Weekend Whipper: Big Runout on Notorious Joshua Tree Slab
Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.
Public service announcement: bolted climbs in Joshua Tree are not the same as sport climbs. They may feel like it at first, clipping shiny hangers with plenty more in sight, but they can become a heady (or downright dangerous) affair.
EBGB’S (5.10d) is certainly no death route, but it’s not a clip-up, either. As Mountainproject.com notes, “This route had a bit of a reputation back in the day and even now, with higher numbers and sticky rubber, it still commands respect.” The 5.10d crux comes low, while mantling the undercut slab, but the final slab (20 feet out from your last bolt) is no joke.
“It was an onsight attempt and I rushed at the end,” the climber, Jared Cohn, told Climbing. “I have not been doing a lot of slab climbing this year and was much more uncomfortable on the route than I was expecting. Luckily I had a great belay and somehow walked away completely unscathed … just a sore ankle for a few days.”
In hindsight, Cohn said he wished he’d waited until the end of his trip to attempt such a slabby classic. After all, onsight attempts only come around once each lifetime.
Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.
The post Weekend Whipper: Big Runout on Notorious Joshua Tree Slab appeared first on Climbing.