On the 25th of August Scottish climber Alan Cassidy completed his project and climbed a new route at Dumbarton Rock, near Glasgow. The line of bolts to the side of the hard classic Requiem, was long thought to be either impossible, or at least 9b. Alan has climbed it to an obvious undercut jug at 2/3rds height and named his route Unfinished Symphony (8b+).

Clearly the full line remains a challenge, albeit much harder, and Alan's name lays down that gauntlet.

From Alan's Blog:

"And so yesterday (Sunday 25th August) I arrived later than I would have wanted to an already warm and still Dumbarton. 3 redpoints later and I hadn’t suck the crux once. The sun was coming and I would have to wait another week. But, as the sun started to mottle the wall, a slight breeze picked up and I decided to have one of those goes, where the pressure is off. I somehow stayed attached to the slopers and my calf, perhaps soothed by the warm sun didn’t cramp up, (as much). Overall the route wasn’t as hard as I might have hoped or that such an iconic blank wall would deserve, but I was delighted that I had just put my name in Dumby’s history books, at least for now.

In many ways it is nice that the first route to breach those blank faces is at an attainable grade (yes all you Dumby boulderers you can climb this route). I am proud to be building on the visions of those who came before and to be able to show to those that are coming through next that these projects might not be as ludicrous as once thought. The future of Dumbarton’s Requiem face is not over. This is my Unfinished Symphony, 8b+."

• You can read a full report on this route on Alan's excellent blog.

Alan Cassidy is sponsored by:  Five Ten, Montane and The Climbing Academy