Staffordshire > Roaches Lower Tier >
 
Valkyrie Direct** HVS 5b

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28m. A long and elegant pitch up the steep jamming cracks in the arete. Climb the crack and the bulges to a rest at the base of the flake on the regular climb. Finish leftwards up this. © ROCKFAX
FA. Joe Brown, Don Whillans (The Dream Team) 1951

Ticklists: The Roaches - Routes Graded List, ROCKFAX Western Grit Grade List.

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PUBLIC LOGBOOKS
This climb is in 77 logbooks, and on 22 wishlists.

good
northy1983 - Lead - 2013 with andi t

top crack after the crux of Valkyrie was the hardest bit. Stunning route :)
Graeme Hammond - Lead O/S - 21/Oct/12 with Pete Wimbush

Brown - 2nd - 22/Sep/12 with Andy R

Good. The overhang felt pretty secure and straightforward with a positive approach; but finished via the normal route, rather than the desperate short crack above the Valkyrie crux. Have previously led Valkrie, so have beta for the easier section.
gavinpeach - Lead β - 22/May/12 with Liam Talbot

Hidden - 2nd dog - 11/Mar/12

Hidden - 2012

stephenhartley - 2nd - 27/Sep/11 with Burns

yoyoed up to the first overhang rearranged gear and runners and eventually lead through, which was my hardest grit lead sequence to date, avoided the offwidth after this as running short on time. Intend to properly lead the whole route at some stage! Atleast HVS 5a through the first overhang IMO.
CurlyStevo - Lead - Aug/11

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 10/Apr/11

Audrey @ The Castle - Lead O/S - 10/Apr/11

John Mckeating - 2011

Abevan - 2nd - 24/Oct/10 with james walker

NaomiHart - 2nd O/S - 10/Oct/10 with Peter Hart

PeteH - Lead O/S - 10/Oct/10 with Naomi Hart

Hidden - Lead O/S - 24/Jul/10

LittleClimbingMaria - 28/Jun/10

was so psyched up after doing the crux lower down I started to climb the flake of the original in reverse! Traversed round to front of buttress which I think now is not the route. All a bit scrappy, last climb of day.
middlemarker - Lead - 19/Apr/10 with Joris

drcorbasisgod - Lead O/S - 18/Apr/10 with Graham Dolman

Joris.Roulleau - 2nd O/S - 18/Apr/10 with Dan Metcalfe

Chrismoore94 - AltLd O/S - 14/Mar/10

Hidden - 2010

Hidden - Lead - 2010

Ken Taylor - 2010

philw - 2010

Drew M - Lead - 2010

led the first 5m or so with confidence, then got couldn't get over the crux below the belay platform.
Mike_Gannon - Lead dnf - 30/Oct/09 with Karl Hartwig

bad arm over weekend which spoiled attempt ,got stuck on first crux going onto flake,just didnt have the power captin,,couldnt get some gear out so abseiled down from top which was my first proper abseil and not the best one to do as quite a bit exposed,bloody scary too, ended up going thru hollybush...gave some onlookers a laugh though !
colina - 2nd dnf - 09/May/09 with phil

Mr Wild - Lead O/S - May/09 with Adam Moroz

A bloody hand-jamming epic! Still awesome though!
JCB42 - Lead O/S - 31/Mar/09 with Tom Lister

Had a real epic, lots of wind and a real battle to get up. Had to rest on gear a good few times. Great climb though, would like to try it on a calmer day.
tom.ireson - Lead dog - 14/Mar/09 with Lech Wojas

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 07/Mar/09

tomparrott - Lead - 24/Aug/08 with DJ

deejmonkey - AltLd - 24/Aug/08 with Tom

Tom Eagle - 2nd dog - 05/May/08 with Alban

Cold.
Jon Read - Lead O/S - 08/Apr/08 with Sarah Clough

Stig - 2nd O/S - 09/Feb/08 with Goi

goi.ashmore - Lead O/S - 09/Feb/08 with James Rees

daveagriff - Lead - 2008

Hidden - 2008

TCHEKE - 2008

OUCH!
Circus - Lead O/S - 11/Nov/07 with Loz

slipped of the polish at the start. Did the crux clean. FUN!
Dr Caterpillar - 2nd dog - 11/Nov/07 with Adam

mark s - Lead - 29/Sep/07 with andi t

djking1983 - 2nd - 13/Sep/07 with Andy Smith

Hidden - Lead O/S - 13/Sep/07

Hidden - Lead - 21/Apr/07

This was the direct direct, not the direct start/indirect. Don Whillans RIP
Mutl3y - 2nd dog - 21/Apr/07 with Tony

Hidden - Lead dnf - 28/Mar/07

Ow! A nice enough route until the heinous offwidthy bit at the top. I lost blood and sweat before finally admitting defeat and being lowered off through the hollybush :(
climbingpixie - Lead dnf - 07/Feb/07 with Shaun

Pathetic attempt. Got my hands mixed up and had to have a rest mid-crux. Also neither of us did the top crack above the Valkyrie crux - it was desperate.
Si dH - 2nd dog - 04/Feb/07 with Neil Furniss

Skell - Lead O/S - 2007 with Sian

dan gibson - Lead O/S - 08/Oct/06 with AJ

Hidden - 2nd - 07/Oct/06

bigie bob - 2nd O/S - 08/Aug/06

Hidden - 2nd - 22/Jul/06

givemetea - AltLd dnf - Jul/06 with Tony Yates and Rich Bartlett

Lawrence Eccles - 2nd O/S - 2006 with A. Crook

Hidden - 2nd - 03/Sep/05

Lost some skin on the desperate top crack!
Smelly Fox - Lead - 03/May/05 with Rob Clifton

mark s - 2005

Hidden - 2005

Hidden - Lead - 13/Sep/03

unfit - Lead - 2003

first route on grit!
simon kimber - Lead O/S - Nov/02 with Nigel Kitney

five - Lead O/S - 16/Aug/02

Hidden - Lead - 14/Jan/01

hdog76 - 2000

Russell Flynn - TR - 1999

Tarquin - 2nd - 1999

Hidden - Lead O/S - 10/May/98

KillingtonT - AltLd - 18/Aug/92 with Mark Drinkwater

ChrisJD - Lead - 26/Aug/90

Roget - Lead O/S - 09/Jul/89 with jim

Got stuck in the flake for a while.
stp - Lead O/S - 16/Aug/81

Mark Kemball - 2nd - 1977

rogerskews - AltLd - 1974 with Dane Atkins

Dave Price led and I got a nice cinefilm of him
oldmanofmow - 2nd - 1961

Users with this climb on their wishlist are:
Hidden, MikeStuart26, LesserTrochanter, Hidden, Hidden, Steve Waters, Mynydd, Hidden, Alaina, Albie, JFraser123, Templeton Adams, Rhythm24, Hidden, Tadams, Hidden, PanzerHanzler, nublet, Hidden, kevin, mlmatt, Mike Parker, Hidden

Voting
Total votes cast 62
hard E10 of 30
E10 of 30
easy E11 of 30
hard HVS19 of 30
HVS9 of 30
easy HVS0 of 30
hard VS1 of 30
VS0 of 30
easy VS0 of 30
hard 5c0 of 17
5c0 of 17
easy 5c0 of 17
hard 5b1 of 17
5b12 of 17
easy 5b3 of 17
hard 5a1 of 17
5a0 of 17
easy 5a0 of 17
3 Stars2 of 15
2 Stars11 of 15
1 Star2 of 15
0 Stars0 of 15
Bag of .....0 of 15
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Style of ascent

Lead37 of 77 (48.1%)
Followed23 of 77 (29.9%)
Toproped1 of 77 (1.3%)
Alt Leads5 of 77 (6.5%)
Unknown11 of 77 (14.3%)

'Climbed'39 of 77 (50.6%)
clean O/S26 of 77 (33.8%)
clean β1 of 77 (1.3%)
dogged6 of 77 (7.8%)
dnf5 of 77 (6.5%)