Dave MacLeod has climbed another difficult line in Scotland, this time on Whale Rock in Glen Nevis. 'Hold Fast' follows micro edges up an off-vertical blank wall, with a bouldery technical 7a crux 18 feet off the deck with no gear and a sting in the tail rockover higher up. It was a long standing project for Dave which only succumbed after five visits and "being in the right place at the right time", with perfect conditions being very cold and dry with no wind. Dave has suggested a top rope grade of F7c+ and an on-sight leade grade of E9 7a.
E9 7a = F7c+ on a top rope - glad i've not tried redpointing any of the F7c+'s this mans been on!! he does seem to be climbing rather well these days doesn't he
You can get 7a moves on routes a lot easier than E9 (and which, I'm assuming, would also be easier than F7c+). Didn't West Side Story get given E4 7a before it became more popular as a boulder problem? And isn't Shirley's Shining Temple E5 7a? Anyone care to suggest what sort of French grades these would be to top rope? (not that I'm suggesting you should top-rope these routes, of course - just looking for comparative information!) All that's happened here is that the 7a sequence has moved from jump off-able height into a position where you really can't afford to get it wrong. Interesting, Dave is reported to have said that he reckons this is the hardest of the three E9s he's led in Scotland, although the top rope grade given for The Fugue was F8a+. The "E" grade brings in more than just the difficulty of the moves themselves.
I think what Dom is trying to point out - as was i in my earlier post - is that F7c+ would normally equate to something around E6 6c, with the not that much 6c being involved either. I can't think of any F7c+ sport routes out there with solid 7a on moves on them, can you???
It is a good point that is raised here. To have english 7a on it, the rest must be quite easy for it to get 7c+. With good gear it would have to be E5 7a. I think that would give 7c+. There are plenty of those around.
What is it with this site that everyone has to nit pick and speculate over what is obviously an impressive achievement by an on-form climber. I don't think there are many others who have climbed two E9s in the last couple of months. Why can't you just accept that the route has a hard, bold crux, but by the nature of the given French grade, that the rest of the route perhaps isn't too bad? It's also worth reading the original article on ScottishClimbs again - Dave says that he's not too sure of the French grade because he has trouble giving French grades to vertical routes. If you don't believe it's E9 because it's "only" F7c+ to top rope, then go and give it a go yourself and then make a statement based on fact, rather than just speculating negatively.
Comments