Weekend Whipper: Forty Footer in Escalante Canyon
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Matt takes a forty-plus foot whipper on Uncle Remus (5.10+) in Escalante Canyon, Colorado—his first lead fall on gear.
At one point, Matt began to invert, his feet went above his head, and had the rope gone taut at that moment, he probably would have slammed upside-down
into the wall. But his belayer provided an excellent, soft catch, which kept him from pining the wall and off the ground. A BD .75 cam caught the fall
and was “perfectly fine” afterwards, Hunter Shuman, who took the video, reports. Matt also backed up the .75 with a .5 “before his race to the chains,”
Shuman says. Both Matt and the belayer had some rope burn, Shuman says, but were otherwise okay.
Read Eight Ways to Avoid Braking Bad: The Art of the Soft Catch
After the fall, Matt decided to lower off after seeing that he was so close to the ground. He took a break and then climbed again later in the day.
Happy Friday and stay safe out there this weekend!
Video submitted by Hunter Shuman.