BURSTWhat was lost has been found.
Portable, a much-beloved mini boulder in Squamish, has been sighted by the Iron Man boulder in Bishop.
The roughly one-foot-tall rock went missing in early September, setting off many calls for its return.
On Jan. 19, news of Portable’s discovery in Boulder spread quickly on Reddit and prompted an account with pro climber Ethan Salvo’s name on it to respond and offer to take the boulder to its rightful place in Squamish in a few weeks.
Gripped reached out to Salvo and he confirmed that was his account.
“I was camped below the milks last night when a friend sent me the Reddit post. I called a friend that was staying up there, and she ran over to Ironman to retrieve it. I drove up ASAP to keep him in safe hands,” Salvo told Gripped in a text exchange.
“Portable is fine and well. A bit greasy, but after a brush and some chalk, it was liftable again. I guess all else I have to say is I’m very confused. I thought I was tripping when I ended up with Portable in my arms last night. I don’t think we will ever know the real story of Portable’s adventures, but I’m glad it’s been found and I can bring it home.”
Salvo is a Squamish local who’s been on a tear recently. He’s the first Canadian to tick off V16, sending Andy Lamb’s Event Horizon in The Room of Squamish’s Grand Wall bouldering area.
He also sent two other iconic climbs in Squamish: Chris Sharma’s Dreamcatcher 5.14d and Sonny Trotter’s Cobra Crack, 5.14b.
Portable is a small rock that lives beside the Superfly boulder in Squamish’s Grand Wall bouldering area. It may well be the world’s smallest boulder problem.
As the name suggests, it can easily be picked up and moved, but it has been the accepted norm to leave it by Superfly so it can be easily found and enjoyed by all.
Its disappearance this past September is the first extended time it has been gone from the area in recent memory. It sparked outrage and a potentially worrisome precedent.
There are several variations to it.
It’s most popular as a tiny V4 mantle problem. However, if you pinch and lift the stone with one hand, that’s a V6.
For an additional challenge, you can toss and catch the problem with one hand, and the ultimate challenge has been to send to Superfly Slab, a popular V0 highball slab, with Portable pinched in one hand. That’s a difficulty of at least V10. Watch Chris Carter with the send below.
The post Stolen Squamish Boulder Found in Bishop appeared first on Gripped Magazine.