Raped.. tackles the centre of the infamous Rainbow Slab in the Dinorwig slate quarries and features unprotected thin climbing for the first 22m until a bolt is reached above the Rainbow itself.
James climbed the route in his characteristic smooth style, with only a small heart flutter whilst trying to clip the bolt (looking at a death fall). The rope caught for a few seconds as James tried to pull up slack to clip in a very strenuous position.
Above the bolt the crux section was soaking wet and James took around an hour to work out how to climb wet slate 6c moves. Unwilling to lower from the bolt, his determination saw him through the water and to the top.
To quote the slate guide book:
"Still just about the neckiest undertaking on the slab; an on-sight lead would be just about the most impressive tick in this guide. The protection is a joke up to the first bolt at 22m."
The route was first climbed in 1984 by John Redhead: "An unstable relationship is helpful - but preferable to be just unstable" and was first climbed on-sight by Patch Hammond.
James is sponsored by Wild Country, Red Chili and Karrimor
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