Northumberland > Back Bowden Doors >
 
The Witch*** E2 5b

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[Beautiful Back Bowden, 4 kb]Follow the shallow groove to the bulges then make a tricky move to start a sustained traverse away to its right-hand end. © ROCKFAX
Step out of the groove and under the lip of the overhang, commit.... and you're there.

Photo: Beautiful Back Bowden © andybirtwistle
View all 7 photos or Submit a new photo of this climb.

PUBLIC LOGBOOKS
This climb is in 107 logbooks, and on 13 wishlists.

Klingon - 2nd - 05/May/13 with Tony, Capt Kirk

Adamski1986 - 2nd - 02/Mar/13 with Richard Gage

mshorter - Lead O/S - 18/Nov/12 with ry

Glenn Sutcliffe - Lead - 07/Nov/12 with Charl

georgedunton - Lead O/S - 06/Oct/12 with greg strong

Antd - 2nd - 08/Sep/12 with Dominic Jeff

Looked at it on top rope first. Wished I'd just led it. Steady and a very soft touch E2 with plenty of small cams.
stugreen75 - Lead RP - 08/Sep/12 with Ant, dominic jeff

Klingon - 2nd - 02/Sep/12 with Tony, Capt Kirk

Roberttaylor - 2nd O/S - 03/Aug/12 with Liam Ingram

Liam Ingram - Lead O/S - 03/Aug/12 with Robert Taylor

Trevera - Lead - 26/Jul/12

Couldn't climb this on the shunt because of the overhang and traverse.
sarah hawker - TR dnf - 27/May/12 with Shunt

Adam Lincoln - Lead O/S - 30/Mar/12 with Meg

yorkshire vs...
Jordan - Lead O/S - 30/Mar/12 with Jonna

SeanB - 2nd - 15/Mar/12 with Neil Carnegie

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

Hidden - Lead O/S - 12/Jan/12

ed.burton - 2nd O/S - 12/Jan/12 with Matt Murphy

arrang - Lead β - 2012

ianjfsutcliffe - 2nd O/S - 26/Nov/11 with Patch

dougs1232 - Lead O/S - 20/Nov/11 with Ross Barnes

More like HVS! a good route though
roberto18 - 2nd - 22/Oct/11 with ewan russell

Ewan Russell - Lead O/S - 22/Oct/11 with bert, Dave Warburton

Hidden - 2nd β - 22/Oct/11

Hidden - 2nd - 24/Sep/11

Lovely route. E1 5b though, loads of small cams if you have them.
JRae - 2nd - 11/Sep/11 with Pete Graham

PiotrB - Lead rpt - 10/Jul/11

phil64 - Lead O/S - 27/Jun/11 with rachie

wookie667 - 2nd - 15/Jun/11

MDowson - 2nd rpt - 07/May/11 with oli warlow

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 23/Apr/11

andi turner - 2nd - 12/Apr/11 with Jon Read

A ghost put to rest.
Jon Read - Lead - 11/Apr/11 with andi turner

kingholmesy - Lead O/S - 2011 with SteveOc

Anna_wells - 2nd - 17/Oct/10 with pete

Good climbing.
whistler - Lead O/S - 17/Oct/10 with Anna

scott gibson - Lead - 01/Sep/10 with graeme read

duncman - Lead β - 25/Aug/10 with dave smith

Hidden - 2nd - 25/Aug/10

mattyork2 - Lead O/S - 25/Aug/10 with Ruth Colston

mctinkno - Lead O/S - 21/Aug/10 with Andy

gforce - Lead - 25/Jul/10 with James

James Prowse - 2nd - 25/Jul/10 with Graham

Fell off near top. Climbed with John & Albert too.
Klingon - 2nd - 11/Jul/10 with Steve Kirkup

Agree with comments being soft touch, but great route!
David Bulley - Lead rpt - 22/May/10 with Nathan Gibson, Leon Cole, Andy Chisholm

tomdude - Lead O/S - 15/May/10 with ben warlow

oliwarlow - Lead - 15/May/10 with Adam W

Quite a soft touch for the grade now but excellent climbing!
tom144807 - Lead O/S - 09/May/10 with Ian Birtwistle

MDowson - Lead O/S - 08/May/10 with Karl wood

odox - 2nd O/S - 08/May/10 with Tom Pitchforth

another soft touch e2!- good gear the whole way and climbing felt simple - definately to lead next time!
Woodiee - 2nd O/S - 08/May/10 with Matt Dowson

Felt quite easy. Will lead if I ever go back, and after my fingers heal from grit the day before.
David Bulley - 2nd O/S - 11/Apr/10 with John Armstrong

j0shwyatt000 - Lead β - 10/Mar/10

Steve Crowe - Lead - 2010

This ascent embodies what I'm into rock climbing for. Best experience for ages. Intense & committing. Absolutely loved it, was buzzzin at the top!
Cragrat Rich - Lead O/S - 26/Nov/09

Hidden - Lead O/S - 26/Nov/09

Andy Moles - Lead O/S - 17/Oct/09 with Rozzy

Hidden - Solo - 22/Sep/09

oliwarlow - Lead - 07/Sep/09 with Andy Porter

Hidden - Lead β - 24/May/09

vanderz - Lead O/S - 02/May/09

dodfoster - Lead O/S - 02/May/09 with ben robinson

andrew sandercock - 2nd O/S - 02/May/09 with dodfoster

Phill Mitch - Lead O/S - 02/May/09 with dave

the real dave - Lead β - 2009 with joshua wyatt

Rachael Barlow - 2nd - 14/Jul/08 with Pete Robins

burto - Lead O/S - 04/Jul/08 with the pimp

Hidden - 29/Jun/08

ed woods - 2nd O/S - 14/Jun/08 with Marshall

gaz.marshall - Lead dog - 14/Jun/08 with Eddie

Felt harder than I remembered, bit bold at bottom and awkward at the top.
Chad123 - AltLd O/S - 01/Sep/07 with Viv

decs - 2nd - 01/Sep/07 with Chad

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 01/Sep/07

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 07/Apr/07

dave o - Lead O/S - 07/Apr/07 with Julia H

chris2451 - 2nd O/S - 05/Apr/07 with David Brigham

My first E2! And the second E2 came same day. Worldclass
dj_brigham05 - Lead O/S - 05/Apr/07 with Chris Thain

featuresforfeet - 2nd O/S - 27/May/06 with Wizz Walker

Hidden - Lead O/S - 14/Apr/06

John Pickles - Lead O/S - 07/Sep/05 with Zac Poulton

Hidden - 2nd - 07/Sep/05

curlymynci - 2nd dog - May/05 with Simon

A quality route.
GPN - 2nd - May/05 with Jamie Moss

Mr Pink 2 - 2005

ali_robb - Solo O/S - 2004

Hidden - Lead O/S - 15/Nov/03

The Pylon King - Lead O/S - Aug/03 with Fiend

Roget - Lead O/S - Aug/02

Hidden - Lead O/S - 2001

gypsy3006 - Lead - 2000

Beardyman - 2000

Dave Kerr - Lead - 17/Jul/99 with ??

craig h - 2nd O/S - May/98 with Mike c

stuart100 - 2nd O/S - Jul/95 with Pete Goodwin

whispering nic - Solo - May/95

cam1401 - Lead O/S - May/94 with Lee Collier

Scared myself at the top. Rich was up the other end of the crag.
Jon Read - Solo dnf - Feb/93

Evoman - Solo - 1993 with Alan Pettit

nai - Lead - 27/Aug/91 with Cal

andrew300169 - 2nd - 27/Aug/91 with Pom

This was the first recognised extreme in Northumberland and used to be E1 5b. An bold lead with the crux at the end - difficult to place gear in an out of sight crack before the hard move.
allan white - Lead - 24/Sep/89 with steve carlson

Rich Kirby - Lead - 1989 with Will (S. Williamson)

Hidden - Lead O/S - Apr/88

shark - Solo O/S - 30/Aug/87

Hidden - TR - 11/Apr/82

Hidden - Lead - 1982

Hidden - Lead - 1980

Users with this climb on their wishlist are:
climberchristy, JonmapDL, Dean177, Madden, Hidden, iceaxejuggler, Ropeboy, Hidden, hobblingfool, Thesmila69, Owen W-G, Hidden, andymoin

Voting
Total votes cast 65
hard E30 of 23
E30 of 23
easy E30 of 23
hard E20 of 23
E24 of 23
easy E29 of 23
hard E110 of 23
E10 of 23
easy E10 of 23
hard 5c0 of 22
5c0 of 22
easy 5c0 of 22
hard 5b0 of 22
5b14 of 22
easy 5b6 of 22
hard 5a2 of 22
5a0 of 22
easy 5a0 of 22
3 Stars15 of 20
2 Stars5 of 20
1 Star0 of 20
0 Stars0 of 20
Bag of .....0 of 20
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Style of ascent

Soloed6 of 107 (5.6%)
Lead57 of 107 (53.3%)
Followed38 of 107 (35.5%)
Toproped2 of 107 (1.9%)
Alt Leads1 of 107 (0.9%)
Unknown3 of 107 (2.8%)

'Climbed'41 of 107 (38.3%)
clean O/S52 of 107 (48.6%)
clean β6 of 107 (5.6%)
clean rpt3 of 107 (2.8%)
clean RP1 of 107 (0.9%)
dogged2 of 107 (1.9%)
dnf2 of 107 (1.9%)