Luke Kretschmar, Spectreman (5.11c), Vedauwoo, Wyoming

first done by John Wilke in 1983, Spectreman, on the Heap, is the quintessential hand crack — well, for some. It all depends on how meaty your mitts are. That’s the unique aspect to crack wrestling: cracks fit everyone differently, especially at the all-critical hand size. In fact, you could easily say that one man’s hand crack is another woman’s offwidth. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the overhanging, diagonaling madness of Spectreman, 70 feet of “perfect hands” in the wild plains of southern Wyoming.

Luke Kretschmar, Michael’s Crack (5.11+), Black Hills, South Dakota

Forget what I said about taping — maybe it’s not cheating, especially in the Hills. While this area isn’t known for its cracks, the ones you do find are sharp . Take Michael’s Crack, at Middle Earth near Sylvan Lake. This unassuming hand-to-fist crack through a mini-roof packs a punch, and unless you tape, it’s barracuda city. In the Hills, everything is exaggerated, from the runouts to the crystals. At fist size, the cracks (and crystals inside) will tear you up if you don’t use technique. Sure, with steady pressure and no movement, the teeth only dig in a little, but if you’re sloppy and wiggle your jams, there will be blood . . . and lots of it.