"Blind Vision is definitely easier than If Six was Nine (which I have done the moves on during a 30 min session). It's also easier than the Scottish E9s and I'd say it felt like 2 grades easier than Rhapsody but it's harder than Breathless and Divided Years (both E8s!)."
UKClimbing.com asked the first ascensionist of Blind Vision, Adrian Berry, what he thought of Dave's repeat of his route?
I'm very pleased that Dave has done this route. Knowing that other people enjoy doing them is part of the attraction of new-routing.
If anyone is in a position to down-grade, it's Dave. From his blog, it sounds like grades in the Lakes and Scotland are being applied rather more harshly than they are in the Peak. I've not done any of them, so can only grade relative to local routes. If you really want to see harsh grading, look at the crazy 'Hard Grit' granite routes in Northern Italy - to climb E8 out there you need to be able to seriously run it out on 8a+ - not 7c! It will be interesting to see how Dave gets on with Equillibrium, which I always considered to be of a similar level (not that I've tried it though!), though maybe a bit more reachy. Lastly, I think that the grade is heavily influenced by the gear on the top wall - I had a WC Zero 2 with just two cams working, which I didn't expect to hold a fall - not sure if Dave found better protection (looked different in the photo), but that would make a real difference - and getting the gear right is all a part of the game!
Dave's comment about there being lots of climbers in Sheffield who *could* climb these hard trad routes is interesting. The hardest thing about doing routes like BV is the actually getting out there and doing them, in this respect, Sheffield is turning into a backwater!
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