Derbyshire > Froggatt Edge >
 
The Big Crack*** E2 5b

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[johnny being johnny, 3 kb]15m. Climb to a jug then a pull on a couple of finger jams gains good holds then the base of the wide upper crack. This is awkward though good holds out left do help. Solid at the grade! © ROCKFAX
FFA. John Syrett 1973. In 1955 the mighty Whillans used a machine nut for aid.

Ticklists: ROCKFAX Eastern Grit: Top 500, Wide Cracks, Froggatt to Black Rocks (BMC) - The Grade List, Big Rons 100 extremes in a day.

Photo: johnny being johnny © mwatson
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This climb is in 269 logbooks, and on 26 wishlists.

John led competently to the crack then after a bit of squirming decided he wasn't going to get any gear and that the stuff below behind a loose block wasn't good enough to gamble on and called Robby and Herbert to through him down a top rope. I found the start pretty steep and tiring and needed a couple of rests. However I was able to get up the squeeze chimney without assistance from the rope which I was pleased with.
MPSBunny - 2nd dog - 16/Jun/13 with John Brannock

Ohh the shame.
Brannock - Lead dnf - 16/Jun/13

Dibdawg - Lead O/S - 27/May/13 with Nate

Hidden - 2nd dog - 25/May/13

Tough start shut me down initially, higher wide crack is a handful!
markfairbank - Lead dog - 25/May/13 with Anne Gumbley

PeteH - Lead O/S - 12/May/13 with Naomi Hart

Glenn Sutcliffe - Lead - 28/Apr/13 with Charl

Fell at the finger crack. Found the guidebook a sandbag as jamming is not required! Rest of the climb bold juggy and great!
climbinmunkey - Lead dog - 20/Apr/13 with Helen

helenstuart - 2nd β - 20/Apr/13 with Mike

Think the description of 'solid for the grade' is a little out. Perhaps it used to get E1. Nice route and very safe, could prove to be a good first E2 for someone.
deacondeacon - Lead O/S - 09/Apr/13

always annoying not being able to repeat something that you've done clean before
Alex@home - Lead dog - 02/Dec/12 with The Doctor

a13x - 2nd O/S - 11/Nov/12 with Matt Harle, Matthew Keeves

stonemonkey159 - Lead O/S - 11/Nov/12

Martin Haworth - Lead rpt - 21/Oct/12 with John Brannock

Tried to lead, gave up at base of the big crack. Soft E2 probably fair.
Brannock - 2nd - 21/Oct/12

Aided on a nut after getting desperately pumped trying to warm my frozen hands. At least I got further than last time...
victim of mathematics - 2nd dog - 16/Oct/12 with James Oswald

This was a really cool route. The bottom has pumpy moves between good rests. The move into the big crack is hard, followed by the first move up it. Took a long while to commit to the move in the offwidth up to where the hand jams come. Ended up laybacking. Cool route.
James Oswald - Lead O/S - 16/Oct/12 with Colin Angus

Hidden - Lead O/S - 23/Sep/12

tallsop - 2nd - 22/Sep/12 with Dave Saxby

Hidden - Lead - 22/Sep/12

richiebongo - Lead O/S - 18/Sep/12 with Gwen Thomson

Hidden - Lead - 09/Sep/12

Really good and not as hard as I expected. Pleased having not climbed in a month. Key was getting cams in crack & to the right low down, reverse to ground and rest then blast through to sentry box (left foot crucial to getting stood up in this). Then fairly juggy climbing into the base of the big crack which is pretty straight-forward after that.
slacky - Lead O/S - 08/Sep/12 with Andes, Ben

yarrow - 2nd O/S - 06/Sep/12 with Ross.Cooper

So pumped.
Ross.Cooper - Lead dog - 06/Sep/12 with Harry Yarrow

Jake Young - Lead O/S - 01/Sep/12 with Nick

Nick1812P - 2nd O/S - 01/Sep/12 with Jake

Andy Peak 1 - Lead - 14/Aug/12

Hidden - 2nd dog - 12/Jun/12

Jack.H.92 - Lead O/S - 26/May/12

Theeni - 2nd - 13/May/12 with Ian Sutcliffe

Hard.
ianjfsutcliffe - Lead - 13/May/12 with Henry

M_W_Court - Lead - 13/May/12 with Dave Luke

pauldr - 21/Mar/12

First instalment of wide cracks campaign. Climbed with big cams which made the upper section more relaxing than usual. Despite selecting "!Clean no falls, actually fell off a greasy part of the lower crack on first go but no falls on actual ascent. The "(dogged)" option does not really describe the ascent.
harold walmsley - Lead rpt - 19/Feb/12 with Colin Struthers

Tony Kartawick - 2012

maddy.c - 2012

dave657 - Lead O/S - 03/Dec/11

Sophie Nunn - 2nd dog - 03/Dec/11 with Dave

tom.e - Lead β - 06/Nov/11 with Malcolm

tonanf - AltLd - Nov/11

Hidden - Lead dog - 21/Oct/11

E1
mark20 - Lead O/S - 19/Oct/11

Feels much nicer on the lead. Good route!
JRae - Lead - 19/Oct/11 with M Watson

bencoope - AltLd - 15/Oct/11

Dirk Uhlig - 2nd O/S - 04/Oct/11

Matt Cooke - Lead O/S - 24/Sep/11 with Rosh

Hidden - Lead O/S - 19/Sep/11

Hard start but top crack wasn't as bad as i expected.
Dan Lane - 2nd O/S - 17/Aug/11 with Andy Turner

Chris M - 2nd - 14/Aug/11 with trystan

Hidden - Lead RP - 13/Aug/11

davewsargent - 2nd dog - 27/Jul/11 with paul

Jonesy_A - 2nd dog - 27/Jul/11 with NJSharp

Hidden - Lead dog - 26/Jul/11

al99 - 2nd rpt - 02/Jul/11 with Andy Woolston

E1, gear and rests all over it.
centurion05 - Lead O/S - 02/Jul/11

Hidden - Lead rpt - 09/Jun/11

Wussed out first go, then led it with Mike's gear in...I'd already put gear in up to the crux. Good route.
thomasadixon - Lead β - 27/Apr/11 with Mike

six years ish after I got beaten off.
Ben1983 - Lead β - 02/Apr/11

Fell off bottom part last year! flashed upper crack.
loundsy - Lead RP - 27/Mar/11

belay bunny turned bad - Lead rpt - 27/Mar/11 with loundsy

pie_eater_pete - Lead - 25/Mar/11

Hidden - Lead O/S - 23/Mar/11

JRae - 2nd - 23/Mar/11 with P Latham

Daniel Heath - Lead O/S - 19/Mar/11

Danstephens - 2nd dog - 19/Mar/11 with Daniel Heath

A tough route for me. Pumpy start to the finger locking crux, awkward to get into. Then easier but not enough for me to recover completely until the great rest in the offwidth. Fun if brutal climbing.
Bart Shaw - Lead O/S - 29/Jan/11 with Mike

Hidden - Lead - 2011

E1.
Adam Moroz - 2011

Dan Mckinlay - 2011

mwatson - Lead - 2011

Stupendous.
PeteH - 2nd O/S - 13/Dec/10 with Mark Watson

Classic!
highlux - Lead O/S - 13/Dec/10 with Pete Hart

hard work and some suspect rock in the big crack, but great fun nonetheless!
JamieSparkes - Lead O/S - 13/Nov/10 with Liam, JohnBM, Claire

llamaglama - 2nd - 13/Nov/10 with Jam

One fall then started again from ground and had one rest. Should have had it first go really but foot slipped. Felt like 5c.
Si dH - Lead dog - 06/Nov/10 with Mark Derby

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 06/Nov/10

Martin Haworth - Lead rpt - 29/Oct/10 with Andy

Andrew Sloan - 2nd dog - 29/Oct/10

Good bouldery start then offwidth up top, shame it started raining half way up, definately made the top out spicy!
Jonathan Hall - Lead - 15/Oct/10 with Rob Middleton

ignored the obvious crux jams and tried to do some weird layback type move which i fell off from. in my opinion not worth e2 though it is sustained
tim newton - 2nd dog - 10/Oct/10 with dan shacklock

Hidden - Lead O/S - 31/Aug/10

Marti999 - Lead O/S - 19/Aug/10 with Anna

ojp - 2nd - 08/Aug/10 with Si

Solid at the E1 grade! Soft E2. Wanted to onsight this for a while but watched Si go up it spewing lots of expletives and beta. Quite glad in the end. Really good route.
Dave Foster - Lead β - 08/Aug/10 with Andy

Tony Holdsworth - 2nd rpt - 05/Aug/10 with Ian Holtby

eddy-on-the-rocks - Lead O/S - 05/Aug/10 with max

Tony Holdsworth - 2nd rpt - 05/Aug/10 with Ian Holtby

Hidden - Lead O/S - Aug/10

Graeme Hammond - Lead O/S - 21/Jul/10 with andrea83

Hard work but good. Manged to stay on but felt like I could fall on a few occasions.
andrea83 - 2nd O/S - 21/Jul/10 with Graeme Hammond

Hidden - 2nd rpt - 30/Jun/10

ig248 - Lead O/S - 09/May/10

Brilliant climb. Hard for E1, Easy for E2 but great climbing whatever you grade it.
tatz45 - Lead O/S - 09/May/10 with Chris Pembroke

Chris M - Lead - 08/May/10 with rach d

gordonday - Lead dog - 05/May/10 with clive

JPGR - Lead O/S - 17/Apr/10 with Yvette

Hidden - Lead rpt - 13/Apr/10

belay bunny turned bad - 2nd - 10/Apr/10 with loundsy

drcorbasisgod - Lead RP - 28/Mar/10 with David Gilling

Seymore Butt - 2010

kingholmesy - 2nd O/S - 2010 with Andy S

Drew M - Lead - 2010

Richard Horn - 2nd O/S - 31/Oct/09

AlistairB - Lead O/S - 25/Oct/09

dannyboy83 - Lead O/S - 18/Oct/09 with Dad

Pete Graham - Lead O/S - 04/Oct/09 with Ben Dorey

AlexRenshaw - Lead - 28/Sep/09 with Tim Raffle

Brilliant
david morse - Lead O/S - 27/Sep/09 with Ewan

Hidden - 2nd dog - 27/Sep/09

had to take on rope to remove one damn annoying friend. climbing wasn't difficult
r fizzle - 2nd dog - 27/Sep/09 with Alex Cannon

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 19/Sep/09

Solid E1 5b. No more than one star after the 'beach' hold at half height. Freaked me out!
Gareth Clendinning (UBMC) - Lead O/S - 19/Sep/09 with James Kay

Hidden - Lead O/S - 14/Sep/09

Hidden - 2nd rpt - 14/Sep/09

metal arms - Lead O/S - 06/Sep/09

My 1st E2 which i placed the gear on, the route seemed over after the initial hard section.
James Oakes - Lead O/S - 06/Sep/09 with Alex Mason, Bill Lawrence

Bill Lawrence - Lead β - 06/Sep/09 with alex mason, oaksi2

Hidden - Lead - Sep/09

peter myers - 2nd dog - Sep/09 with Steven Fortune

Hidden - 2nd rpt - 25/Aug/09

Hard for E1, but probably no harder. Fell at low crux, lowered, then lead clean.
madmats - Lead - 25/Aug/09 with PeakDJ

Kirill - 2nd dog - 23/Aug/09 with Charles Moreton

cem - Lead O/S - 23/Aug/09 with Kirill Spiridonov

Got pumped just before rest in big crack so rested on gear, then it rained so got lowered off.
Ketu - Lead dnf - 21/Aug/09 with Nigel

Hidden - Lead O/S - 05/Aug/09

Kafoozalem - Lead O/S - 05/Aug/09 with Sue Hazel

Hidden - Lead - 18/Jul/09

Hidden - Lead - 08/Jun/09

done it before
gregoritos - Lead O/S - 04/Jun/09 with Paul Mainwood

Hidden - 2nd - 24/Apr/09

simonp - Lead O/S - Apr/09 with Nicki Hearne

Hidden - Lead rpt - 18/Mar/09

Hidden - Lead - 15/Mar/09

nige - 2nd - 15/Mar/09 with mark hounslea

Brown - Lead O/S - 07/Dec/08 with Henry

HamishD - Lead O/S - 18/Oct/08 with vince vahinsberg

vvanhinsbergh - 2nd O/S - 18/Oct/08 with Hamish Dunn

Ian Parnell - Lead rpt - Oct/08 with Matt Heason

tommytwotone - 2nd - 20/Sep/08 with Matt Pidgen

Hidden - Lead rpt - 20/Sep/08

greenclimb - Lead rpt - 20/Sep/08 with sarah

jcurley - 2nd dog - 17/Sep/08 with Mike Buddle

jw231 - 2nd O/S - 13/Sep/08 with Al Benson

This is not E2, there is a good rest at half height and big jugs after the crux. A few larger cams make it easily protectable as well. The finger crack was pretty gresy!!
al99 - Lead O/S - 13/Sep/08 with James Whitlock

dave o - Lead O/S - 26/Aug/08 with Julia H

datoon - Lead O/S - 13/Jul/08 with S

I found the crux hard work, but well protected. My fingers didnt fit the crack very well(too small) making it feel more 5c. to much protection and to many rests to give it E2.
IanJackson - Lead O/S - 01/Jul/08 with Adam1973

morganator - 2nd - 27/May/08 with James Hall

Julian Mowbray - 2nd dog - 25/May/08 with Richard

Castleclimber - Lead O/S - 25/May/08 with Julian Mowbray

riddle - Lead O/S - 18/May/08 with Jonathan Hale

Fell from the crux and retuned to ground
jonnyboy - Lead rpt - 11/May/08 with Graham Armitage

mel holmes - Lead dog - 10/Apr/08 with Tony Reed

Increadibly steady ascent. Expected much more hardship. Recently back from Joshua Tree might explain why and I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone wanting a taster of what's on offer over there.
Cragrat Rich - Lead O/S - 17/Feb/08

Hidden - Lead O/S - 17/Feb/08

lowersharpnose - Lead - 01/Jan/08

Hidden - Lead O/S - Jan/08

Andrew Sloan - 2nd rpt - 2008

jamesturnbull - Lead - 2008

Hidden - 2008

joe larner - Lead O/S - 17/Nov/07

Hidden - Lead O/S - 27/Oct/07

Hidden - 2nd - 27/Oct/07

After 2 previous attempts last year with multiple foot pings and severe pumpage, cruised it today in heavy rain.
Alex Mason - Lead - 27/Sep/07 with Thomas Martin

Hidden - Lead O/S - 26/Sep/07

Hidden - Lead O/S - 23/Aug/07

Stig - 2nd rpt - 15/Aug/07 with Chris

E2... that explains a lot!
Oliver Sherman - Lead dog - 05/Aug/07 with Sophie Whyte

gregoritos - Lead O/S - Aug/07 with John Hall

chrishedgehog - Lead O/S - Aug/07 with James Rees

Hidden - Lead rpt - 24/Jul/07

Hidden - Lead - Jun/07

Stig - Lead O/S - 11/May/07 with Tim

Hidden - Lead - May/07

doug s - Lead - 01/Apr/07 with Brian

Hidden - Lead - 24/Mar/07

victim of mathematics - 2nd dog - 10/Mar/07 with Sophie Whyte

Nicos - Lead O/S - 03/Feb/07 with danny carden

Rob Kennard - 2007

steve taylor - 2007

Hidden - Lead O/S - 2007

Hidden - 2007

Martin Haworth - Lead β - Oct/06 with Andy

Hidden - 2nd O/S - Oct/06

danm - 2nd - Sep/06 with Fat Ste

Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH - Lead O/S - 12/Aug/06 with Mike Hayes

Andrew Sloan - 2nd dog - 30/Jul/06 with Tony Ball

Hidden - Lead - 30/Jul/06

bit much for a lead with only 3 under me belt
Mr Wild - TR O/S - 31/May/06 with Grindey

Hidden - Lead - May/06

Hidden - Lead - 15/Apr/06

Colder hands. Dirty crack. Good Route.
Garan - Lead O/S - 02/Jan/06 with Duncan Frisch

Boy - 2006

dan gibson - 2006

Jon Greengrass - 2nd rpt - 2006 with john nuttall

Phill Mitch - Lead β - 2006 with gaz

Neil Ireson - Lead - Aug/05 with Guy R

Hidden - Lead O/S - 08/May/05

Alan James - UKC and UKH - Lead - 17/Apr/05 with Tom Atle Bordevik

Tom Briggs - Jagged Globe - 2005

salvaged the day somewhat after the year's big failure on the rasp
Belier - Lead O/S - 2005 with Alex Mason

Chris M - 2005

Stefan - TR O/S - 07/Nov/04 with Chris

Smelly Fox - 2nd - Sep/04 with Gus Hudgins

Hidden - 2nd dnf - 17/Aug/04

Hidden - Lead - 06/May/04

feilx - 2004

Hidden - Lead RP - 13/Nov/03

sadams - 12/Oct/03 with Eric Hildrew

Dave Bond - Lead O/S - 04/May/03 with Simon Wren

Seconded after backing off from the mase of the chimney crack
ArnaudG - 2nd - May/03 with Jon

shoulders - Lead - 11/May/02 with claire, tanya, joules

3 pts rest, but great fun! I'd like to try it again sometime and do it clean this time.
Nick Smith - UKC - Lead dog - Apr/02

Hidden - Lead O/S - 24/Mar/02

Hidden - Lead - 06/May/00

Hidden - 2000

tuftynick - Lead - 2000

Hidden - Lead - 09/Jun/99

bought new shoes from outside when we got to the crag found I got odd sizes
CrashMat Rob - TR - 05/Apr/99 with Nicky

Billg - Lead O/S - Mar/99 with Nikki Palfrey

ChrisJD - Lead - 26/Aug/98 with Toby

Hidden - Lead - 01/Jul/97

Matt lead this
CrashMat Rob - 2nd - 26/Oct/96 with Matt Thompson, Karen

Hidden - Lead dog - 14/Jan/96

rob.grafton - 2nd - 07/May/95 with Bruce

John Southworth - May/95

Hidden - Lead O/S - 30/Apr/95

Hidden - Lead O/S - Aug/94

nai - Lead - 1994

Hidden - 2nd - 19/Sep/93

mikedelderfield - Lead O/S - 01/May/93 with Steven Delderfield

ste_d - 2nd O/S - 12/Apr/93 with mik

craig d - 1993

Hidden - Lead O/S - Jun/92

Hidden - Lead - 10/May/92

craig h - 09/Jun/91

Roget - Lead O/S - 03/Feb/91

Chris Ellis - 2nd - 07/Oct/90 with Andy Barker

Nick Rundall - 2nd O/S - 1990

gordonday - 2nd - 1990

Hidden - Lead - 30/May/89

Hidden - 1989

AB1965 - 2nd - 10/Sep/88

BigHairyIan - 2nd O/S - 18/Jul/88 with Steve Waite (Little Steve)

Hidden - Lead - 19/Apr/88

mark-abz - TR - 01/Sep/87 with Andy W

Hidden - Lead O/S - 07/Dec/86

sadams - Lead - 06/Dec/86 with Mark Bonham

shark - Lead O/S - Dec/86 with Mark Mitchell

keefe - 30/Nov/86

John Marsland - Lead - 25/Aug/86 with Tony Rex

Tom V - 1986

Nigel Bond - 2nd - 24/Jun/84 with Charlie Leverton

Hidden - 2nd - 28/Oct/83

stp - Solo O/S - 02/Oct/83

Dave Musgrove - 15/May/83 with Kim Greenald

DPaul - Solo O/S - 19/Jul/82

Hammy - 2nd - 17/Jun/82 with Fai Kwong, Richard West

charlesmfrench - Lead O/S - May/82

Hidden - 2nd - 07/May/81

Hidden - Solo rpt - 1981

Andy Fielding - 2nd - 1980 with Steve Hartland

Chris Craggs - Lead - 1980

Cant recall much of the first ascent. Done a number of times since.The first part is well protected but physical, the upper part a matter of confidence.The grade is spot on.The placements in the middle part are somewhat questionable as they are made in leafs/blocks which one cannot be absolutely certain about- may be o k, may not be that good? - hence the E grade - I wouldnt want to test them. Happily the climbing in this section is not too hard.
David Smith - 1980

Hidden - Lead O/S - Sep/79

Mark Kemball - 2nd - 08/Oct/78 with Bob Millward

Hidden - 1978

andy gittins - 1978

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Voting
Total votes cast 208
hard E30 of 72
E30 of 72
easy E32 of 72
hard E22 of 72
E224 of 72
easy E223 of 72
hard E121 of 72
E10 of 72
easy E10 of 72
hard 5c0 of 72
5c0 of 72
easy 5c7 of 72
hard 5b15 of 72
5b49 of 72
easy 5b1 of 72
hard 5a0 of 72
5a0 of 72
easy 5a0 of 72
3 Stars31 of 64
2 Stars30 of 64
1 Star3 of 64
0 Stars0 of 64
Bag of .....0 of 64
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Style of ascent

Soloed3 of 269 (1.1%)
Lead159 of 269 (59.1%)
Followed74 of 269 (27.5%)
Toproped4 of 269 (1.5%)
Alt Leads2 of 269 (0.7%)
Unknown27 of 269 (10.0%)

'Climbed'104 of 269 (38.7%)
clean O/S98 of 269 (36.4%)
clean β8 of 269 (3.0%)
clean rpt22 of 269 (8.2%)
clean RP4 of 269 (1.5%)
dogged30 of 269 (11.2%)
dnf3 of 269 (1.1%)