LOGAN CLIMBS ROCKS: Squamish 2016

I'm still waiting. Image: Copyright Garrett Bradley

I haven’t done Cobra Crack…. Yet. Another amazing summer in Squamish has flown by and everything I wanted to do after I had crushed my project didn’t happen. I was reasonably confident I was going to do it this trip, possibly even quickly leaving spare time for all the other classics in the area I haven’t done. Unfortunately I got close to sending and remained close with time eventually running out. In my last three days on the project I climbed from the ground through the mono move and fell above six times. I actually find the move after the mono, pulling over the lip, just as hard as the previous supposedly crux move. Still I fell after doing this move on the exit crimps four times all up. It is excruciatingly close to going.

Another Day on the Cobra Crack video.

The most frustrating thing about projecting the cobra is the time involved. Every day you want to try you have to walk 45 minutes or more up a hill and it may be seeping. After 2-3 shots your skin is wrecked and you need a couple of days off. I actually felt like I was getting long term fatigued climbing one day on two days off on the route. Maybe I should have had a three day break and gone for it.

Sideways video of a good attempt.

I guess I’m a little disappointed leaving without the send but certainly not unhappy with another great summer in Squamish with an awesome crew. It also means I’ve got the perfect excuse to come back. I could have stuck around for what some locals dub ‘Sendtember’ when the temps drop off and the friction gets great (If it doesn’t just rain the whole month) but I was confident I’d have it done and I had made plans with Robbie Phillips to hit up Tuolumne and Yosemite.

During my time in Squamish I bought a van, which has been named Olaf due to the Frozen themed cheap sheet set I found on clearance in Walmart. It is a Chevy Astro and I ripped the back seats out and had a friend build a bed in the back for me (Ian of Cobra Crack flute playing fame). New tires and some minor fixes and it seems to be cruising well.

Olaf and I in Squamish.

I have now made it most of the way to the Tioga Pass having driven through central Oregon. Hopefully I’ll fit in a climb up in Tuolumne this afternoon.

A massive thank you to Kailas and Outdoor Agencies (Scarpa) in Australia for supporting me while I chase these dreams.