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Bitterfingers*** E4 6a

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The Great Leveller >>
[Bitterfingers, 3 kb]20m. One of the classic test-pieces of the Peak which is a 'must do'. Polish is no excuse since it has been slippery for many years. Head diagonally right with testing moves to clip the old peg (beware of runners in the undercut; they may appear better than they are). Move up to the break, swing up and left and tackle the upper crack past an awkward-to-place runner. The Great Leveller, E6 6b - Direct from the undercut flake on Bitterfingers via a painful mono move and long stretches. There is no gear once you leave the security of Bitterfingers. © ROCKFAX
FA. Gabriel Reagan, Geoff Birtles 1976

Ticklists: Extreme Rock, Great Wall Climbs of the UK, Rockfax Peak Limestone Top 50.

Photo: Bitterfingers © Patrick Daniel
View all 2 photos or Submit a new photo of this climb.

PUBLIC LOGBOOKS
This climb is in 100 logbooks, and on 7 wishlists.

liam - Lead O/S - 26/Apr/13 with Jack

Apharri - Lead O/S - 25/Apr/13 with Dave Wharton

Hidden - TR β - 24/Apr/13

captain - 2013

climbingsheep - 2nd β - 30/Oct/12 with Mike Watson

akhughes - Lead O/S - 14/Aug/12

Hidden - 10/Aug/12

dominic lee - Lead rpt - 24/Jul/12 with nathan lee

I've been wanting to do this for ages but I'd always saved it for when I felt good. Felt good today, and it went pretty easily apart from a stiff pull above the peg and a bit of a scare on the crack higher up. Truly classic!
Joughton - Lead O/S - 30/Jun/12

Speeddemonsi - Lead - 27/Jun/12

mwatson - Lead O/S - 18/Jun/12

Gus - Lead O/S - 17/Jun/12

Bob - 2012

Climbing it on Jake's gear after belaying him helped. The shower mid-route hindered.
kingholmesy - Lead β - 2012 with Jake O

Tony Kartawick - 2012

need a ground up button - ground up
J.Wells - Lead RP - 28/Sep/11 with Mark Rankine

Hidden - Lead β - 28/Jul/11

Joe Costello - Lead O/S - 12/Jul/11 with Matt

steve_yo - 2nd - Jul/11 with steve f

Butterfingers would be more appropriate.
alaan - Lead O/S - 26/Jun/11 with Will

Hannes B - Lead dnf - 19/Jun/11 with Rik

Hidden - TR dnf - 09/Jun/11

jon_gill1 - TR dog - 08/Apr/11 with Ian Stokes

Hidden - TR dnf - 08/Apr/11

Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor - 2011

GeoffG - 2011

Hidden - Lead - 2011

phil64 - 2011

Hidden - TR - 16/Oct/10

Hidden - Lead rpt - 12/Sep/10

Absolutely brilliant, really enjoyed it.
Matt Fry - Lead β - 30/Aug/10 with Mark Rankaine, Andy Janezko

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 12/Aug/10

Pumpy beast. rests are ok but climbing is quite sustained and strenuous for most of it (solid f7a). Had to really fight pump to get through the top crux through the mini roof, really pleased to get it!
Mike Goldthorp - Lead O/S - 22/Jul/10 with alex mason

:-( fell on the last move,pumped out.
Marti999 - Lead dog - 21/Jun/10 with Anna

miastacey - Lead RP - Jun/10 with Bob Smith

TonyF - 2010

dan gibson - Lead RP - 31/Oct/09 with anna barnes

An incredible route. Didn't second Alex up this when he did it two years ago and luckily had no memory of him climbing it. I tried it on Sunday - almost got to the peg but got spooked and downclimbed to the ground and took the gear out. Shouldn't have bothered as I was really nervous and convinced myself that all the low gear would blow out if I fell. Got back on it today and was very scared clipping the peg even though one of the many lower pieces of gear would have held. The moves from the peg to the break felt like the crux. The top crack had tricky footwork but was steady. I didn't bother with the hard-to-place runner as the previous runners are good.
Andrew Barker - Lead O/S - 11/Aug/09 with Cat Black

sadams - 2nd - 05/Aug/09 with Eric Hildrew

uggy, uggy, uggy, Aid, Aid, Aid
Franco Cookson OLD - Lead O/S - Aug/09 with David Warburton

Hidden - Lead O/S - 19/Jul/08

Hidden - Lead dog - 19/Jul/08

Hidden - Lead O/S - Jul/08

Brown - Lead O/S - 07/Jun/08 with John

fell of this baby about four years ago, felt great today though!
skygodley - Lead RP - 26/May/08

Al Evans - 2008

tuftynick - 2nd - 2008 with simon wilson

JulesV - Lead O/S - 2008

fell off at peg, climbed to the top pulled ropes and then lead clean on pre placed gear, with peg pre-clipped. need to climb placing gear next time im down.
Alex Mason - Lead - 30/Aug/07 with Andrew Barker

Toby Dunn - Lead - 24/Aug/07 with Ruth

Hard, would be a gripping lead!
Ian Broome - TR dog - 17/Aug/07 with Rich Wainwright

Neil Adams - TR dog - 10/Jun/07 with Andre & Adrian

2nd attempt: (3 days on) found previous point of failure annoyingly and strangely easy. Great pitch. 1st attempt (16/04/07): One fall from higher crux - failed to latch jug after slapping in pumped desperation. Didn't read the moves so well and nearly fell off around the first peg too. Could do better....
Belier - Lead - 19/Apr/07 with Al

Boy - 2006

Hidden - Lead dog - Jun/05

Hidden - 2nd O/S - Jun/05

Tom Briggs - Jagged Globe - Lead rpt - 29/Apr/05 with Nic Sellers

marcoleptic - TR - 2000

Hidden - 2000

Carl Smethurst - TR dog - 31/Oct/99

Dave Musgrove Jnr - 2nd - 19/Jul/98 with James Ibbertson

Hidden - Lead O/S - 15/Jul/98

Hidden - Lead rpt - 07/Sep/97

goi.ashmore - Lead β - 09/Aug/97 with James Tracey

Hidden - Lead dog - 07/Jun/97

Hidden - TR - 13/Apr/97

Hidden - Lead dog - 21/May/96

ste_d - Lead O/S - 13/Sep/95 with mik

Glenn Sutcliffe - 1995 with keefe

mikedelderfield - 2nd β - 01/Sep/94 with Steven Delderfield

Cowflinger - TR - Sep/94 with Andy Sharp

Roget - Lead O/S - 27/Jul/94

robyn1 - 1993

Hidden - Lead - 1992

Hidden - Lead - 01/Apr/90

keefe - 1990

Billg - Lead O/S - 1990

Hidden - Lead rpt - 20/Apr/89

Hidden - Lead rpt - 18/Apr/89

Luke woke me up early as the forecast was bad, did this route, everyone was still asleep when we returned, so must have been up before 06.00
craig h - 2nd O/S - Oct/88 with Luke Steer

Kafoozalem - Lead dog - 30/Mar/88 with Dave Turnbull

shark - Lead - 07/Nov/87 with Seb Grieve

Hidden - 1987

William Robertson - Lead O/S - 1987 with Emily, Steve, Shaun etc

pebblespanker - 2nd dog - 12/Sep/86 with Simon Lee

shark - Lead - 05/Jun/86 with Chris

steve taylor - 2nd dnf - 1986 with jon reti

sadams - Lead rpt - 05/May/85 with Chris Thwaites

shark - Lead dog - 06/Apr/85 with Howard

neilh - 2nd - 06/Apr/85 with dave marsh

Hidden - Lead - 19/Mar/85

Dave Musgrove - 2nd - 23/May/84 with Kim Greenald

Ian Clare - 1984

Mike Owen - 06/Nov/83 with Phil Davidson

Fingery and pumpy.
Ian Jones - Lead β - 1983 with Neil McAdie

Hidden - Lead RP - Dec/80

My first E4 lead.
Mark Kemball - Lead - 07/Jun/80 with John Jefferies

Chris Craggs - Lead - 1980

EagerAndy - Lead - 1978

Hidden - 1973

Users with this climb on their wishlist are:
Hidden, hobblingfool, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden

Voting
Total votes cast 137
hard E50 of 51
E50 of 51
easy E52 of 51
hard E438 of 51
E411 of 51
easy E40 of 51
hard E30 of 51
E30 of 51
easy E30 of 51
hard 6b0 of 43
6b0 of 43
easy 6b1 of 43
hard 6a8 of 43
6a34 of 43
easy 6a0 of 43
hard 5c0 of 43
5c0 of 43
easy 5c0 of 43
3 Stars42 of 43
2 Stars1 of 43
1 Star0 of 43
0 Stars0 of 43
Bag of .....0 of 43
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Style of ascent

Lead58 of 100 (58.0%)
Followed13 of 100 (13.0%)
Toproped11 of 100 (11.0%)
Unknown18 of 100 (18.0%)

'Climbed'41 of 100 (41.0%)
clean O/S23 of 100 (23.0%)
clean β8 of 100 (8.0%)
clean rpt7 of 100 (7.0%)
clean RP5 of 100 (5.0%)
dogged12 of 100 (12.0%)
dnf4 of 100 (4.0%)