UKC

Oh man.. I hesitated about posting this, because these are normally the kind of threads I scroll right by, but my damn curiosity got the better of me. And I couldn't find anything when searching the forums.

What's the highest British tech grade for a trad route? I thought it was 7a til I found Andy Earl's The Dark Side (E9 7b) at Back Bowden. Many other 7bs around? Excuse my ignorance if you can rattle these things off the top of your head.

Ta!
Pete.

PS No, I'm not intending on giving any of them a try :P

In reply to PeteH:
It is argued that the mantle on "a little peculiar" is 7b.
It's footless and one handed!

In reply to PeteH:
However the grade is "only" 7a not 7b.

Also Adrian Berrys Blind Vision at Froggatt is E10 7b.

In reply to PeteH:
Is the groove at Cratcliffe E10 7b?

In reply to james oswald: have you tried it?

In reply to mark s:
Not sure which route you're referring to but i thought they were both only 7a.

In reply to james oswald:

think about that.
doing a one handed foot off mantel is not going to happen

In reply to mark s:
To be honest i don't see (i haven't gone and checked the route) why you couldn't just use two hands by placing one hand on top of the other?

In reply to james oswald:

It sounds the part though doesn't it! It's bit like National Acrobat being described as 'skin ripping mantel onto a fist jam', there's not even a fist jam on the route!

The move on LP is very hard, a bit like Victorian Over Mantel at Stanage, but one handed - no. Shame. It does however involve a very hard press, with a poor right hand and poor feet, so almost a one handed mantel.

In reply to andi turner:
You tried it then?!

In reply to PeteH:

smoked salmon gets e8 7b in the database.

it is a very hard move...

In reply to PeteH:
The Angel's Share E9 7b (unrepeated),Smoked Salmon E8 7b, Warmlove E7 7b (unrepeated)
All Dawes.

In reply to james oswald:

I'm pretty certain Warmlove and Angel's share have been repeated.

In reply to james oswald:

I may well be wrong on this but i think that smoked salmon is unrepeated in its current state (ie since pearson knocked the pebble off on his ascent)

The grade may also reflect this as it is E7 7a in the guide.

Anyone know the real truth?

In reply to Tyler:

Yes well The Angel's Share was repeated on Committed.

In reply to Tyler:
That was cut and copied from Dawes' climbing timeline thing on his site so it may be out of date.

In reply to james oswald and others:
Cheers for the info, folks. So all on grit except The Dark Side?

Pete.

In reply to james oswald:


Adam Long has done Angels' and it's 7a.

What's the wall to the right of Big Crack at Froggatt? Slingshot?? Is that 7b or "only" 7a??

J(punter)ohn

In reply to PeteH:

Sorry to go off topic but why hasn't Andy's route had much publicity?

The Ent

In reply to Moacs:
Yep only 7a.

In reply to PeteH: Is indian face 7b?

In reply to Rob15:
nope 6c.

In reply to Rob15:

French 7b+ on top rope. Take some language lessons, or travel a bit more widely. works for everyone else.

In reply to Enty:

Because Northumberland E9s are overshadowed by The Earl's performances in the FA Bouldering Cup.

And it isn't that high. And if it wasn't originally given HXS, and/or done above pads, and/or quickly repeated then another one of his was.

In reply to james oswald:


`Wall right of Slingshot'

This got downgraded to E8 6c by Macleod (after his in a day, in the rain ascent) who suggested E8 leaders should be expected to be able to flash font 7c, or something, (assume some wide error bars there).

In reply to PeteH:
As far as I knew once, there were four 7b moves on routes in the Peak.
Smoked Salmon, Bamford - insane "slab"
The Groove, Cratcliffe - dynamic move to horrible pinch and try not to barndoor (hailed as "using the english tech grading system correctly for the first time in recent hard grit")
A Little Peculiar, Roaches Lower Tier - Single-handed no-footed mantel
Samson, Burbage South - Dyno from pockets to awful sloping rail

I think Peculiar has never been repeated and Samson is now a bouldering problem, but there it is.

In reply to PeteH:

Elder Statesman is 7b no? HXS 7b I seem to recall. Or E2 7b but that sounds mental.

In reply to Kid Spatula:

E2 7b would confirm my long held suspicion that adjectival crux is still on Elder Crack, though.

In reply to Paz:

It's given E7 7b on the Rockfax database

http://www.rockfax.com/databases/r.php?i=22410

I wonder whether anyone is going to climb it onsight, given the photos in the mags at the time, and the videos

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cv72RJD6jLo

Don't watch that, if you want the onsight!

In reply to james oswald:

Yeah a few years ago, I know someone else who's done all the moves too. It's a bit of a funny one due to the side runners used on the first ascent. It's grim move and seldom in good condition.

In reply to JR: Nick Dixon repeated smoked salmon after 6 days of effort and thought hard fr 8a+/8b.

In reply to james oswald: angels share has been repeated (adam long) and i believe its 7a, and yes the groove is 7b

In reply to mark s:

Oscar Eckenstein could do it.

In reply to boothy:

when though pre or post pearson knocking the pebble off?

In reply to PeteH:
7b.
Next?

In reply to PeteH: Has anyone ever had a go at smiling face on curbar? Ben Moon thought it to be 7b/c on Hard Grit.

In reply to JR:
Pre- presumably, he did the 2nd ascent. Ascents by Pearson & someone called Scut?? were much later.

In reply to Jon Read:

Yeah I assumed pre too.

There's no way you can apply a sport grade to it, its ony really 3 moves long, albeit 3 desperate ones. More like font 7c+ or something. Now the pebble has gone it must be harder than it originally was however.

In reply to JR:

Oh and scut (tim somebody) does it on the consumed video (sure you know)

Rumour was he though it was E6.