Will Stanhope is quickly becoming a recognizable name within the climbing community. His positivity, fearlessness, charisma, and determination are traits that I’m sure everyone admires. We’ve already seen him on the covers of Gripped and Rock & Ice. He’s the guy that barely looks 18, but can probably out drink you at any party. People like him; the ladies love him. He’s sponsored by Arc’Teryx, Metolius, and Five Ten. Will Stanhope is here to stay.
On Saturday, September 6th I got a phone call from Will while I was out climbing. He was already well into victory beers; the goon factor was quite apparent. Although much of what he said was incoherent, I got the general impression that he was very excited for he had just done the first free ascent of Cannabis Wall. To be honest, I didn’t sufficiently realize the significance of this achievement at the time. After hearing that the route is 5 sustained pitches going at 5.12R, 5.13-R, 5.12, 5.13-, and 5.12, I regretted not joining Will in the parking lot for a few celebratory PBRs.
At my request, Will provided me with a little more information:
“It is a good freeclimb, albeit a bit spicy. I spent about 6 days on it in late August / September, fooling around on toprope trying to figure things out. The first time I tried to lead the second pitch I took a big whipper and slammed hard into a corner, bruising my ankle and tweaking my back for a couple days. It was a good wake-up call that these sort of routes are actually pretty serious and it isn’t always a big joke. Then I found a small wire placement that made things more reasonable…
I led all the pitches with Jason [Kruk] following (he freed some of it). I hope people refrain from using hammers on Cannabis Wall to protect the integrity of the freeclimb. Next up, valley trip in early October – so excited!”
In Will’s blog, he suggests that the redpoint isn’t everything: “Those late summer days on Cannabis, scrubbing and snooping around for holds, are what I really love. Now it’s over and I feel a little empty.” But not that empty because already Big Willy has his mind set on the next challenge: repeating Peter Croft’s impressive onsight of The Shadow, 5.13b. Also, he will be joining Matt Segal in Yosemite this October with his eyes set on freeing the Salathe Wall.
If you ever have a chance to climb with Will, don’t let the opportunity pass you by. He will teach you, inspire you and entertain you. Respect.
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