We are very psyched to announce that Jacob Cook has completed the vision of Marc-Andre Leclerc’s unfinished Wrist Twister project. The project tackles some pretty crazy slab near the Bullets on the Stawamus Chief. Click to see Jacob’s thoughts on the project.
Photo courtesy of Bradford Mcarthur.
It’s been a 4 year journey, from Marc first excitedly telling me about his slab project in February 2017, to finally sending the crux pitch last week! I’m over the moon to have finished it off and I’m very sure that if Marc were alive he would be buzzing.
The crux pitch really tested me. An unlikely sequence of very low percentage moves. A Tomb Raider style tunnel of lasers. The path through the lasers is so narrow and twisty, you have to be so precise, and even when you track perfectly, you still need a subtle mixture of conditions, sticky rubber and luck. A wonderful combination of focus, try hard and acceptance. You have to be right there, floating, present, on that foothold, light, moving – not thinking about the moment before or the one after.
On Sunday I fell on the last hard move. On Tuesday I fell on the move after the last hard move – rocking onto the first good foothold after a long string of time-bomb smears, I couldn’t believe it. I very rarely get frustrated with climbing, but this time I let out a real scream! On Wednesday afternoon I sat looking at the forecast in dismay, the weather was rolling in that night. Rain forever. Frantic texts ensued. Duncan rallied to support a last ditch headlamp attempt that night! We got up there and it all felt pretty hopeless, very humid, my arms were tired, my skin was a train wreck. But I gave it just one more go, hitting that magical flow state that makes climbing so special. I sent first try and lowered down to the portaledge quietly, hardly daring to believe that it had happened. We sat on the ledge, cracked a beer and watched the mist roll into Squamish below us. Within 20 minutes we were in a thick cloud of moisture. I had sent the pitch in the last possible moments before the storm. Sitting up there with Duncan and watching the clouds whip past in our headlamp beams was the perfect reward.
This is far from a continuous free ascent. In fact, I’ve sent exactly one pitch every year for the last three years! A continuous ascent would be a true masterpiece of slab wizardry if anyone ever climbs it. Either way, I’m thrilled to have brought some of Marc’s vision to life and I’m proud to leave a testpiece for future Squamish slab pilgrims to try and maybe improve on my style…
Thanks for the sweet photos Bradford Mcarthur and also thanks to the many friends who have come up to belay me over the years including Will Stanhope, Kieran Brownie, Drew Marshall, Duncan O’regan, Bronwyn Hodgins, Sarah Chambers, Matt Waring, Tony Mclane, Louis Sarrazin… and probably some others I’ve forgotten!
-Jacob Cook
