared to the alternatives, yet it is one of the techniques that are rarely seen outdoors. It's not especially hard to perform it - I would say it's much easier than a foot swap, which is usually the other option for doing the same move. Therefore, the infrequent occurrence of the inside flag in the beta of rock climbers might be due to the confusion about when to use it and what can we gain with it. Additionally, it's relatively uncommon to find a situation where an inside flag is really the best solution, but when it is, it might make a move easier or, which is usually the case, less low-percentage.
Adam Ondra on Midnight Lightning V8 (7B/+)
This technique is so specific and unusual in the outdoors that it's hard to find any rock climbing videos where it's being applied. Very few climbers have so broad repertoire of movement that they can quickly realize an inside flag might be the solution, especially during a flash attempt. Among them is no other than Adam Ondra, in the video above flashing the famous boulder problem Midnight Lightning V8 (7B/+) in Yosemite. Trying to do a boulder first try is precisely the situation where you would sacrifice a bit of power by doing a more finger-intensive move to gain more control and decrease chances of slipping. Remarkably, an inside flag is not commonly used on Midnight Lightning, or at least I haven't seen any video with it being applied, except for Adam. So presumably, he had not seen this method of doing the boulder before his attempt, what makes his quick choice of technique even more impressive.
Adam uses the inside flag twice to move his left hand, each time avoiding two foot swaps - first he would need to swap his right foot for the left to then put an outside flag with the right leg, and after the hand move he would need to switch his feet back to bump the right hand. Hence, he avoids four foot swaps in total, making his way up faster and greatly decreasing the chances of slipping. This beta is advantageous even if the move is more taxing on his forearms, since he has more than enough strength and endurance to do a V8 many times in a row, but if he makes a mistake and falls, the flash attempt is gone forever. On the other hand, if those moves were at your limit and Midnight Lightning was your long-term project, it wouldn't matter if you slipped and fell 59 instead of 58 times, but using the most optimal beta (in the sense of being the least demanding on your forearm flexors) would be the make-or-break component of a successful send.
Note that Adam is holding an undercut-bar-sidepull with his right hand, when he performs the inside flag. This is another important characteristic of this technique - it's usually the most effective when you are holding more or less downward facing holds. It means you are pushing yourself into the footholds applying even more pressure on them than your body weight would indicate. Make the footholds small or slippery and a foot swap becomes very difficult or impossible - that's when an inside flag can be a game-changer. On the flip side, this technique is not really that useful when holding flat upward-facing crimps or in steep overhangs. In the first situation the balance is usually off when you put an inside flag and additionally a foot swap tends to be easier, since you can take some load off your feet using the holds. In the second situation you never load you feet as much as on vertical climbs, because you are not directly above them. Of course, it is sometimes impossible to swap your feet on an overhanging route, but it seems that climbers usually go for more dynamic solutions then, like cutting loose to switch feet or doing a pogo (aka moonkick).
Neil Gresham on Lexicon E11 (8b+/5.14a)
The second example of a well-thought application of an inside flag is Neil Gresham making the first ascent of Lexicon E11 (approximately 8b+/5.14a sport difficulty). At 0:27 he makes the final move to a good hold with his right leg flagging to the left. Again, he could also swap his feet. This is not a flash try, he had practiced the route many times before attempting to climb it. But it's a trad route, a very hard and dangerous trad route with a huge runout and a potential ground fall in the upper part. A flash might not be at stake, but his life is, so he better chooses the most secure method. It happens to be an inside flag - the wall is not too steep, the hold he uses with the left hand is a sidepull/undercut, and balance is the priority - all boxes checked.
Notably, Dave MacLeod, who made the third ascent after Neil and Steve McClure, used a foot swap for the same move or rather matched his feet using a smaller rock feature for the right foot, then moved the left foot and finally corrected the right one to use the biggest part of the foothold. Matching feet like this is much safer than swapping them when one foot has to use exactly the same spot the other is currently using. But Dave prefers the foot swap in almost every situation, as he explained in his video about climbing technique. I agree with what he says there, but the setup he prepared for comparison between the inside and outside flag is by design in favor if the second one. There is no undercut, the foothold he is using looks decent, and there is no trade-off between the required strength and the security, because he places his foot on the foothold already from the ground. Also, the move looks pretty hard for him and closer to one's maximum grade this trade-off is tipping over in favor of the method which requires less strength, simply because other methods start to become impossible when we approach the physical limit.
However, Dave's video was probably in part a response to the kind of coaching we can see in this and this video (which came out just before his video). The climbing style endorsed there looks like that of Patrick Berhault. Undoubtedly, there is something mesmerizing in it,
but is it the most efficient way of getting up a piece of rock? No, it's far away from it and this kind of static control is only useful as a drill or a lock-off strength exercise. But I can imagine a parallel universe where instead of parkour route setters draw inspiration from
artistic gymnastics, judges award style points, and it becomes the mainstream mode of competition climbing.
Trying to force flagging through easy moves is similar to the most common advice new climbers receive: keep your arms straight. Sure, it's better to keep them straight when you are resting on a sport route, if possible, or doing your medium level grade, but just watch the ascents of Burden of Dreams 9A (V17), or any hard climb really, and count for how long the climbers have they elbows fully extended. For Burden it's more or less one second after catching the lip - all climbers keep the elbows bent during the rest of the moves. After all, why not to use your biceps? It's not the limiting muscle in climbing anyways and usually finding the best solution for a hard climb is all about shifting the load from you forearms to all other muscle groups. Also, the long leverages of straight arms often work against us... But I think I digressed too much from the topic, so let's go to the next example of the inside flag.
Nathaniel Coleman on Gatekeeper V12
We've seen a flash and we've seen a first ascent, what about a flash first ascent? Olympic silver medalist Nathaniel Coleman can deliver that. Although, for the purists, it should be noted it was after inspecting the boulder on a rope (actually, I'm not sure what is the consensus in bouldering about how much you can do and still claim a flash). I described another impressive flash FA in the last Bizzare beta post. This time there is no huge dyno, only small footholds and crimps. When reaching to a distant gaston Nathaniel uses an inside flag with his right leg. It's impossible to say whether he got the idea on the go or when inspecting the boulder on the rope, probably the second one, but the execution looks flawless. Once again we have a sidepull and a foothold that is hard to swap the feet on. The rock face is not flat, it has a slight arete just in the middle of the route - this means that the foothold is facing away from the climber what makes it more difficult to use the outside edge of the right foot, if he were to swap them. And if he didn't use the inside flag nor swapped his feet and tried to go square-on and statically, he would swing away from the wall like a barn door. Often times a dyno with an initial kick with the free leg (the pogo) is the best solution to such situations (like on the second big move of Defying Gravity V15/8C, although it's not the best comparison), but the next hold is a gaston which looks impossible to hold without pushing into it, so the feet have to stay on. Given all that, his choice of beta looks impeccable.
Btw, did you notice how Nathaniel bends his arms and pulls with them to do the moves?
Competition climbing
The inside flag is a perfect example of how the choice of beta might depend on the goal. This technique, as any more secure style of climbing, becomes much more beneficial when attempts matter. So when do they matter? In onsight and flash climbing, obviously, since it's only one try for your lifetime. In dangerous situations, such as hard trad climbing, deep water soloing high above the water, or free soloing (I haven't seen Alex Honnold inside flagging in the movie though). And in competition climbing - in lead athletes have to climb the route onsight and in bouldering the number of attempts is what separates climbers who both topped the boulder in the ranking (if there is still a draw the number of attempts to the zone is taken into account).
Can we see, therefore, climbers using an inside flag in the competitions? Yes, and from my experience it's easier to find a video for it than for outdoor climbing. For example, Adam Ondra in lead finals at the IFSC World Cup 2021 in Innsbruck clips the first two quickdraws using an inside flag (here at 1:55:01). Or Oriane Bertone in bouldering finals at the IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City the same year (here at 2:17:47). She reaches the final hold with 7 seconds left and uses an inside flag to match it. The position after getting the last hold is very unstable and she puts the flag very dynamically, which is rather unusual. Still, she does it without hesitation, although it's the first time she got to this part of the boulder problem. Impressive, especially given her age at the time (I think she was 16).
Nico Pelorson on Délir onirique assis 8C (V15)
A bonus boulder with a truly bizarre beta. Nico Pelorson performs a sophisticated move at 0:43 in the video (and later in subsequent tries). I'm not sure if it's a more vertical version of figure four, an inside flag with the flagging leg over the hand, or something in between, but it definitely gives him a lot of reach to get the next crimp in a very controlled manner. And he wearing only one shoe... The climbing trickery at its best!
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