Pearson and Dunne: What is the hardest route on grit?

by Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com Oct/2008
This news story has been read 26,543 times

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+Neil Gresham, John Dunne and James Pearson, 134 kb
A trio of Hard Grit climbers If the route that you called "the hardest route on grit" gets climbed in an hour and downgraded from E10 to E8, as James Pearson's The Promise has by visiting American Kevin Jorgeson you'd better be quick off the mark with some kind of explanation. Especially as James has based the grade of his new E12, The Walk of LIfe on his previous ascents like The Promise.

If the grade of one route falls, what happens to the grade of the others that are graded in comparison to it? Do they all collapse like a deck of cards? I was asked that question this morning and I'm not sure of the answer.

It didn't take James Pearson long to respond however, even if he is 10,000 miles away in China working for The North Face; bleary eyed he wrote an illuminating article.

On his blog, in response to Jorgeson's ascent and downgrade of The Promise from E10 to E8 James said that,
• he probably missed the sequence that Jorgeson found on the crux. (Jorgeson discovered a sequence that 'shortened the reach').
• he didn't trust the crucial slider as much as Jorgeson did.
• the downgrading of The Promise doesn't synch with the apparent no changed grade of Parthian Shot, which retains its E9 moniker.
• James did not pad out the bad landing as Jorgeson did, who placed two bouldering pads.

You can read James' blog at: jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com

Kevin Jorgeson has repeated two John Dunne routes, Parthian Shot E9 and The New Statesman E8.

We asked John what he thought of these young American's coming over here and repeating these Hard Grit routes in quick time.

"It's f****** brilliant stuff. It was only a matter of time before things moved on, although I do find the pre-placed kit side a bit odd. To do the Statesman, Parthian, Promise in one trip is mega. It would be nice to see him do Widdop Wall as I still think it's the hardest route on grit. It would be great to get out with them."

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