Weekend Whipper

“This was my first time ever falling while clipping. A huge but very safe fall.”

“I’ll be back for you, 'Prime Directive.' Hopefully with someone who will hang the draws for me.”

Sometimes, at hanging belays, there’s nowhere to hide.

This week’s whippee went for a pretty massive ride. 

A magazine can dream.

We would have done a few things differently here.

“The belayer and I were aware of his left leg under the rope but we let him focus on his climb.”

A quick, attentive belay prevented a gnarly ground fall.

We’d want this belayer at the end of our rope.

Yikes.

Sometimes you just have to climb on the route to see if you've cleaned it enough.

“I knew the crimp was a bit suspect, but it made the first crux flow better, so I just went for it.”

Seriously. It’s not pleasant.

There’s a lot to learn from this video.

“I got the pitch dialed but my arms were so pumped that I couldn’t quite put it together.”

The fall is safe, at least, if a bit exciting.

Sometimes it’s better to stay on-edge.

Faced with a serious pump, this climber tried to clip in a very strenuous position.

Projecting is intimidating—especially if you’re working this airy route.

Their commitment, at least, deserves high praise.

Stick-clipping can be a safe way to start your route. But only if you do it right.

Climbing falls can be disorienting and unexpected. Why not wear a bucket?

This one will make your palms sweat.

So close…

What was once grippy, clean stone can devolve to a soapy mess.

There’s plenty to learn from this one.

Laybacking cracks works well—until it doesn’t.

Critiques are tough—but so is belaying. Here’s to approaching both with caution.

He was feeling good but the rock was not—it had rained the day before and the water-streaked wall still held plenty of moisture.

We’ll concede: the climber did some things right. But it didn’t matter in the end.

He lined up for the famous move and launched with gumption, only to latch the edge’s chalky outer rim and face the music of his momentum.

Just moments before, the climber had been cruising along a section of mellow terrain and hadn’t felt the need to place much pro at all.

The climber logged nothing but air miles thanks to the cave’s steepness, and called her whip “the craziest air I’ve ever had.”

This week’s whipper is a reminder that geologic time includes now.

This climber knew “the fall would be clean” so committed to running out the crux. He almost made it.

A Goldilocks catch: soft, airy, and just right.

How did he get away with that?

“He was completely fine, in a shock to us all.”

Lesson learned: “Clip the rope as soon as possible and don't do a figure four with the rope between the legs.”

We haven’t heard this one before.

The video picks up as Pearson half-crimps some miserable sandstone divots, trying to punch it to the arête.

No hate on the belayer here—just a cautionary tale.

“Neither of us anticipated that I would fall to the height her head was … and absolutely boot her into the edge of a flake.”

Just because the rock is bomber doesn’t mean the fixed gear is. 

One very real concern, the filmer said, was the climber’s rope cutting over the sharp ironstone edge.

Second Choice (5.11) is a striking splitter with its steepest moves near the top.

“Woo was pretty pumped and fixated on the final hard sequence. He forgot to clip the bolt, did the moves, and then slipped off.”

Many sport pitches can be fallen from with abandon. Not this one.

The climber, miraculously, walks away without a scratch.

“The movement was fun—until it wasn't anymore.”

Most whippees are on their way up before they hurtle down. But that’s not always the case.

“I realized there was no foothold to move across to the bolt and I took a 30-foot whip, face down, one-foot from the ground.”

“Needless to say I lowered off to check if any icing was taken off the cake.”

Return of the Jedi is found in an abandoned gritstone quarry in the Peak District and is an unmistakable line: a sharpened prow that is intimidatingly tall and “that requires quite a few pads to make safe.”

The filmer breaks down exactly what happened—and what went wrong.

'Love as a Weapon' is a stiff new route in Squamish, BC.

Those “easy sends” can still leave a mark. 

Some say the most dangerous section of a sport climb is between the second and third bolts.

That could have been a lot worse.

"The [route] description ironically says something like 'Don't blow the mantle at the top...' "

This one's got to hurt.

About as clean as any gear-ripper can be, anyway.

"It took me a few attempts of climbing higher and higher above the last two pieces to eventually feel confident to commit to the final runout."

Did anyone else feel their ankle snap just watching that? No? Just us? No matter—the climber, Maissa, is A-OK.

This belayer had the best of intentions. At least the only victim was himself—and his lawn chair.

"Other than almost decking this is a phenomenal route."

Steep, sandy jugs—what could be better?

A small cam provided a secure catch for five sessions. The #0.2 was bomber, until it wasn't.

Who said sport climbers can't take gear rippers?

The Gorge is a "wild land of superb and serious climbing where every climb is unique, and demands technical skill, unadulterated burliness, and usually a key piece of gear that keeps it G rated."

We hate to lay blame. But it couldn't have hurt...

This is a contender for "best whip of the year."

The climber walked away unscathed, much to our surprise.

Indeed, all is well until it’s not.

Hand-placed beaks, anyone?

⁠The end of a climbing trip can be a glorious, chain-slapping time—but there's another side to this romanticism.

Pulling the lip is widely considered to be the crux, but it's only until you've nailed the sneaky right-to-left crack switch that you are in the clear.

A failed clip, an inverted whip, nearly decks ... what the heck?

EBGB'S (5.10d) is no death route, but it's not a clip-up, either.

This fall logs about as many air miles as one could hope for while still walking away intact.