UKC

Following the thread about climbers who haven't fallen, got me thinking about which route I would never have wanted to fall off and Deja Vu came to mind. Now I did it in 1978 and maybe my mind after all these years has exaggerated the experience but I still remember trying the crux moves several times, with just one small nut sideways in a crack. About to chicken out when up comes Big Ron with my normal climbing partner Steve Foster in tow. I was somewhat relieved when it took Ron a few tries to nail the moves but that soon turned to dismay when I realised that he wasn't getting any gear in. Seeing someone else lead it somehow helped but I have often wondered since then just what the consequence would be of a fall from after the crux. A bit long winded but, has anyone experienced falling from Deja Vu?

In reply to Removed UserMike Rhodes:

Has no-one fallen off this route or does its reputation stop any potential E4 leaders trying it.

In reply to Removed UserMike Rhodes:

I'd be surprised if anyone's taken the fall. The route doesn't get many ascents, it's in a super-committing location and has a reputation for seriousness. Anyone who's on it going to be experienced and will have considered it fairly deeply: it's not going to be someone who thinks, "bold 6a in a massively committing location, I might fall off but I'll give it a go anyway".

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Grading such a route is quite difficult. Before I did this I had just done a whole series of quite hard routes including West Face Route at E5/6b but thought that Deja Vu was far more serious even if it was technically easier. Chris, you may be right with the grade but as you know, once you start the moves traversing right, there is no way back. To me it is one of those routes that, perhaps shows up the problems of our grading system, or maybe it is just under-graded, if the consequence of a fall is taken into account.

In reply to Removed UserMike Rhodes:


That's what E4 5c generally means.

In reply to Removed UserMike Rhodes:

I remember some good rocks in a horizontal crack and a sling on a spike. (Look carefully at the pics of Mark in extreme rock and you can see the sling under his hand). The hardest move was with the gear by your feet. A tad run out higher but if you can do the move lower you won't fall off!

In reply to jon:

+1