Keswick based climber Adam Hocking has continued his run of form by making the second ascent of Dave Birkett's Scafell E9 Return of the King.
© Matt Pycroft / Dom Bush (Screen Shot from Film)
Hocking, who recently repeated The Ego has Landed (E8) and made the first ascent of The Keswickian (E8) (see UKC News) has grabbed quite a coup, with his ascent of Return of the King being the first repeat of any of the Birkett Scafell 'super-routes'.
Adam commented on Facebook in good old Cumbrian:
"Good day in't hills like eh, 2nd Ascent of "Return of the King". Great route and nice one marra Norbury 4 holding my ropes."
As with the first ascent by Birkett, Adam opted for a couple of pre-placed wires on the route, which tackles the super steep wall to the right of one of Birkett's other E9's Welcome to the Cruel World (pictured below), on the left side of Scafell's mighty East Buttress.
Adam's ascent was captured on film by Dom Bush and Matt Pycroft and will be featuring in a forthcoming film about climbing in the Lake District - full info on Dom's Blog.
© Mark Glaister
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