UKC

First ascent - you wish.

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 Tom Valentine 04 Apr 2014

Quite simple really.

Which UK climb would you like to have made the first ascent of, for whatever reason?

I'm going for Pulpit Ridge at The Ravenstones. The crag was important in my early years; later on when I led it I felt an immeasurable satisfaction; and if I had made the first ascent I would think it had stood the test of time very well,(some might say Extremely well), enough for me to enjoy reading various comments about its grade seventy odd years after I first tiptoed up it in my plimsolls.
Post edited at 20:47
 coreybennett 04 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Masters edge, but I wouldnt want to take it from my idol
 Al Evans 05 Apr 2014
In reply to coreybennett:

Cenotaph Corner, but free.
 deacondeacon 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

I'd have to agree with Corey. Masters edge must be the purest line on grit and I love aretes, and Big Ron!
 GridNorth 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Regent Street at Millstone Edge. Terry King beat me to it by 5 minutes.
In reply to deacondeacon:

> I'd have to agree with Corey. Masters edge must be the purest line on grit and I love aretes, and Big Ron!

That makes it Careless Torque then, which is my vote, followed by pretty well any John Allen grit route. Maybe Westside Story would be up there, perfect moves and a scary top.
abseil 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

> Which UK climb would you like to have made the first ascent of, for whatever reason?

Mousetrap, for its brilliant routefinding and neck.
 Kafoozalem 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

There's a whole bunch Pat Littlejohn routes I'd be happy to settle for but maybe Darkinbad the Brightdayler is the cream of the crop. Grown men get teary eyed when describing it.
 Iain Thow 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Centurion. The most direct line up the biggest steep bit of Britain's biggest mountain.
 coreybennett 05 Apr 2014
In reply to deacondeacon:

Which is why I'm going for it haha
 Dave Garnett 05 Apr 2014
In reply to GridNorth:

> Regent Street at Millstone Edge. Terry King beat me to it by 5 minutes.

in the same vein, it would be Out of the Blue at Sharpnose because I noticed the line back in about 1982 and soloed up and down the start. But... it was a lazy hot day and we were doing more swimming and sunbathing than climbing, and probably didn't have time for new routing etc etc. I fully intended to go back and do it within the next few weeks but somehow I never did.
 Andy2 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Dave Garnett:

> in the same vein, it would be Out of the Blue at Sharpnose because I noticed the line back in about 1982 ....

...which is all very well, but the FA was in 1980 !

 wilkie14c 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

A dream of white horses. To even spot that traverse line let alone to be the first step out onto that wall must have been very special
 Mick Ward 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Spillikin Ridge - the route of my dreams. But, if I'd been on the first ascent, I'd be about 20 years older. Maybe better to have those 20 years (if I do have them).

Mick
 Red Rover 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Long Hope route
 Tommyads 05 Apr 2014
In reply to Tommyads:

Ahahahaha class
 JMarkW 06 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Cuillin Traverse I reckon.
Cheers
Mark
 Nic_Sandy 09 Apr 2014

I think Masters Edge would be legendary as you you would find yourself in the middle of the race between Jerry and Ron for the title of the 'Master'. You could always argue that a FA of any of the three star mega classic John Allen grit routes would be make anybody a happy boy/girl.
Then there's London Wall...all the great HVS/E1's/ E2's at the roaches...the list goes on. It would have to be grit though.
 Jimbo C 09 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

It would have to be something unlikely in the middle of a popular area that nobody else had even noticed a line on - something like The Braille Trail for example.
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Archangel – the best route on grit, therefore the best route in Britain.

Although there’s a few one wouldn’t say no to, clearly.

jcm
 Dave Garnett 09 Apr 2014
In reply to Andy2:
> (In reply to Dave Garnett)
>
> [...]
>
> ...which is all very well, but the FA was in 1980 !

Blimey, how embarrassing! I guess it was a long time before Iain Peters guide came out (1988) and somehow I thought we'd been down there before that. Without checking my old diaries I can't be sure, but we doing a lot of climbing (including some first ascents) down there in 82/83 and it's unlikely it was before 1980.

Well, that's a relief, I can let it go...

I see the FA date is wrong in the logbooks though (where I had a quick look before posting to avoid looking like an idiot!
 thomaspomfrett 09 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Dream of White Horses for me too.
 Iain Peters 09 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:
For me it would have to be Cat Burglar at Exmansworthy. The few who have ventured to this crag will know the difficulties of getting in and out! At least 3 ropes, a machete or similar and willingness to negotiate the collapsing upper cliff. After Pete O'Sullivan and I had discovered the place we each chose a line to clean and climb. Pete's was Shadow Walker, mine a stunning crack on the upper tier. Spent three consecutive weekends removing shards of shale, mud and grass. The following w/e couldn't get back there for some reason, but Pete could.....!
Post edited at 15:45
In reply to Iain Peters:

>Spent three consecutive weekends removing shards of shale, mud and grass

Wouldn't have happened to Fowler, Iain!

jcm
 Iain Peters 09 Apr 2014
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Well it did at least inspire him to visit and climb Dog Burglar, probably au naturel!!! I was talking to Stu Bradbury only last night about Exmansworthy as he is writing it up for the new ND&C guide. There are plans afoot to try and establish a new access descent. Although there have been major rockfalls, the most recent affecting the classic Hand Job and Iron Fist, the main routes such as Shadow Walker, Culm Dancing are still climbable and for anyone up for a North Coast adventure I can't recommend it highly enough. (Hope that doesn't put too many people off!)
In reply to Iain Peters:

Is (was?) Hand Job that classic E1 crack? The culm coast's Cemetery Gates? If so, I did that once, when it had reputedly been recently cleaned by Martin Crocker. It was naturally full of cabbages, although fortunately not too hard. The crux by a long way was the bramble cornice. An excellent and memorable outing. Your Cat Burglar didn't look too healthy at the time, though.

A new guide? Blimey - it seems like yesterday I was at the launch party for the last one.

jcm
 Iain Peters 09 Apr 2014
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Indeed it was, but without the guide to hand I think it may have gone to E2 in the last edition, partly due to the difficulties actually reaching the crack.

Yup, there's a large team at work on a new CC definitive to ND&C. Manuscripts and some topos completed for Carn Gowla and Lr Sharpnose amongst others. Should be a good one with over 300 new routes including some quality lines and many stars right across the grade spectrum.
 Bob Moulton 10 Apr 2014
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

That was 14 years ago! Nothing to do with the title of this thread but I did what may have been one of the last ascents of Main Sail that weekend (which I always wanted to do as it was first climbed by Bob Lewis, who took me up my first climb in Wales, Hope, in 1961). I found the top pitch quite loose, certainly more so that Iain's 'exfoliating slab' on The Verger. I also met the legendary (to me) Dave Thomas at that launch party.
 Graeme Hammond 10 Apr 2014
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

> Archangel – the best route on grit, therefore the best route in Britain.

> Although there’s a few one wouldn’t say no to, clearly.

> jcm

But Don is better, cleaner, longer, and maintains intrest with good climbing above the break too. Just a twist of historical fate that it wasn't climbed first
In reply to Graeme Hammond:
No, don't agree; Don is a poxy eliminate by comparison. Archangel is the natural line because it's the easiest way up the feature. Don is about as significant a route as if someone were to decide to climb Ulysses on its left-hand side.

jcm
Post edited at 13:08
 Andy Peak 1 10 Apr 2014
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Pull my daisy , a beautiful line in a place I love
 jonnie3430 10 Apr 2014
In reply to Nic_Sandy:

> It would have to be grit though.

But several pitches up on the Needle or the Steeple, on the first outing up the route must be a bit more emotional, especially if you aren't sure if you can get off.

Centurion would be an good one, as the feeling as you get close to the top and have the line of overhangs barring the exit must have been special. "I'm not doing it either, lets have a look up that awkward bit over to the left.."

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