Weekend Whipper: The Chameleon (5.12b PG13) Bites Back, J-Tree
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Greg Powell snags his foot and flips upside down on the deluding Chameleon (5.12b PG-13) in Joshua Tree, California.
The mixed route, established by John Bachar and Mike Lechlinksi in 1979, follows a line of bolts up a technical face before it enters a gritty and flared
gear-protected crack—the PG-13 section.
“I’m right at the PG-13 section, where the bolts end but you don’t get any good gear for at least 20 feet (not including a half-out offset nut and
a cam with two lobes engaged),” Powell tells Rock and Ice. “I’m trying to hop my left foot up to a tiny chip but being inflexible this pushed
me off the wall and, as you can see in slow-mo, the rope pops up right near the last piece and just barely snags my foot, sending me into a lovely
flip.
“Despite how it looks, I only had a mild scrape on my right arm and was otherwise completely uninjured,” he says. “I jugged back up immediately and finished
the route with a little more style this time!”
Powell later returned to the route for the send, “so now I never have to do it again, thankfully,” he says.
Happy Friday and climb safe this weekend!
Watch last week’s Weekend Whipper: The Perils of Rope Drag
Video: Max Matles
Belay: Carson Schultz
Video editing: Brandon Chau