Weekend Whipper: Near Ground Fall on the Famous “Zombie Roof” 5.12d Trad
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.
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It ain’t over ’til it’s over, as the cliche goes, and neither is Zombie Roof (5.12d) in Squamish, British Columbia. The sustained 15-foot roof crack begins with a fun chimney/flare before launching into the steepness: hand jams, heel-toe cams, and a few face holds are the name of the game. 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.
The Italian alpinist Matteo Della Bordella was visiting Squamish in 2016 and was psyched to checkout this iconic route. He looks solid while pulling the crux, but the foot swap gives him pause: “The fall was not completely surprising since I could not feel my shoe on that foothold,” Della Bordella wrote to Climbing. “I tried a few times and then it slipped.” His lesson learned? “Pay attention to the slack—I almost arrived on the ground.”
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.
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