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Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
We’ll bet your first trad whipper wasn’t as memorable as this one: peeling off the crux top pitch of The Squamish Buttress (5.10c; 400m) and crashing upside down onto the slabs below.
“Me and my climbing buddy planned to take it easy and climb the Apron [the lower half of the Buttress] in the morning,” the whipper, Philipp Dobita, explained. “On top, we met some friends and spontaneously decided to go on and maybe climb the Buttress all together.”
Dobita felt strong on this pitch’s easier first half, a straightforward crack, but faltered at the crux moves: a thin corner with tricky feet. When he eventually pumped off, he slammed hard into the cliff below, due to what he describes as a relatively inattentive belay. We agree: note how far the belayer is from the wall, and how it’s only when Dobita weights the rope that the belayer gets sucked forward. Not only does this lengthen Dobita’s fall without dampening his forces, it also puts the belayer at risk of breaking their toes. (Ask us how we know.)
Dobita reported significant pain in his ankle and back while hiking down the Chief, but thankfully he had no broken bones.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.