UKC

150 Extreme Grit Solos in a Day for Pete Whittaker

© Five Ten

Pete Whittaker at Millstone  © Five Ten
Pete Whittaker at Millstone
© Five Ten
Grit guru Pete Whittaker recently soloed 150 routes graded E1 or harder in a single, hot day in the Peak District. Inspired by Ron Fawcett's original 100 Peak extremes in a day, Pete decided to see if he could take it a step further.

Having had the idea to emulate Fawcett's impressive 100 ever since Pete climbed 550 routes in a day (UKC News Report), he began thinking that a big day of mileage would be great training for some upcoming trips and projects.

With the weather looking dry, Pete booked a couple of days off hoping it wouldn't rain at the last minute. The day dawned bright and clear, perhaps too bright with temperatures reaching 25ºC, making Pete's 150 extremes, including routes such as Nosferatu, E6 6b, and Heartless Hare, E5 5c, very impressive.

Pete commented on his motivation to solo 150 Peak extremes in a day:

"Ron was the original inspiration behind doing this as he did 100 extremes back in the day. Ron’s day on the Grit is mind blowing, the routes, difficultly and diversity on his final tick list is absolutely outrageous and I still think its one of the most impressive days out there even for 2014. His standard goes up to E5 and not just one or two E5’s, multiple, really impressive."

Pete decided to visit what he felt were the six main grit crags, in order to savour the differing styles of each as he explained:

"I wanted to try and take into account as many of the ‘big’ crags as possible as they all offer different types of climbing, which was the whole point, some are more pumpy, like the cracks of millstone, some are slopey like the flared breaks of Stanage and some are bold like the slabs of froggatt (not that the bold made much of a difference)."

Starting at Curbar at 4am, Pete was soon rattling through routes that are on few peoples' solo circuit. With routes such as Right Eliminate, E3 5c, and Elder Crack, E2 5b, done, he moved on to the slabs of Froggatt to give his arms a rest.

Although his arms were rested here, Pete still pushed the boat out, climbing up to E5 with Heartless Hare, E5 5c and Downhill Racer, E4 6a. Soon he was off to Millstone, a crag he had mixed feelings about visiting during his big day as he explained:

"Walking into Millstone I wasn’t really sure whether I was going to enjoy this stint very much. However it turned out to be the most enjoyable part of the day. With it still in the shade, it felt brilliant to be locking fingers and hands in cracks and swim up jams rather then holding onto ever greasing smedges. I think the most enjoyable route of the whole day was Regent Street, I felt nicely warmed up from the previous crags and the climbing is excellent."

Pete Whittaker grappling with Baron Greenback, Wimberry  © Wild Country / Hotaches (Screenshot from film)
Pete Whittaker grappling with Baron Greenback, Wimberry
© Wild Country / Hotaches (Screenshot from film)

The next crag of the day was Burbage South, a wise choice given the heat of the day, allowing Pete to get some hard routes in such as Pebble Mill, E5 6b and Nosferatu, E6 6b, despite this the heat of the day was becoming more apparent as he decided to miss off a few of his normal solos here that usually felt easy. 

Unfortunately, Pete could no longer hide in the shade and upon reaching Burbage North, he hit a low-point with the heat really slowing him down. Fortunately, despite nearly throwing up from heat stroke at one point, he left the crag with a tally of 105 extremes before moving on to Stanage, his final crag of the day.

With a breeze blowing at Stanage, he got a second 'wind' and soon ticked through the last of his routes with his Mum, Dad and Sister heading to the crag to see him top out on his last route, Millsom's Minion, E1 5b. The finish of an impressive day given the heat and the number of routes climbed.

Pete Whittaker's 150 Grit Extremes in a day list:

 

Pinhead Moonstomp E1 5b Curbar
Hercules E1 5a Curbar
Scroach E2 5c Curbar
Right Eliminate E3 5c Curbar
Left Eliminate E1 5c Curbar
Thirst for Glory E1 5b Curbar
Pretty Face E1 5b Curbar
Plaything E2 5c Curbar
L'Horla E1 5b Curbar
Elder Crack E2 5b Curbar
Done Years Ago E3 6b Curbar
Canoe E2 5c Curbar
Finger Distance E3 6b Curbar
Kayak E1 5b Curbar
Rapid E1 5c Curbar
Lepton Original E3 6b Curbar
Vain E3 5b Curbar
Zebedee E2 5b Curbar
Betwixt E1 5a Curbar
The Wall E1 6a Curbar
Top Secret E1 5c Curbar
Lamebrain E1 5b Curbar
The Scoop E2 5b Curbar
Diddlum Wall Direct E1 5b Curbar
Fidget E2 6b Curbar
Gone To Pot E1 5c Curbar
Pot E2 6a Curbar
The Mask E1 6a Curbar
White Noise F.M. E2 6a Curbar
Humdrum E1 5a Curbar
One Up Again E1 5c Curbar
Afterbirth E1 5c Curbar
Birthday Groove E1 5c Curbar
The Unreachable Star E3 6a Curbar
Hidden Pleasures E3 6a Curbar
John's Arete E1 5c Curbar
Rat Scabies E3 6a Curbar
Camel Ticks E3 6b Curbar
Black Nix Wall E1 5c Curbar
Beach Nut E1 5c Froggatt
Stiff Cheese E2 5c Froggatt
Big Crack E2 5b Froggatt
Brown's Eliminate E2 5b Froggatt
Synopsis E2 5c Froggatt
Great Slab E3 5b Froggatt
Heartless Hare E5 5c Froggatt
Downhill Racer E4 6a Froggatt
Long John's Slab E3 5c Froggatt
Nanoq Slab E2 5b Froggatt
Four Pebble Slab E3 5c Froggatt
Three Pebble Slab E1 5a Froggatt
Two-sided Triangle E1 5b Froggatt
Motorcade E1 5a Froggatt
Ratbag E2 5b Froggatt
Cave Crack E2 5c Froggatt
Brightside E2 5c Froggatt
Sundowner E2 5a Froggatt
Parrallel Piped E3 5c Froggatt
Scarper's Triangle E1 5b Froggatt
Strapiombo E1 5b Froggatt
Strapiombante E1 5b Froggatt
Regent Street E2 5c Millstone
Embankment 4 E1 5b Millstone
Embankment 3 E1 5b Millstone
Billingsgate E1 5b Millstone
Windrete E2 5c Millstone
Only Just E1 5a Millstone
Dexterity E1 5b Millstone
February Fox E2 5b Millstone
Gates of Mordor E3 5c Millstone
Satan's Slit E1 5b Millstone
Millwheel Wall E1 5b Burbage South
Zeus E2 5b Burbage South
Goliath E5 6a Burbage South 
Above & Beyond E4 6b Burbage South
Pebble Mill E5 6b Burbage South
Knick Knack Paddywhack E2 6b Burbage South
The Knack E1 5c Burbage South
Nosferatu E6 6b Burbage South
Sorb E2 5c Burbage South
Moviestar E1 5b Burbage South
Captain Sensible E1 5b Burbage South
The Knock E4 5c Burbage South
Boggart Left-hand E3 6a Burbage South
Midge E2 6a Burbage South
Gnat E1 5c Burbage South
The Penultimate E1 5b Burbage North
The Fin E1 5b Burbage North
Short Fat Bastard E1 5b Burbage North
Long Tall Sally E1 5b Burbage North
The Screamer E1 5c Burbage North
The Irrepressible Urge E1 5b Burbage North
The Edging Machine E1 5b Burbage North
Slide Away E1 5a Burbage North
Bulletproof E1 6a Burbage North
The Rainmaker E1 5a Burbage North
Windjammer E1 5b Burbage North
King's Return E2 5b Burbage North
High Flyer E3 6a Burbage North
The Sentinel E2 5c Burbage North
Now or Never E1 5a Burbage North
Evening Wall E1 5b Burbage North
Twilight Wall E2 5c Burbage North
All Star's Goal E1 6a Burbage North
Monk On E1 5b Burbage North
Banana Finger E1 6a Burbage North
Route 3.5 E1 6a Burbage North
Mental Peace E2 5c Stanage
Big Chris E1 5b Stanage
Jersey Boys E1 5a Stanage
Gulliver's Travels E1 5b Stanage
War Zone E1 6a Stanage
Tip Off Right E2 5c Stanage
The Tippler E1 5b Stanage
The Dangler E2 5c Stanage
The Unprintable E1 5b Stanage
Kirkus' Corner E1 5b Stanage
Flying Buttress Direct E1 5b Stanage
Goodbye Toulouse E1 5b Stanage
Little Sarah E1 5b Stanage
Armchair Buccaneer E1 5b Stanage
Straightsville E2 5b Stanage
Yosemite Wall E2 5b Stanage
Via Dexter E1 5c Stanage
Topaz Copout E1 5b Stanage
Well Right E2 5c Stanage
Twintrin E1 5c Stanage
Easter Rib E1 5b Stanage
Ice Boat E1 5c Stanage
Coconut Ice E2 5b Stanage
Hybrid E1 5b Stanage
Wuthering E2 5b Stanage
Bobsnob E1 5a Stanage
Exit Stage Left E1 5b Stanage
Morrison's Redoubt E1 5b Stanage
Saliva E1 5b Stanage
Another Game of Bowls E1 5b Stanage
The Old Dragon E2 5b Stanage
Keep Pedalling E1 5b Stanage
Pedlar's Rib E1 5c Stanage
Spearing the Bearded Clam E3 5c Stanage
5.9 Finish E1 5b Stanage
On a Wing and a Prayer E1 5c Stanage
Curving Buttress E2 5b Stanage
Curving Chimney Left Arete E2 5b Stanage
Monday Blue E2 5b Stanage
Left Unconquerable E1 5b Stanage
Namenlos E1 5a Stanage
New Balls Please E1 5b Stanage
Millsom's Minion E1 5b Stanage

 


Pete Whittaker is sponsored by: Climb On, Five Ten, Patagonia, Sterling Rope and Wild Country


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28 Jul, 2014
Awesome achievement but...you only list 149 routes! 249 e-points in a day (surely 250 if you can find his 150th tick) is that also a record?
28 Jul, 2014
Amazing! I think I've seen through it though... was it all an elaborate ukc troll to include TPS on a list of '150 extremes'? If so, he's certainly raised the bar pretty high!
28 Jul, 2014
I thought FBD would get the first comment! Outstanding achievemnet
28 Jul, 2014
And Flying Buttress Direct/Namenlos (*stirs pot) - cracking achievement, regardless of your opinion on the grades.
28 Jul, 2014
Well spotted! I am investigating the missing route now - thanks.
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