Weekend Whipper: Massive Upside-Down Whipper on Gunks 5.12 Trad

Readers, please send your Weekend Whipper videos, information, and any lessons learned to Anthony Walsh, awalsh@outsideinc.com.

This week’s whipper comes to you from Zhihua Gan, on the runout classic Slammin’ (spicy 5.12) in the Gunks.

“This route has a 12a middle crux, and then the top is guarded by a V5 runout boulder problem,” Gan told Climbing. “During this attempt, I took a whipper at the final move of the crux because I didn’t get my hip close enough to the wall before reaching the final jug.” As Gan fell, her flailing left leg caught the rope, flipping her upside down.

“My foot wasn’t behind the rope the moment I fell off the wall, so I’d say it was just bad luck,” Gan clarified. “There wasn’t much my belayer or I could do about it. Fortunately, I only ended up with a sore tailbone, and I sent this route four days later.”

Gan noted that “belaying this route is tricky. The belayer has to pay out extra slack on the already runout terrain so that the climber could potentially land under the first roof in the event of a fall, rather than smashing into it.” While it’s easy to armchair-commentate about the obviously violent nature of Gan’s fall, she was adamant that her belayer gave “a great catch” despite how it looks.

“I took a total of four whips on this route before eventually getting the redpoint, and those big whips were certainly memorable. The route lived up to its name!”

Happy Friday, and be safe out there this weekend.

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