UKC

New E8 in Ratho Quarry for Iain Small

© Sean Bell

Iain Small has added a left hand finish to his existing route of What Lies Beneath LH (E7 6c) at Ratho Quarry, Edinburgh. The exisiting line is no push over at around E7 but this harder new finish bumps the grade up to a tricky and gymnastic E8.

Iain Small on the first ascent of the LH variation of What Lies Beneath (E8)  © Sean Bell
Iain Small on the first ascent of the LH variation of What Lies Beneath (E8)
© Sean Bell

Iain's first ascent of the original E7 was in 2014, then recently on the 19th of August partnered by Niall McNair, Iain came back to the quarry and added the E8 LH version. Niall McNair initially made the second ascent of the original RH E7 finish again on the 19th of Aug, returning on the 21st of August to dispatch the new E8 version as well.

photo
Iain Small on the first ascent of the LH variation of What Lies Beneath (E8)
© Sean Bell

photo
Niall McNair on the second ascent of the RH variation of What Lies Beneath (E7)
© Sean Bell

Niall commented on Sean Bell's photography blog:

“What Lies Beneath, possibly the best piece of hard trad climbing in the Edinburgh area, gives you two options after a worrying technical start: the original finish to the right on small cams and layaways at e7 or the “True” lefthand continuation at e8 featuring a mono and a sideways Rock #1, what’s not to love?”

First ascensionist Iain Small is one of the unsung heroes of British climbing, with a CV of desperate ascents, both on rock and winter terrain.

photo
Iain Small
© Sean Bell

photo
Niall McNair
© Sean Bell


Thanks to Sean Bell for the photos. You can check out more shots on seanbelldotco.wordpress.com

Niall McNair is an ambassador for the Urban Uprising Charity.


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2 Sep, 2015
awesome
2 Sep, 2015
Good effort!
2 Sep, 2015
Well done and some fantastic pics - particularly like Niall's expression in the pic with the helmet on!
2 Sep, 2015
Good stuff - think the caption to the photo of NM needs some attention; presumably he's making the second rather than the first ascent of the original line. jcm
2 Sep, 2015
Great portraits!
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