UKC

First 8b for Madeleine Cope

© James Lucas

Sheffield-based climber Madeleine Cope has redpointed her first 8b with an ascent of Love Amongst the Butterflies (8b) at Chee Dale Lower​. Madeleine was working the route alongside Michaela Tracy, who also succeeded - making it her second 8b to date.

After climbing 'Unleashing the Wild Physique (8a)' and having belayed Michaela Tracy on it, the pair decided to try Love Amongst the Butterflies together.

Madeleine told UKC:

"After our first time on the route I think we both agreed that the route description of 'technical nightmare' was a pretty accurate one. It was so much fun unlocking the sequence with Michaela and the route, unexpectedly, started to come together on our second session. We gave ourselves two weeks to do the route and decided we would spend the night in the Red Lion (good pub on the way home from Cheedale) as our reward."

photo
Madeleine Cope climbing Love Amongst the Butterflies
© Guy Van Greuning

Michaela ticked the climb relatively quickly and Madeleine was determined to complete it, despite the final move throwing her off four times. She commented:

"I actually didn't mind falling off so high, it's the hardest sport route I have tried so it felt good to experience a bit of the 'red-point battle' that I have heard so much about and hopefully it provided some entertainment for everyone else at the crag. There has been a good scene at the Cornice, lots of people trying hard and it's been fun being a part of it."

photo
Michaela on a recent redpoint of Love Amongst the Butterflies 8b, Cheedale
© Guy Van Greuning

Madeleine adds Butterflies to a number of routes she has redpointed at 8a and above, including the classic Raindogs (8a) at Malham Cove and Mon Dieu (8a+) 8a+ at Oliana, Spain. A lover of multiple climbing disciplines, Madeleine travelled to Yosemite last Autumn where she had her first big-walling experience, climbing Freerider (5.12d) on El Capitan and has also tried her hand at Alpine climbing in the French Alps. 

Madeleine is supported by: Metolius


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19 Aug, 2015
If you know of any that haven't been reported I'm sure UKC would be interested in reporting them! 8b is still very close to cutting edge by UK women's standards and is pretty bloody hard even by men's standards, so definitely more than newsworthy.
Good effort Maddie! According to this geeky list on UKB only 14 british women have climbed 8b or harder in the last 5 years: http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,25986.75.html. Seems pretty newsworthy to me.
19 Aug, 2015
Startling omission of Rachel Farmer from the list! Perhaps someone registered with UKB can mention it
19 Aug, 2015
Maybe read the thread title more carefully.
19 Aug, 2015
Well done Maddie! :-)
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