Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
Heads up! Even if a sport climb looks “developed” from the ground—new bolts, chalk on the holds, et cetera—it still may have a traddy, alpine feel if the developer hasn’t cleaned off all its loose blocks. In newly developed areas, climbers should always proceed with caution. (And with a helmet!)
Javier Feced found one such route at a crag called Bayamon 1, near San Juan, Puerto Rico. “[The route] has no name and was probably just sent by the bolter,” Feced told Climbing. “It looked wet and chossy at the bottom, but the top looked more dry. I gave it a chance and luckily the hold broke before I asked for slack to clip the second bolt.”
Feced insisted Bayamon 1 is “full of good climbs with amazing rock, but unfortunately not all of the crag has the same quality.” In the future, he says he’ll always wear a helmet if it’s his first time trying a route—until he’s confirmed just how loose a given pitch is.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.