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Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
Something Short (5.11a), in Squamish, B.C., packs a punch in its 40 diminutive feet. The route’s crux comes early, powerful tips-jamming and small, slippery feet, but the final moves to the anchor are equally engaging: paddle hands and ring locks up a sustained, leaning splitter.
On Erik Jackson’s first attempt he quickly figured out Something Short’s bottom crux, and climbed midway through the upper crux, before pumping off. The fall was smaller than the one shown in this video, but Jackson said it gave him a good idea of what to expect. “[The fall] made me confident in the piece that I had in the wall and that the fall was clean—nothing to hit,” he wrote on social media.
On his second attempt, when the video picks up, he climbs above his previous high point but quickly realizes he’s too pumped to make it to the chains. In his mind he has three choices: (1) clip a quickdraw he’s extended all the way from the anchor and ask for a take; (2) try to place a piece and clip into it before he inevitably falls off; (3) jump off since he knows the fall is clean.
He picks option #3, of course, and his belayer does a great job of reeling in as much slack as possible to shorten Jackson’s fall. Even so, he still falls to the deck. We’d recommend picking option #2 next time!
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend. Thanks to @therowdytown, @ejacksoninaction, and @stecollins91 for sharing the video.