UKC

Did this today; absolutely awesome. however, we found the top pitch the hardest technically by a long way. the gear was great but there just werent really any holds. we spoke to some people who did it last night and they said they thought it was the hardest pitch as well. Anyone else found this. Cheers, ed

In reply to boothy:

Yes, I've always said this, and had my opinion frequently derided! I remember it being strenous, technically tricky with a hard start and a real sting in the tail (35 yrs ago, so memory a bit hazy!)

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

PS, but remember how much harder the other pitches were before sticky boots, chalk and modern protection. It was very run out.

In reply to boothy: The top pitch is the hardest technically and was not originally part of the route. I met Arthur Birtwhistle (first ascecionist) and he said how glad he was to find a spike at the top of the first main pitch (above the groove). With that they had a secure belay and knew they could ab off if neccessary. Go look at that rounded thing on the ledge that they called a spike. They were tough back then!

In reply to boothy:

i totally agree with ya.

i completed this route the other week afer being rained off at the end of pitch 2 last year.

i couldnt believe how tough the crack was as the rest of the route was a bit of a walk albeit a very enjoyable one.

i mean the book says 4c so i expected a nice easy finish to a great route. however the crack was a damn struggle and felt 5a maybe even 5b under the circumstances.

real value for money.

In reply to a_radiohead_fan:

It's been 20 years since I did this route but I was a pretty useless crack climber at the time and the top bit seemed much like yer average gritstone VS to me. Is it really harder than The File, for example?

jcm

In reply to boothy:
In a connected vein, I did Western Slab last Saturday and thought that after 40 foot of runnerless climbing that VS was a bit off - more like HVS in terms of death potential, but I guess it shows up the inadequacies of the grading system (again). Also the 'stance' at the end of pitch 1 was one of the most uncomfortable I've ever experienced.
Briliant weekend though, eh!?

In reply to boothy:
Yep, I can understand exactly what you mean. I guess the explanation is that the top pitch requires a style of climbing that is no longer so popular and is not found on climbing walls. What was bread and butter in the 30s is now unusual and awkward.

Remember, there is a good reason these guys could do routes like diagonal without the gear and paraphenialia we rely on - they were much better climbers than we are!!!

In reply to Anonymous:

well i aint ever climbed on grit so i couldnt actually comment on that. and i wouldnt call myself a useless crack climber though awkward cracks that overhang aint my forte.

i think though it took me by suprise as i expected something a lot easier.

maybe for your average grit thug then yes the crack would be a walk in the park.

In reply to Scranner:
I've done Western Slabs a few times and didn't find it run out. Pretty steady VS. West Rib however, is harder!

...and what's inadequate about the grading system - no other system gives you two complementary descriptions of the route that can be used to emphasise particular characteristics. You may consider the grade to be wrong but that doesn't mean the system is inadequate.

In reply to Scranner:
Re: Western Slabs . I think you must have missed some gear . I don't remember a 40 ft run out although some of the gear was not obvious . Solid VS .

In reply to Graham Ad:


If I missed some gear then all is lovely with it.

In reply to Graham Ad:
I also wasn't trying to infer that the grading system was crap, but any system will show up inadequacies when trying to pigeonhole something as infinitely variable as a rock climbing experience. The sun must have got in my eyes (and we didn't have a guide and were kind of guessing the way up).

In reply to Scranner:

umm.. what run out? i led the first and third pitches of this with plenty of good gear, and the only reason the second was runout was cause my mate took a slight detour. also thought the first belay was well comfy on a good ledge with a little bit of a half sit down. did you belay off the first ledge or the one a few meters higher?

brilliant how everyones experience of a route is different. thought it was superb myself and was well chuffed with it. thought the move at the top of the crux corner on the third pitch was pretty stiff.

In reply to Scranner:

western slabs was fine when i did it on sunday night. i belayed after the first pitch and the ledge was bigger than my bed and there was good runners throughout the climb.
maybe you got the wrong climb.?
ed

In reply to boothy:
when you say they used to be better climbers than we are i agree to the extent that what they did with limited gear was very impressive, however, the majority by far of the gear my brother and i put in on diagonal was pretty crap and would only just have held a small fall, that is before it was pulled out by the rope leaving us with a long potential fall. This actually added to the route in my opinion. it really got the adrenalin flowing - sweet.

In reply to boothy: I disticntly remember being superdirect to be of similar ilk, albeit a grade harder overall.

Ben

In reply to boothy:
I'm beginning to think you're all right - my mate pointed 'up there' and I just went straight up (he later said he'd never have lead it - but he's got kids). The previous party also found it a bit thin so they may have got it wrong too. Looking at the topo of the crag I think we were left of the 'arete'. It was a nice climb though - no complaints about the quality. Lovely top pitch.

In reply to Scranner: haven't got a guidebook in front of me but could you have been on west rib instead? western slabs doesn't have 40ft runouts...

In reply to Tobias at Home:

Yes, he must be getting the routes confused. I remember Western Slabs as a fairly straightforward VS, and certainly have no recollection of its being particularly run out.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
oops!

In reply to Scranner:

I think you were probably off route. I had a similar experience myself on WS a good many years ago, and I'm fairly sure I was in the wrong place.

jcm