Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
This week’s whipper comes to you from Zee Wicked Witch (5.12c) at Enchanted Tower, NM, a route perhaps best described as a steep, 14-bolt endurance fest. Climber Alex Fischer had successfully climbed through the crux and pulled up slack to clip the final bolt when he pumped off.
“This was my first time ever falling while clipping,” he told Climbing. A huge but very safe fall. … I couldn’t even swing back into the wall to get back on the rock.”
“I fell because I shortroped myself,” he explained. “I didn’t pull up enough slack to make the rope reach the bolt, so I tried to stand up a little higher to reach it—then I pumped out and fell.”
On his next two attempts, Fischer opted to skip the last bolt and run it out. Both times he fell just one move higher, taking similarly large falls. “After those failed attempts, I rapped in from the top to work the climbing at that last bolt, which is supposed to be after the crux, despite the fact that I kept falling there.” Fischer reported that he got the last sequence “totally dialed” and then fired it next go.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.
The post Weekend Whipper: Too Pumped to Clip! appeared first on Climbing.
