UKC

Can anyone clear this up for me? DF starts in the middle, goes up a bit, then traverse right to good jugs. QF gets to that position by going up the grotty corner. Correct? Are both routes the same thereafter? It seems the most natural line/best climbing follows the bolts up through the steep bit, undercuts, three-finger pocket, then jug on the arete and awkward side pulls to get another jug by the lower off. However this seems a fair bit harder than any (of the few) 7a+s I've done, and harder than Haslam too, being fairly sustained with no real rests.

In reply to Mowglee: Yes, DF starts up the middles of the wall before a short traverse right to follow the line of bolts. This essentially supercedes QF, which traversed in from a few metres up the corner. At the top, you move left out to the arete and make a move up this to reach the loweroff. The move left uses a good pocket but it is tricky to onsight as you can get wrong handed. It is fair at 7a+.

In reply to Nige M: Thanks. Guess I just need to work on stamina, as none of the moves are that hard but currently I'm pretty destroyed by about 2/3 the way up!

In reply to Mowglee: IIRC there's two points on the route where your feet are on one of the narrow 'ledges' and there's just enough for the hands to be able to shake out one at a time, it's not great but it does help About halfway up the route I think. Don't worry about feeling destroyed near the end, it's a stamina-ey route. Plus it was easier for me as I could reach the holds near the end easier, so stick with it and it'll go.

In reply to Mowglee:

At the end of the technical / vertical bit mid-route, can't you get a good blow before embarking on the steep top bit?

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In reply to Mowglee:

There's a good rest at the end of the initial right-wards traverse and up to the first undercuts. After the series of undercuts and sidepulls directly above there's a fingery move left and another half decent rest for the finish: another couple of undercuts and a reach over to get the left-hand into a good slot, step through to a jug on the arete. None of the rests are exactly hands-off but I found them pretty decent: the difficulties don't really mount up.

It all felt a lot easier on my second go when I found the slot. On my initial attempt I crimped a tiny crease on its lip, not knowing that if my hand had gone a an inch further it could have been in deep!

In reply to Mowglee:

agree with Nige M. both routes the same after the right-a-bit traverse from the direct start. You should be able to engineer a shake with your feet on that ledge before embarking on the top bit.

I thought / still think tough for 7a+, I'd done frankie before this, but it's still probably top-end 7a+, scraping 7b maybe. I don't think it's near Haslam in terms of being sustained, maybe you have a duff or too-hard sequence?

In reply to richardh: Cool, thanks. Will try and find some more sensible rests next time!