Pete reports:

"I climbed the direct start to Braille Trail on Friday evening. I called it Dynamics of Change and I gave it E9 7a. Sorry about the late report, I was busy over the weekend with school work and stuff."

John Arran, author of several of gritstone's hardest test pieces has tried the line and is impressed;

"That's a fantastic effort by Pete. I threw a rope on it last year to look at the possibility of a Braille Trail direct start and it seemed like it may be possible for someone, but it was way too hard for me that day. It's technically at least 2 grades harder than BT and unless you're able to reach left into the BT slot for gear you'd be looking at doing the crux of BT with a possible ground fall, which would make it definitely E9 and maybe harder. Even with the BT gear it's still cutting-edge stuff."

We hope to have more details and photo's of the ascent soon.

Pete Whittaker is sponsored by 5.10, Patagonia, Naked Ape and The Edge.