UKC

A bit of trad action also on Yorlshire Limestone, with a new 'all natural' E7, True Blue at Blue Scar.

See news: http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

Very good - top effort Nic.

In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

Hi Tom

Sounds like a fine effort (and waaaaay beyond anything I'll ever aspire to), but I'm interested -

At what grade do new ascents become newsworthy? I thought E7 was a bit off the cutting edge these days?

John

In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

Refreshing to see some hard trad, without the decoration of pegs 'n' threads.News worthy as its on a crag that's seen nothing but sport/trad clip-ups for 15 years.

Nice one Nic/Craig.

R

Hi John,

Is the grade THAT important? This is a fantastic route, the moves are great, it's got no Posh Spice factor (it's all natural). I may be bias, but having done most of the routes on Blue Scar, this route is one of the best.

The obsession with difficulty and grades: get over it!

Best wishes,

Craig

In reply to Craig Smith:


Hi Craig

Er, I think we're agreeing.

I absolutely add my applause to those congratulating the ascent, but I was curious about what makes an ascent newsworthy. I'm not especially grade obsessed - other than wanting to maintain my standard as a guard against middle age.

I hop if someone puts up a lovely new VS somewhere we'd view it as warmly.

J

In reply to richard kirby:

Thanks for that insight - interesting. I wonder if other, previously sport, venues will move back to trad ethics?

J

Hi John,


OK.


I would. I look forward to hearing about new quality VS's

Best wishes,

Craig

In reply to Moacs:


We don't have any strict guidelines as to what makes an ascent newsworthy, many factors come into play....especially just the 'feeling' that it is.

This one, as said, not so much because of the grade but because of the fact that it is naturally protected, no fixed gear.....was it headpointed Craig/Nic? Style is interesting.

See for example the news report on the new multi-pitch sport route at Cheddar. Weighs in at 6b (with a pull on a bolt)....I'm sure many would be interested in this route.

I suppose the main criteria is that it is of interest to some of UKClimbing.com's readers, which you cannot generalise about.

One thing is, we aren't grade-ist, if someone had down some class Vdiffs I'm sure that could be newsworthy.

Mick

In reply to Moacs:

I think any new and interesting route would get reported on here if we heard about it, whatever the grade.

Clearly, True Blue is not cutting edge... Nic had a quick look at it one day last year, then on Saturday, gave it a brush, checked out the gear, worked the moves on TR, then led it first go.

It didn't 'need' any fixed gear, but it's a bit of a statement I guess, as more and more fixed wires/bolts have been slowly appearing over the last few years at what is predominantly a trad crag.

In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:


So can we start taking some of the stuff that's been added out? I fancy taking the fixed wires out of barracuda and mybe the bolt out of stairway. Any takers?

C

In reply to Craig Smith: Would this be an ethical step forward if it turned relatively onsiteable trad routes into ones that required a pre-inspection/headpoint approach?

In reply to Craig Smith:

Are the fixed wires the result of lobs that have cold welded them in place or have people been abseiling down and fixing them?

Personally, I think that as much fixed stuff as possible should go, particularly if it has been "left" because it makes a clip easier or shows the way to go.

boB

In reply to Bob:

I think the wires were probably put in on Barracuda and maybe even Deathwish by people red-pointing them and then just left in for the next person? Though the No. 1 rock that was in Deathwish last summer has been removed I think. Maybe the ones on Barracuda are 'cold welded' in. I haven't tried it as it doesn't really appeal in its current 'sporty' state. Dougie Hall cruised this in good style years back, so it's not as if these routes haven't had ground-up or on-sight ascents before.

I think the threads at Blue should be replaced like-for-like and maybe the odd 'necessary' peg, but the odd bolt there seems out of place. I know that when a couple of folk talked about retro-ing Professor of Desire last year to make it a pure clip up, others were worried that Blue might get 'Kilnseyfied'. I.e. more and more bolts appearing on what were reasonably popular and adequately protected traditional routes. It's the same old arguments I'm afraid...

In reply to Craig Smith:

If the routes original, existing, fixed gear hasn't deterioted and these fixed wires and bolts are additional to the pro' the first ascentionist had then I see no reason to leave them in.

The Blue Scar extremes were always on my list when I were a yoof. The ones I did really left an impression. I would imagine a pscyhed trad yoof may feel a little short changed once he'd completed his safe E7 clip up.

If you need a hand Craig give us a shout.

R

In reply to richard kirby:

...not to say the yoof wouldn't be a she.

In reply to richard kirby:

Hi Richard,

Thanks. I'm keen to get back up there so drop me a line on craig.smith@manchester.ac.uk

Cheers,

Craig