UKC

Morning All,

I'm in the process of putting together an article on how to climb your first E1 and within it I was hoping to include a few inspirational stories. Leading your first E1 is a meaningful moment in any climber's life, so what was yours and what did it mean to you? In addition to that, are thee any tips you would give to a budding E1 leader?

My first E1 was Fool's Gold (E1 5c) - around 20 years ago now (gulp)!! I climbed it with someone I didn't really know at the time, but someone who's gone on to be a lifelong friend - Simon Verspeak. We were both studying at Bangor University and Si had just joined BUMS within his first year. I was in my second year and on the lookout for someone keen to climb with. Si was keen, but better still - he had a car. 

We drove to the crag listening to Faithless on full volume, then did Fool's Gold pretty rapidly (from what I recall - Si might say otherwise). I recall wanting to do Fool's Gold because it was renowned for having a well protected crux low down, then it easing off higher up, and I knew if I could make it through that initial hard section then I should be in with a good chance. It went so well we headed over to Serengeti afterwards and did Seams the Same (E1 5b), which also went smoothly (although once-again, this might be my memory glossing over the harrowing belay that Si likely had).

I only confessed to Si that Fool's Gold was my first E1 until after we'd done it, because up until that point I probably wanted to come across as cooler than I was 😂 

Thanks in advance for any inspiring stories and ideas.

Leading, I think it was Walk on the wild side at Auchinstarry not long after the first ascent. Its now HVS but I think thats because the thin crack now takes more small wires  than before.

But the earliest I climbed was Minotaur on Scafell with Roger Everett but he lead the 5b crux pitch - must have been spring 1977.

edit to add - just looked at the descriptions/comments on UKC logbook & see that Mayday Direct which we also climbed that day is E2 & I led the 2nd pitch which is 5b.

There's probably a separate article to be written on people's first HVSs that are now E1, E2 or even E3. It's ironic that yours went the opposite direction, because most go the other way.

Engineer's Crack, Buachaille Etive Mor, late summer 2007.

Five metres off the ground, I dropped all my wires, a single set racked on one carabiner. They landed next to my belayer, but rather than taking the only sane course of action and getting them back somehow, I decided it was better to carry on.

I had seven cams, relics from the late 80s that belonged to my dad, the bigger ones with solid stems. I climbed the pitch, which I don't recall in any detail except that the rock was good and the moves weren't technically too bad, finding by sheer chance somewhere to put all seven of these (whether the placements were any good, I couldn't say). I arrived at the belay with no gear except quickdraws and slings on my harness, and luckily there was an in-situ tat anchor.

With retrospect and experience, this seems one of the more ludicrous cases in my climbing career of 'getting away with it'.

My first (I think) was Cemetary Gates, just over 50 years ago, with another schoolboy, a certain A McIntyre, holding my rope. I had strong fingers in those days, and don't remember too much bother until the last couple of moves up to the belay ledge. Fortunately I placed a bomber nut - a large Clog hexagonal - so took a deep breath and launched upwards, using a high pocket for my left hand - pretty much the first time I had committed myself to moves I knew I couldn't reverse and was unsure of the outcome.

Alex was impressed, and he'd climbed the Corner the week before, though we never climbed together again.

Also Cemetery Gates, although this was last September…

Having led the first pitch very smoothly I went completely off the rails at the top and kept traversing into the E2 line, but in my defense I’d spent a lot of time in the sun by that point. Eventually ended up in the right place, abbed off, and jumped in the stream at Ynys Ettws before the drive home, what a way to finish the season! 

Millsom's Minion (E1 5b) also twenty years ago. Jeez, 2004. Pretty sure I was wearing Ron Hills... No great story I'm afraid, I led it, got a bit scared, did it anyway because E1 should be scary. I think that was the point at which I felt like a 'good' climber. Each new grade (VS, HVS...) had felt significant and like a step up, but at E1.... well, that's only for good climbers   I've seconded it a few times since (my brother in law likes it as a warm-up) and am always impressed with myself that I did it after about a year and a half of leading. Wouldn't fancy it now.

My first was Better Late Than Never (E1 5a) at Rivelin Edge. I had seconded it before, and thought might as well lead it. My first onsight E1, according to my log book, was Jim Crow (E1 5b) at Stanage North. I have basically no real memory of this, which is interesting.

Interesting question. Partly because it's got me thinking and partly because I started climbing long enough ago that I think a couple of routes I lead as HVS have now been upgraded to E1!

But would make sense to look at this from an "as graded at the time" position.

Longbow (E1 5b) - Although technically this wasn't my first E1 as I didn't lead, it feels like it was due to the experience on the day. My mate Luke and we were both getting back into climbing in summer 2011 (we'd both climbed together as youths for many years) and we'd arrived at Dumbarton Rock, the classic beginners crag, as our first day back out.

We had a single rack of wires, 3 HB cams of random sizes, some CAMP quickdraws and a single 50m rope that was about 13mm (weighed a ton!). We attempted to get warmed up on the "Warm Up Wall". It was far too hard. I remember after having multiple attempts and falling watching someone dance their way up the classic 5+ in the middle of the wall. We were both in awe.

We packed up and headed round the corner to the trad routes "where there real climbing was!". I don't think we had a guide so Luke set off up whatever looked the most amenable. This turned out to be Longbow.

Luke struggled his way up the first few metres, he'd managed to place lots of gear, some of which was now pinging out onto the rope as he went. At some points he was certain to deck if he fell. About half way up the route he'd run out of gear to place. I then lowered him down the bottom half of the route from his last bit of gear. He then started collecting the gear he'd previously placed and starting back up the route again. When he regained his high point there was quite a bit of quivering and Elvis leg going on. With so little gear in the route, and the amount that had just fallen out, I began to think he might die if he fell. Eventually a few more bits went in and he hauled himself over the top. The entire thing probably took about 2 hours.

Once we were eventually ready to abseil I think our rope just made it to the bottom doubled up. I probably abseiled on a figure of 8.

I found a picture (hilarious quality) of Luke abseiling afterwards.

Such good memories.

Conclusion (E1 5b) at Shepherds. Flash though not onsight as I watched a couple other climbers take a punt first. A well protected, burley soft touch that suited my 'gym climber' style.

I find my first onsights at most grades tend to be short forgettable climbs at minor crags (Mort (E1 5b), Cellulite (E2 5c)), where I get to the top and think "was that it?!". (Before having my confidence knocked back down at the next outing).

Central Route (E1 5b) was mine about 40 years ago. My belayer shouted this momentous news over to the first ascensionist (Hank Pasquill) who happened to be nearby. I was too far gone, lying in the grass gasping like a dying fish to see the reaction (probably not that bothered).

Yes, my first E1 turns out to have beenInitiation Groove (Summer) (E1 5a) but it was given bog standard VS at the time ( if there ever was a bog standard VS at this overlooked venue)

Coronation Street in the early 80s on the way home from a week long trip to North Devon - led every pitch so had to do a somewhat frightening changeover on the belay just after the shield - 40 years later that still frightens me! 

Lich Gates (E2 5c) Avon.

Got to the then 2 points aid on pitch 2. Went to clip the first aid peg and my feet came off. Swing to the left across the wall, and a foothold appeared, climbed free up to the top of the "aid wall", possibly a FFA.

Yes I know its now E2, but everything was E? then.

My first E1 was by accident, I thought that it was an HVS! Tennis Shoe - The Direct Start (E1 5a) is really a one-move wonder and modern gear make the start easily protectable (although, I suspect that modern polish make it feel much more exposed). Once you get to the first belay, all the hard climbing is done and the rest of the route runs at severe (I think).

I've not climbed on the  Idwal Slabs (aka Cwm Idwal) since but it's a day that's never left me.

Same - I think it gave me the wrong impression that all E1s are dangerous!

Mine was IIRC 45 years ago. Thin Wall Special at Bosigran. Cornish granite was my favourite rock at the time - a good bet for my first E1. The first few moves are a delight. Then comes an awkward section up and left into the groove leading to Doorpost. I'd been warned it might be damp in the groove, and it was. The guidebook at the time (Ed Hart, 1978) suggested an alternative finish up and right called the Chicken Run. That sounded a bit like the "Chicken Out", so I went for it. Very tenuous it was, and "protected" by a dubious micro nut (was it an HB "Stone" - it was one of the very first to arrive on the scene). A somewhat frightening move right around a rounded arete led, with great relief, into the relative safety of Little Brown Jug. 

Much later I discovered that the "Chicken Run" had been upgraded to E2. So my first E1 was also my first E2 - the first of not very many E2's over the intervening years.

Martin

Cenotaph Corner (E1 5c) August 1970

Actually, it was probably, truthfully, Brant Direct (HVS 5a), in August 1968, graded - correctly, before modern gear/nuts - ‘Extremely Severe, but only just’ in the Don Roscoe ‘Llanberis North’ guidebook.

My first extreme was Spring Bank (E2 5c) on Gimmer.  I didn't know if there was a route up that slab as I only had a 1960s guide book which didn't show anything in that area.  I just liked the look of the line and went for it.  It was only a few years later that I got my hands on a guidebook and found out what it was by which time I had climbed a few more E1s.  

I think my first E1 that wasn't an E2 was Poacher (E1 5b) also on Gimmer.  It was more of a battle than Spring Bank!  Only wires and hexes back then for me but the gear was OK. I had previously fallen off my first E1 attempt on The Bludgeon (E1 5b), I finally got round to climbing this a few years later. 

Aaarrgh, pipped at the post by Gordon ! The Plum (E1 5b) 27 Feb 1972. Sorry Rob, no recollection of the event, just too long ago...

Couldn't remember what my first was so just looked it up in my logbook. 'Heather In My Face' at Froggatt. It's an arete and I solved it on both sides because I wasn't sure what the deal was with aretes 😅 lead Three Pebble Slab the same weekend. Yes, it gets HVS but I think E1 is fair lol

I had some false starts, with a couple of E1s I tried, I ended up dogged or rested on gear before getting them clean.

So, my first proper E1 onsight was The Spider (E1 5b) at Chudleigh, and its etched into my brain as much as any moment in my life! 

I lead both pitches with Tony, got the first pitch out of the way with minimal hassle (there was still a peg at the time, which made the mantel and thin middle section feel ok), then onto the top pitch.

I remember climbing up and down the top groove several times to place gear and reverse to a ledge to rest, getting more pumped and feeling the onsight might be slipping away.

Then after contemplating the run out at the top, and thinking a whipper might be on cards, I finally summoning up the balls to go for it, and then in a flurry of desperation and with my forearms screaming, made these lovely moves up and right on the headwall, finally reaching the sanctuary of the tree stump and gear.         

Cube Root (E1 5b) at Malham was mine I think, summer of 1986. No particular drama but it did also become the first entry in my personal ticklist of apparently-solid well-trodden classics that are now a pile of rubble under the crag.

(Has anyone put together an actual ticklist of those? There should be one!)

Well that depends.... My log says Three Pebble Slab back in 1998, as the '91 guide had it as E1.

But if that's not allowed any more then it is Death and Night and Blood at Stanage - that sounds better anyway!

Chequer's Buttress October 1973 one year after I started climbing. Now HVS but never mind.

Secretaries' Super Direct (E1 5a), which was my first HVS but has since had an (entirely justifiable IMHO) upgrade to E1.

My first actual E1 (as graded at the time) was The Needle (E1 5b), but then I didn't actually lead any of the E1 pitches.

Which finally leaves Finger Licking Good (E1 5b) as my first E1 lead - something I didn't even remember and for which I had to go through my logbook - but apparently it was quite good? I should go climb it again...

Yew Tree Wall (E1 5c) in Dovedale, February 1983. Really just climbed for the E1 tick and I remember it feeling desperate. I think the next were The Left Unconquerable (E1 5b) and then Trophy Crack (E1 5b) and The Needle (E1 5b) that summer.

Longbow was my second E1, though the first one I tried onsight.  Just before getting on it Neil McG had told me a story on how he'd broken his leg on it.  Spent the whole route crapping it "...almost at the bit where he broke his leg... this is where he broke his leg."

If you could reach the Appliance anchor from Longbow I'd've bailed.

The Plum (E1 5b).  Never climbed it before so no prior knowledge, and done as two pitches, I led both.

I think one or two routes I'd done before then have been upgraded these days - Central Buttress (E1 5a) certainly has - but The Plum was the first route done as an E1 tick.  The groove on the first pitch was the crux of it, and it was oh so tempting to use the peg placed in it as a foothold.  I resisted!

T.

I led Barbarian (E1 5b) shortly before it got upgraded from HVS, and was helped by being able to clip an in-situ wire at the crux. Not long after, I led the second pitch of Agony (E2 5a) which was given E1 5a,4c at the time, expecting it was going to be VS-ish! First "proper" one was The Crypt Direct (E1 5b), then a lot less polished than it is now. 

Nice and Dry (HVS 5a) Highly disappointed by this thread. Looked up my first E1 only to discover it has been downgraded. HVS feels about right. But still sulking. 

The Left Unconquerable (E1 5b) - not sure when, about 1970/71. We called in at Don Morrison's climbing shop for advice on other good entry-level Extremes and he suggested Left Unconquerable. Suffice to say I didn't get up it and still haven't led it fifty years on!

Chris

Grandma's Groove (E2 5c)

Swanage Subluminal,  which I'm rather chuffed was upgraded.

Probably not the best choice for a first E1,  hard and steep with not the best gear,  also not the most inspiring line,  but it got me that tick!

I went and did Stroof (E1 5c) a few months later which was much more fun....

 The Left Unconquerable (E1 5b)

Early 1970s as a raw teenager. My uncle and his mates climbed on Wednesday evenings after work, usually at Stanage. 
I tagged along, but was never at their level of ability, I reckon I was leading Severes at a push, and they were into ticking HVS's.
One evening, we parked as usual at the popular end, and the best climber of us, Mick, said 'right -  today's final climb is Left Unconquerable!'.
We walked all the way below the edge to the Plantation area, warming up on easier routes on the way. 
So to the last climb of the evening. Off went Mick. I sat on a boulder, transfixed and in awe. He put in one runner (no Friends then) after the easy first half, just below the crux barn door move.
Soon, he was lowered down, and the John had a go, he too retreated, and so on, everyone had a go, but failed. Nobody thought of me, and as Ron went round to the top to set up an abseil, I piped up 'Can I have a look?' It was getting dark, so I tied into my Whillans, and set off in the gloom. 
I reached the runner easily, and I have no recollection of what I did, but I reached up, and suddenly there were jugs all the way to the top. 
I had never known such elation. I was buzzing that evening in the Scotsmans Pack, and I was buzzing for weeks afterwards. I meticulously wrote 'Led' next to the guidebook entry. I was an E1 climber!

In the following 50 years of climbing all over the world, I never led an E1 again, fell off a couple, but never completed any. That was the top grade I ever led, - unless you count Three Pebble Slab 30 years later. Which I don't, but that was harder than Left Unconquerable, and the buzz was even bigger.

I bet some of you will say it wasn't a proper lead because the runner was already there, but I don't give a flying f**k, I know I led Left Unconquerable.

Mine was Harlots Face on Castle Rock in about 1991. My only advice would be to not misinterpret the guide book to fit your own needs - 'The easiest E1 on the crag' does not actually mean 'An easy E1' as a (through necessity) fast while pumped ascent of the main pitch, unable to stop to place gear, shortly thereafter proved. 

Limbo (E1 5b) at Avon, spring of 1983. Quite a psychedelic experience: there were daisies growing out of all the pockets above me, so when I looked up it was as if I were climbing a wall of flowers

A lad I met via ukbouldering (which I guess in hindsight should have been a bit of a clue) waited until we topped out on a ten pitch route in Ötztal to announce "that was my first ever multipitch. It was great!"

Barbarian was my first too. Nothing deliberate, we'd just done Scratch and Scratch Arete, so seemed the obvious choice before a mandatory cake break.  

Not dissimilar for me. I tried it some time in the 80s when I couldn't jam, backed off the lead and I might (only recall vaguely) have seconded my mate up it. Definitely seconded it on my one and only visit to grit this century.

I don't remember exactly which was my actual first HVS, but Central Buttress (E1 5a) might have been. It was definitely one of the early ones.

Cenotaph Corner (E1 5c)

Although it was HVS+ in the guide we had.

Easter1975, I was 14. The culmination of a dream school holiday which included persuading an older (but evidently not wiser) mate to walk up to Cloggy in steady drizzle and thick cloud where we did Longland's Climb (VS 4c).

Understandably there was no-one else on the crag as we crept and slipped upwards, our voices echoing eerily around the cwm. A more enduring memory than the Corner.

I think I did Walk on the Wild Side as my second HVS after doing Promontory Direct (HVS 5a) as my first! On a related note, my first E1 was in another central belt hole in the ground, Blue Rinse (E1 5b) at Ratho back before it was "Ratho". I remember it felt really straightforward, so it a bit sad that I've done so few other E1s in the UK (probably a few more that would get E1 in Finland and Norway)! I did do Combat Rock (E1 5a) when it was HVS, so now proudly say I've onsighted E1 on slate.

That second route should have been Right Eliminate (E3 5c) at Curbar, otherwise my post is a nonsense

Mississippi Variant Direct (E1 5b) no great tale attached to it though. Just decided to get my big boy pants on and get on an E1 after getting steady on HVS. The crux slap to slopers seems like a quintessentially 'grit' way to get that first E grade. 

I bet I know exactly where he fell. There's a bit where you can't place that much gear and if you came off, you'd be close to, or on the deck. The rock is also so frictionless in that crack, you wonder if the cams are going to just skate out of their placement. Luckily I've never seen someone test that. Testing for an E1 leader for sure!

Left Unconquerable at Stanage, suited my style nicely, felt comfortable to protect and had no real crux move.

Interestingly I found the Right Unconquerable to be far harder

Mine was Machete Wall (E2 5c) at Chudleigh - which now gets E2 5c (hmm) so in fact it was probably Aviation (E1 5b) which at the time was HVS... 

My first intended E1 lead was Millsom's Minion (E1 5b) in June 1978 which was pre cams with a large hex as the only protection in the traverse break. However due to upgrading I’d unknowingly done three previously: Tennis Shoe - The Direct Start (E1 5a) in January 1977, it was graded Hard Severe at the time. Flamingo Wall (E1 5b) in April 1977 which was HVS then I think. It was a two pitch route back in the day! And the first ascent of The Graduate (E1 5c) in June 1977 which I naively graded HVS 5a.

Don't climb now due to 2 new knees but in 60s and 70s many routes then hvs now e1 and many e 1s now e2 despite better gear,if you are finding his ok then go for it,technical grade and style of route also crucial

First E1 done cleanly albeit not an onsight was Dead Ringer (E1 5b) at Limekins. I'd had 2 previous attempts. The first one I threw half my rack in and got pumped stupid needing to rest. I may a video of the gear in the order I placed it to try to work out how to be less knackered. The second attempt I basically did cleanly but touched the top iron rung to steady my myself (didn't pull it or weight it) so wouldn't allow myself the the tick. 3rd go I nailed it, 3 goes over 3 years. 

First first E1 onsight was Knock Back (E1 5b) at Auchinstarry. I remember it took me a while to commit to the moves (I'd landed myself in A&E after falling badly on different climb at Auchinstarry in 2008) at the top. The bit most folks find hard I found OK but the top part is quite reachy and I'm small. Was quite chuffed to do it 😀

Dad: "John Graham´s going to take you climbing, he climbs around E4". Me: "Won´t that be boring for him?" Dad: "Dunno, but it´ll be effing exciting for you!"

So I, back for a short visit with freshly steeled fingers from visits to Berlin´s first climbing wall but feeling extremely rusty on trad, find myself tying into the sharp end underneath Debauchery (E1 5b). "You should lead both pitches, the second one´s great" says John, and I arrive without any problems at the belay and bring him up. Shortly afterwards, I am just about to launch off onto the second pitch when he says "Don´t move! Stand very still!" He grabs my now obsolete but still dangling belay sling and puts me straight back on belay, before pointing at my waist knot, which has somehow managed to come untied and is about to depart company with the loops on my harness. We´d never even heard of the phrase "Buddy check" back then, but boy, was I glad of his attentiveness.

The second pitch is then magnificent, and I´m elated to have led such a classic climb as my first E1, even though it nearly became a "dnf" in the worst possible way. Thanks John!

It was Volcane out on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, after my partner that day decided he didn’t want to do the crux pitch so he lowered off and asked if I wanted a go. I’d already led my first HVS that day and had a decent number of VS’s I’d climbed in Glen Nevis behind me and figured what would be the harm in having a look.

I pulled into the groove and found out very quickly that it was indeed a step up from everything else I’d already done, with a two finger pocket at the top of the groove before a tricky friction move up out onto the slab above. I placed my first ever micro wire and committed to the moves, completely absorbed and too focused to be scared. It went by in a whirl and before I knew it I was sat on the big ledge at the top of the crag, looking out across the Hebrides with the April sun reflecting off the sea and feeling the wind on my face. 

It’s still completely vivid in my mind, E1 was an incredible milestone for me personally. I don’t really remember my first E2 or E3 but E1 felt like breaking into new territory and becoming a “real” climber. I think the biggest thing for me was learning that if I actually gave it a try, I was more than capable of doing the route. The grade is only a mental block for most climbers looking to break into E1, assuming they’ve put the time and effort into learning the all round skills of finding and placing gear and route reading on easier climbs, then they’ve already done half the battle. 

E1 is a funny one for me because it's my limit and I'll only usually do a couple a year. It seems significant every time I do one and I still note every time I do a 'first' E1 on a new rock-type or area. Because I've never kicked beyond it, I'm quite harsh in 'awarding' myself them and there are quite a few dubious ones on my logbook. 

My first E1 onsight was apparently Canine Crack (E1 5b) but I don't give myself that because it's in a sport quarry with a bolted belay and if we're being honest, it's HVS at most. Then there are some repeats of routes I've seconded previously or ground-ups which I also don't count :-D.

I think my first E1 which I 'count' as proper was Ardua (E1 5b), which was also my first time leading E1 on grit. Having moved to Sheffield that year, I really enjoyed it and was loving life on the grit. It felt like, for me, I was getting good that year but sadly I've been unable to replicate the form or sheer number of days I was out that summer since. 

Checked the logbook and mine a was actually Impossible Slab (E3 5c). I'd not long spent some time in font enjoying heinous friction slabs, and after seeing another float up I thought I'd give it a go. I don't recall it being especially scary either... the perils of youth!

Oh, and there was a girl I wanted to impress there IIRC.

My logbook tells me my first E1 was Central Buttress at Avon, but I’m pretty sure it was HVS at that time (1975), so that doesn’t count. The first E1 that really left an impression on me, and still does to this day, was Coronation Street (WW) (E1 5b) in May 1976 age 18. Note: no cams in those days and not such a range of wires available then as today. And of course my budget was somewhat limited. My mate Pete lead the first pitch, and before I set off, the challenge ahead generated an overwhelming desire to visit the loo (No 2s). A quick jog down to Cheddar village sorted that while Pete waited patiently. I got the shield pitch and clearly remember belaying just after the shield and looking down to see I was directly above the middle of the parking area below. At that point I was very grateful for my quick dash down to Cheddar. For some reason I also remember a number of fag ends stuffed in the crevices thereabouts. Pete lead the next pitch, and when I got to the belay I was informed that the belay was rubbish but that he had placed every bit of gear that he had left. A massive sense of achievement for the Hard Rock tick that Bonnington aided on the first ascent. I have no recollection of the walk off. 

Assuming TPS might not count, bizarrely it was Rotifer (E3 6a) in Jan '23 above pads. A friend had been messing about trying the start moves and after I cruised up to the pocket and jumped down he suggested I actually go for it. Went and checked the top wasn't a classic Brimham grovel and then did it. It felt a lot easier than most of the 6a/6b boulders we'd been trying that day so didn't seem too mad. Felt pretty great topping out.

I went on to lead a bunch of run-out stuff or borderline HVS and some more short bits of grit. Didn't feel like I deserved the grade until Cemetery gates in June last year. Finally something longer, on different rock, a mega classic etc. And even that some people consider more HVS... Depends what you are used to I suppose. For me it's way harder than Better Late Than Never (E1 5a) or Great Buttress Arête (E1 5b).

I don't think it's any different to going up from VS to HVS, probably an easier jump really. So far i've always found it best to second or top rope a few of the grade and maybe even the climb you are attempting before trying to lead something harder than you've done before.

My first was Ivy Sepulchre followed by Superdirect on the Mot a couple of days later. I remember a couple of ladies were climbing Direct Route at the same time and after I led the crux pitch declared they had expected to need to initiate a rescue as I had mentioned it was only my second E1.

Oddly my first HVS is more memorable to me (Spectre on the Grochan).

Wow, this has been absolutely amazing to come back to - thanks to everyone who's shared their story.

Originally I was hoping to integrate them into the article I was writing, but I think there's a separate article to be written that includes a selection from within this thread.

Thanks once-again, it's made my day reading through all of these.

Didn’t realise wotws used to be e1. 
fwiw I’ve never managed to place even tiny gear until after the crux.

Gundabad E1 5b Gundabad (E1 5b) at Goblin Combe. Was extremely happy, as I'd challenged myself that year to up my grade across winter, sport, trad and boulder. This was the last tick I needed after spending the summer projecting hard sport and bouldering lines, and a lucky pre-lockdown winter spree. Don't think I've topped that year for hard(ish) sends. 

Crazy as it may sound, The Mall at Millstone Edge was graded Extreme at one time pre 1, 2, 3 etc.  That was mine but not sure if it counts.  My next Extreme was another overgraded route, Brant Direct in the Llanberis Pass.  And yes it was for a time graded Extreme.  These two ascents filled me with an unjustified confidence which led me on to try Cenotaph Corner with disastrous results.  Bear in mid this was mid 60's and it was not nearly as well protected as it is now.

My first E1 was Chalkstorm (E3 without the side runner) at the Roaches. I had only been climbing just over a year and was keen as mustard. My climbing partner and mentor seconded it.

This was back in '94'. I go up there now and think how in sane hell did I ever get up that?

Mine was Great Buttress Arete at Wharncliffe, E1 5b.

I have a distinct memory of being at the bottom and really umming and ahhing about whether to get on it or not, I was dead nervous.... and my partner Sam saying words to the effect of "you have a choice, either you carry on as you are, or at some point you have to decide that you want to climb harder and get on them", and so I did! 

The feeling of disbelief at the top is hidden down somewhere deep in my heart and is pulled out at moments I need it - never in my wildest dreams when I started out did I think I'd lead an E1.

Weirdly, apparently my first E1 wasn't such a memorable experience - I was convinced that it must have been Long Tall Sally but, on checking, my first Extreme route was The Groove (E1 5b) in 1978, although I didn't lead either of the 5b pitches.

Even more oddly, I soloed The Scoop (E2 5b) (although I'm sure it must have been HVS then) before my first E1, which was a new route climbed by mistake - Not Blisterin' Barnacle (E2 5b), which is no longer E1, nor my route...  It had taken me ages to finally sort my head out and I was in real danger of becoming a permanent second. Actually I had seconded a couple of E5s competently before finally getting into regularly leading extremes.  

After that (1982) I did lots of 'proper E1s' on the Culm coast and elsewhere in the SW but I do remember Black Widow (E1 5b) feeling like a step up because it was steep and I had to trust the gear.  I think I got into soloing and climbing on the Culm because I didn't trust the gear anyway!

Debauchery (High Tor)- I took a big fall above the crux (going wrong on the moves L around the nose). It ripped out a cam and was held on one of the oldpegs! Of course it was only HVS back in 1983. Try to do 1 ascent a year these days - such a great route. My next  was always graded E1 though an easier climb - Yew Tree Wall at Dovedale. 

Steve

My first was M1 (E1 5b) in the Avon Gorge, in Nov 2008.

I was in my 4th year at Bristol Uni and completely lived and breathed climbing at the time. My trad climbing at the time was pretty woeful, which I think was the influence of a uni club peer group where no-one really climbed above HVS or fell off on trad. I'd never been on an E1 or seen someone climb one, so it seemed out of my league. I was a relatively strong boulderer, both indoors and out (I made my way up the Cul De Chien roof earlier that year) and had climbed a lot of slabby granite sport in Ailefroide, so it should have been well within my ability. 

That year, a young Hazel Findlay had started uni at Bristol as well as her home friend Howard Lawledge, who were already both good trad climbers with a completely different mindset. I started climbing with them more regularly and it really opened my eyes to what trad climbing could and should be, and what I might be capable of. They talked me into trying M1 as a first extreme and belayed/seconded me. 

I don't remember much of the route itself, other than traversing a wide crack about halfway through and I think perhaps placing my first cam. It went fairly smoothly, the main hurdle was the psychological one of getting on it in the first place. 

I went on to work my way up the E grades, taking my first trad falls, and then switching to mostly sport climbing for a few years when I then climbed my first 8a, another grade that seemed completely unobtainable not long before. 

I still think back to those formative experiences, and how lucky I was to climb with the people I did, who really transformed my approach to climbing and what could be possible. As well as having some amazing adventures and laughs along the way. 

 Great Buttress Arête (E1 5b)is a good route, in spite of having been downgraded.

My first E1 was Vember on Cloggy sometime around 1980.  Since then my first edition of Hard Rock always falls open on the Vember Article, the prose in Tony Smythe' HR essay about a champagne cork gradually easing out of the bottle seemed very apt and the excellent monochrome photo of pitch 2 very evocative.  I had previously led Cemetery Gates which was graded HVS in those days, and in my opinion still is.

Long Tall Sally at Burbage North

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/burbage_north-88/long_tall_sally-1...

Tried after friends recommended it and said it was super soft! 
 

It most definitely was not 😅

I led Tennis Shoe Direct by accident too, mistook it for the normal start. 'Officially' I led Severe at the time, though I knew I'd done a few easy VS's, and I'd soloed something that now gets HVS 5b but wasn't in a guidebook then.

Edit: just noticed that Malc's LH slabs is only VS 5a on UKC, think I agree with that given that I soloed it in Tennis Shoes before I ever considered myself a climber.

I was pointed at Vember by Dave Pearce, who gave me a lift part of the way home the day he did it - he admitted he was expecting a cruise and found it 'surprisingly technical.'

When I did it a couple of years later I did too!

There’s a theme of slightly fluid grades emerging in some of these …mine too. My first was Auricle at Bamford, 1 Nov 1987, later boosted to E2 in the guide that followed. Also I think possibly the first time I’d placed my shiny new Friend - rigid 2.5, one mate had a useful 2, another had a massive 3, this seemed to bridge the gap and the cam still makes a guest appearance on my sporadic trad rack.

Auricle gets a decent couple of paragraphs in my logbook (damn I wish I’d properly kept that up in the 90s, retirement project perhaps). An upgrade from the normal 1 or 2 lines. Interestingly, the next entry is almost as long for Neb Buttress Direct (HVS) where the pump was strong. “Thankfully one move less than expected. A more trying experience than the previous route. It’s funny stuff climbing, that’s for sure.”

Fool's Gold for me too. Seconded it and then led it later same day.

I've since fallen off it on 2nd Whilst I feel that I could repeat some of my hardest boulders if I wanted to, I don't think I could repeat my harder trad leads (hvs-e1) even though I'm physically stronger now.

And whilst I can imagine increasing my max grade in boulder and sport, I can't really see that happening in my trad. I think I am getting more fearful and less risky as I get older (and I am not old)

Like a lot of people ”my first E1” isn't as easy a question as it initially appears.

Did Chalkstorm at the Roaches on a top rope soon after getting my first pair of rock boots (hey, my feet actually stick to things🙂). Can't really get an E grade for a top rope though?

Tennis Shoe Direct wasn't long after, led by mistake for the Severe, which I'd been warned was ”dead polished”. It was only only given HVS then though.

Better Late Than Never at Rivelin was E1 at the time but again I led it by mistake, thinking it was Left Edge (name should have been a clue really).

Then TPS, which I assume I'm not allowed to count (and which was given HVS in the definitive guide then anyway).

First lead that I knew was E1 at the time was Excited Atom on the Aberdeenshire sea cliffs, which I cruised, much to my surprise. Then just to prevent me getting too cocky I got slapped in the face by The Weight (HS), which I found desperate at the time. It was a bit damp but it was mainly me being overconfident and expecting it to be easy after the E1.

Falling crack at Wilton when I was about 17. (1984) I have a pic of me somewhere wearing Union Jack shorts and nothing else. It’s not a pretty sight. 

Mine was Long Tall Sally on a spring day in 1977 with Dad & Dan. I can’t remember why I chose it apart from it being a good looking technical line, but I do remember the climbing and the elation in reaching the top. It was high time I entered the world of extreme. We’d done a ton of vs’s / hvs’s by then so was well prepared. Afterwards things got interesting.

I guess technically it was The Earl of Perth (E1 5b), although I only lead the easy second pitch.

Was my second weekend trad climbing; Ramon of this parish was very kindly showing me the ropes and had picked it to swing leads because I would get to belay off the big bolt for the suspension bridge.

By the time I got there someone was already using that, and we were out of communication due to the traverse, so I just headed on past and started looking for placements to build my first ever trad anchor.

It's a good job it was a nice, sunny day. I think at some point he curled up on the ledge for a snooze. Several hours later, I found myself staring at a beauriful four point equalised belay that I was finally happy to commit our lives to, and woke him up by hauling on the ropes.

I've climbed in many more atmospheric places than under a suspension bridge, but that spot holds a special memory of feeling alone, very much out of my depth, and wondering what the hell I'd got myself into 😁

My first E1 was The Token (E1 5b) at pule hill. Basically just a boulder problem but I was desperately trying to get my first 7A, E1 and 7a done before I turned 30 (I didn't succeed for sport). Having met my boulder goals I backed myself surely to do a little bouldery E1, still was really nervous about it 🤣. Somehow the soft little 8m route gave me the confidence to take on some real proper sized E1s in the mountains and sea cliffs I just needed the first one over and done with 

Also my first E1 in 1968 Gordon, but as second. I honestly can't remember my first lead E1, but Cioch Grooves with no gear in 70 feet felt at least E1. My second took a msssive whipper because of all the traversing involved. But of course it was VS in those times!

Appropriately enough "Breaking the Barrier" at Holyhead mountain.

Chuffed didn't quite cover it.

Mine was Undercracker (E1 5a), also 20 years ago. Chosen simply because it looked good, I was psyched on slabs, and it looked like it would suit my sans-cams rack of the time. It got 5b then and I remember feeling chuffed at finding the climbing cruisey; so today’s grade of 5a is probably fair. I don’t remember the gear being especially poor, but I’m not sure how many E1 5as should appear in a list of recommended first E1s. (Well I do, and it’s probably zero…. 😆)

My first E1 has the distinction of being my only headpoint (before that was really a thing) and also changing grade between my starting and finishing it! Flush from a two hour dogged ascent of Bovine  the week before (my first ever lead) my new friends in the local climbing club pointed me and my borrowed rack at another HVS 5b called Ivy Sepulchre. After a fair amount of effort I reached an impasse and lowered off. Lawrence couldn’t get past my high point so we packed up and went home (can’t remember how we got the gear back). The following week I got to the base of the route to find I’d forgotten one of my EBs the result was inevitable (again, I’ve no idea how we got the gear back). Week three we finally topped out, I don’t remember if I weighted the gear or not but I do remember being delighted to find that the new Paul Williams Llanberis guide had upgraded the route to E1

It's been mentioned already, but I guess Three Pebble Slab doesn't count as it was also my first HVS.

A year later I did Acid Rain (E1 5a) in the recently developed Shakemantle Quarry. Thought I had entered the big league, but more importantly developed a love of chossy slabs that has taken me to the Culm and beyond.

Machete Wall (E2 5c)

31 years ago. I was delighted to learn that it got upgraded shortly afterwards. It's good to know your first extreme is at least solid at the grade. 

It was a route that featured in Chris Crags 100 best Limestone routes that I had a copy of so that is why I was drawn to it.

I used to cycle from Bicton collage along the A38 which is mental to boulder and solo the route that should not be named.

Seams the same for me after previously seconding it, followed by breaking the barrier a few weeks later onsight which I almost fluffed the start but made it to the top in one piece. A few weeks later again I got on Bella Lugosi and inexperience left me with a microcam halfway between me and the floor and only one option (do the crux move) as I skipped gear placements and got committed. 

My two top tips for being able to climb E1 safely.

-Build up mileage of the grades below, it'll pay dividends knowing how to place lots of different types of gear on lots of different rock types.

-Practicing how to downclimb, since this incident on Bella Lugosi I've practiced downclimbing a lot and now I consider it one of my best skills. Being able to down climb to a good piece might just save your bacon.

The ability to cycle from my parents house to Llanymynech probably determined Black Wall was my first E1. 

At the more popular climbing areas my "firsts" have already appear, for some reason, on this thread Tennis Shoe Direct, Conclusion and TPS. At the time I thought North Crag Eliminate was my first Lakes E1, unfortunately not likely to be the case in the future. 

great thread rob and I’ve just had an enjoyable half hour reading the replies . I may well have told my tale on here before some time  ago , if not I ll have a go toomorow . To everybody who has had a go …chappeau  

Snap! My main memory is climbing up and down to fiddle in a small wire, deciding that wasn't enough and repeating the process again and again. Eventually I had 5 wires to protect the crux, which thankfully I didn't fall off of, as in the process of taking the rope in for the second, all 5 came out... 

Strapiombante (E1 5b)

It was 34 years ago, the spring of 1990, drove up for tge weekend from Bedfordshire,  jumped in the car ( a Nissan stanza,  affectionately known as the berghaus mobile ) at North lees campsite, looked at each other,  shouted " only Metallica can save us now" sterio cranked to full , unfortunately the only cassette we had was ozzy Osborne,  so tattooed dancer came on, we drove to Froggatt,  tge tune finished as we pulled up at tge white gate , ran to the crag, took a flyer on my first attempt,  did it second go, celebrated with malt loaf and custard, sliced my finger open on the custard tin and did sod all else for the weekend!

Great story Andy. A friend in my old uni club had a similarly exciting experience on Bloody Crack. Whether through inexperience or just getting too pumped and carrying on, he arrived at a peg and in desperation hooked his finger through it. Then quickly realised this made it impossible to clip... 

That's an impressive first E1. Did it this summer and was quite glad E1 wasn't my top grade!

Just located some old email correspondence, as Andy Nisbet's first Extreme in 1977 sticks in the mind. A FFA of Vampire at the Dubh Loch, not a common place to push the grade. At the time his first ever E1, and now gets E2!  

First E1 onsight or first E1 dog? I couldn’t remember either but my logbook says I dogged quite a few E1d before onsighting Renaissance (E1 5b). Unfortunately I can’t remember much about it as Shorn Cliff routes are a bit forgettable. I can’t remember my first E2, 3 and 5 onsights either, but first E4 was Eroica and first proper E4 was Bloody Sunday.

Top tips would be to climb with people who are regularly onsighting lower E grades and getting good at gear placement - that provides confidence to have a go at well protected routes. 

I'm pretty sure my first E1 lead was Excelsior at Chair Ladder, but I can't definitively put a year to it - probably Easter 1973 or 74 - because we always went to Cornwall at Easter in those days.

Chair Ladder seemed to be a bit easier than Bosigran,  if you survived the scramble to the bottom of the crag, and I was with Ken Vickers, who was always very encouraging. The climbing went OK, up to the ledge where the cormorant lived - it took off with a squawk as I started to pull myself over. Managed to hang on despite the shock,  was delighted to have made a breakthrough in grade, and it's still E1...

Another at Auchinstarry for me, this time it was Gold Rush. My only comments in the Logbook are that it was "...slightly disappointingly easy". I vaguely remember placing a few small wires low down, which always gave me way more confidence than they deserved, but other than that it was, frankly, fairly unmemorable.

Conclusion (E1 5b) at Shepherds. It was February 2017 and I was a complete novice scared even of VSs. But, I teamed up with a friend of a friend who was training for a guide exam and was keen to get out as much as possible. He had a really upbeat, positive attitude and dragged me up a lot of Lakes E1s on second, encouraging me into leading VS classics like North West Arete (VS 4b) and Jean Jeanie (HVS 4c). By April of the same year, a day or so after I'd led Golden Slipper (HVS) on Pavey, we found ourselves at Shepherds. It was a busy day, with two uni climbing clubs at the crag. Looking for a second route after a successful lead of Adam (VS 5a), we walked all the way along the base of the crag, but every VS and HVS had a team on it. Finally, we reached the eye-catching corner of Conclusion and I couldn't resist trying it. I was tense and it was a bit of a nervy lead, but I was beyond elated to make a successful onsight lead. ...I then didn't dare to lead another for about 3 years!

Sadly, I've not seen this friend for about 7 years now!

Tiger Feet (E1 5a)

Not many soft E1s in the County that spring immediately to mind, hence this was probably a good first extreme for me. Big moves on buckets with the gear being a couple of upward facing cam slots from what I remember but at least it felt fairly secure. Done a month or so before my 17th birthday having started climbing just before turning 16. Sometimes I wonder how we got away with it.

Surprised that no one else so far has said Evensong (E1 5a) or Pocket Symphony (E1 5b), two of my first E1s back in the 90s. 

When Beeston was more popular there were often in situ threads that made the climbing feel more like a reasonably bolted 6a than a trad lead 😂

For a future article I think E3 and E5 feel like the next big milestones that require a step change in approach/tactics to get up and would be really interested to hear yours and others thoughts on these grades too.

Summer of 1995 and my first visit to Froggatt. Fell off Chequers Buttress (HVS 5a) twice before doing it. Decided to try Three Pebble Slab (HVS 5a) next because it was technically easier, somehow overlooking the fact that it was much bolder and I was far more likely to hurt myself if I got it wrong. Got up it onsight fine, but it's definitely E1 if you don't know in advance exactly what the crucial gear is and how to place it (and I'm someone who's better at grit and slabs and bold routes than most other kinds of climbing).

Long Tall Sally (E1 5b) in about 2009ish

Still one of the best post-climb feelings I've ever had, mainly because I'd seen far better climbers than me struggle and fall off it a couple of weeks earlier on a university afternoon out. I must have been having a good day as I remember it feeling easy, which took me by surprise a little.

Mine was 26 May 1977 - Clan Union (E1 5b), followed a couple of days later byThe Earl of Perth (E1 5b).  Both of these were my first extremes as well as first extreme leads.  I don't remember much about them other than they went fine.

More significantly, a day or two later, did The Beard of Ffoeg Nosam (E2 5b), which was a very stingy HVS at the time!  The following week, did [climb(undefined,"undefined")] and Sexilegs (HVS 5b), which both felt really steady after Avon.

Just to complete the picture over 47 years, I did The Six Nipples of Love (E1 5b) and Eagle (E1 5b) over the last couple of days, so still collecting!

FWIW, I am definitely in the E1 camp as far as Three Pebble Slab is concerned. That upper slab is seriously bold and whilst it might not be technically difficult - it's somewhere that the bubble could easily burst (and if it did, it'd be baaaaad). I'm actually quite amazed at how many people have voted in favour of HVS in light of this - and why it gets HVS in Eastern Grit. Apologies in advance if this completely derails the entire thread 😅

That's worthy of an article in/of itself.

What an absolute legend of the climbing world. What a legacy too?!

Yes, let's not go there again 😂

I agree TPS feels like E1 these days but I do remember doing it in plimsolls before I could afford a pair of EBs circa 1974……..

Should say Undercracker!

Ditto for the same reason!

From dim memory I found it OK, not least as I was going quite well on slabby grit at the time (I know it's not purely a slab...) but also as I was appropriately long and tall!

Looxury! I 'ad to do it in 'obnail boots!

Mine was Elysium (E1 5b) 19 years ago (jezz!). It felt pretty harrowing at the time. Would love to go and do it again

I think I would have had Stone Roses on the stereo if that had been my plan

Seconded it in "Hawkins Walkins" back in my college days - in the wet...

Cemetry Gates was my second (after Suicide Wall at Bosi), and more or less the same thing happened to me. I didn't even recognise the belay ledge, so just carried straight on upwards from the top of what was supposed to be the first pitch into something I was later told is E2 rather than traversing right to reach the belay on the arete. Got to the top on my 50 m ropes but didn't have enough left to double them back through the anchors so had to untie, tie the ropes off, and tie myself back on at the edge.

I suppose it was Hardd, in 1968. Gordon and I had spent a month in North Wales on our first real rock-climbing holiday, during which we advanced from Moderate to HVS. In LLanberis, we camped in the same site where Eric Jones was living in a caravan. He was super-friendly and helpful. Just after we had bought the very first "nuts" from Joe Brown's shop, we were in a lay-by in the pass working out how to place these in cracks in the dry-stone wall. Eric Jones saw us, and came over and showed us how it was done. A few days later, we were again in one of the lay-bys, in pouring rain, wondering where we could climb, when Eric pulled in, in his olive green Mini van, and said "I know somewhere we can climb in the rain - follow me!" He drove very fast, and I had great difficulty keeping up with him in our clapped out Fawlty-esque yellow Mini. Anyway, at Hyll-Drem, Gordon was paired off with Eric's climbing mate (and did the Girdle, I think), whereas I was teamed up with Eric. He led me up Hardd, which I thoroughly enjoyed and gave me no difficulties. We were completely sheltered from the rain, except on the top pitch, which I noted in my diary was "like emerging into a waterfall".

It sounds as though the grade of TPS is something that might be worth discussing on UKC! Just a thought!

That's a wild one to kick off your E1 climbing career!!!

I shouldn't have mentioned it should I 😂

If only there was some sort of grade between HVS and E1 that would accommodate this sort of route...

Double or Quits at Polldubh. Prior to this I'd led All our Yesterdays in Glen Nevis though it was HVS then, since upgraded. This would have been about 1991.

Gimmer String in May 1978 with my great ( sadly passed away) friend Kev Glass.

We had fun protecting the awkard wide crack move with the limited hexes we had at the time.

It was also graded either Mild Xs or Xs at the time, I cannot remember which. It was a glorious sunny day. Our first time to Gimmer and we sat gloating in the NT campsite thinking about it afterwards.

I think for a lot of old gits their first E1 was VS. Mine was 1968, North Crag Eliminate, on Castle Rock. I think I recall an addendum in the guide saying some routes were "extreme". I think we knew it was going to be harder than your average VS.

footnote - amazing to think the Yew tree outlasted the rock, or did the rockfall squash the tree?

Bloody good effort! Chicken Run is a very bold route, and right at the top of the E2 grade. I did it when I was leading E3 solidly, and it definitely required concentration. If you came off the crux you would most likely come very close to the floor.

It's also a very good pitch - deserves to be thought of as a good route rather than a minor variation on Thin Wall Special.

Chapeau!

April 2002

I'd driven up to North Lees campsite a Friday night before and gone out soloing on the Saturday morning. I started at the Mantelpiece Butress and worked my way northwards along the edge trying every route in my Eastern Grit guide with only a towel to wipe my boots and my tiny S7 bouldering mat. Climbing within my limits only climbing moves I could reverse. Like a sucker I soon found myself having done the crux of Gullible's Travels (E1 5b) and didn't fancy reversing it, the rest of the route was clearly within my capabilities so that was my first E1.

Although as someone commented in the logbook feedback

"Really not E1 if you're using a bouldering mat! Quite steady moves and very reasonable for an onsight solo-able E1"

I spent the rest of the day soloing along the edge and while topping out on Heather Wall (VS 4c) I met a guy called Tom who was bringing their second up Crack and Corner (S 4b) The second was really struggling on the polished start and had given up. He asked me if I'd mind seconding the route to clean his gear, I said I didn't have a harness with me, he suggested a waist bowline and thus I was able to clean the route for him and recover his gear.  

On Sunday I resumed my solo adventures but packed a harness in the bottom of my bag in case I encountered anyone kind enough to lend me the end of a rope. When I got to  Stanage Popular I recognised Tom from the day before, he was trying Mississippi Variant Direct (E1 5b) but wasn't able to get through the overhangs. He offered me his rack and the chance to lead and off I went, through the overhang first time and then into the crux padding up the holdless slab to the reach the next sloping holds. The next thing I remember was gasps from all around and the feeling of being caught in a baby bouncer as the ropes went tight.  I immediately checked with Tom if he was ok if I had another go, he was surprised I was so keen to get back on after my first lead fall, but now I'd felt how bad the slopers were, I knew to chalk up first. The overhang was more of a struggle, but I was able to rest on the ledge, chalk up and complete the route. 

A long time ago I was belaying a friend on Ceramic (E4 5c) in Cheedale which had a big runout to a peg. Pumped and scared he did exactly this. He was there whimpering for about ten minutes before resigning himself to pulling his finger out and taking the full whipper.

Yes, definitely tough for E1, although my experience was that by the time you realise this, you don’t have much choice about continuing!

It is interesting how many peoples' first E1 was not that grade at the time. This makes me think that the grade in the book is often more of a psychological barrier than the actual climbing.

Looking back, my first HVS was Cioch Grooves (HVS 5a) which was just a Scottish VS at the time, my first E2 was Steeple (E2 5c) which we only did because someone told us it was only a little bit harder than Needle which we had done the day before and was one of my first E1's (I think they may have both been given MXS or something at the time) and my first E4 was Star Wars (E4 5c) which was then given E3 and which I actually thought was my first E3 at the time (I can't now remember what would have been my actual first E3 done later that year!).

I doubt I would have done any of these three routes at the time had they been given their current grade.

For the record: 'Vibrio', at Chatsworth, around about 1988.

(However, from above comments, I see that routes like 'Ivy Sepulchre' and 'Cemetery Gates' have since been upgraded - so it was actually a few years earlier than that. We can have another thread about regrading ...)

Moyers Buttress back in June 86. Seem to remember it being fine but repeated it some years later and found it quite bold

My first attempt at an E1 was Grilled Fingers (E1 5a) in 2004.  It didn't go well.  At the time it was HVS.  I don't think I had ever seconded or toproped anything harder than VS and had never been bouldering.  We didn't really understand the grading system and the relationship between danger and difficulty.  I also didn't own any cams so had borrowed some from a friend.  I didn't really know what to do with them, but my god they were shiny and cool!  Armed with my newly borrowed gear and my youthful cloak of invincibility I headed off up the route.  The breaks were flared but I stuffed cams in each of them anyway. Then it got harder, steep, slopier and for the first time I understood what 'being pumped' meant.  I knew I was coming off, fear was mounting, my confidence in the cams rapidly began to diminish.  I peeled off backwards and tumbled down the route, along with the top couple of cams.  I bashed my bum and back on the buttress behind as my belayer legged it down the gully.  I swung forwards and my helmet connected with the rock.

I don't remember the next bit. Apparently I was out cold but not for too long.  It was a uni club meet so there were plenty of people about.  My friends walked me down to the car and my next memory was in the north Staffordshire Hospital.  I remember the nurse asking my friends if I was acting very different from usual and them replying, 'yes, he's not trying to flirt with you'!  An evening of painkillers (some of which the hospital gave us...) followed then an uncomfortable night in a tent somewhere near Leek.  We headed back out to climb on the Sunday and I was on seconding duty all day as I was still pretty concussed.  I can remember looking at the roof of The Sloth and thinking 'slabs aren't for me, maybe we should try something steeper with good holds next time...'

In America, they use a + sign. This usually seems to mean "we don't quite know how to grade this, but it's nasty for the grade whatever it is, and probably best avoided".

Eskimo NellEskimo Nell (E1 5b)

Very memorable! 

Not a very inspiring story but I was at work one day and just made the decision I could climb E1 (I had done a lot of seconding higher grades and was a solid VS / HVS leader) and needed to go do it quickly before I talked myself out of it. So I emailed a friend & told her the plan, asked her not to let me change my mind, we went straight after work, did it first route without stopping to think and afterwards thought - what was the big deal, it was fine. The Dog (HVS 5b). Now HVS of course

Works the other way as well though! After seconding a few "amenable" HVS's my first try at leading one was Chequers Crack with no idea (from the ancient Paul Nunn guide) what I was taking on.

That went about as well as you'd imagine (!) but it took quite a while to grasp how badly I'd sandbagged myself and that I was actually quite capable of stepping up to the grade.

My first two extremes were Brant Direct and Karwendal Wall on the Grochan in 1970 - both now HVS. I took a few pegs on BD to eke out my meagre supply of nuts but never used them. I remember somehow managing to sit on a foot ledge on the right and spending a looong time trying to stand up again. I've no memory of Karwendal at all.

My first extremes that have stayed E1 were the Corner and the Gates on the same day in '71 with a few more nuts on the rack but no pegs.

I think Thin Wall Special was also mine and at about the same time. My recollection is that where the moves got a bit more difficult the protection was OK. It encouraged me to believe I probably could climb E1 (unless it was on grit!).

My other memory of about that time was on a hot still summer day a basking shark cruising into the bay at Bosigran. The crag was suddenly very quiet!

Steve

I had a complete fiasco and failed outright on Chequers Crack not long after doing my first E5.

There's a route that is very similar to Chequers Crack: similar angle, with a similar crack at the start. Just as short, perhaps even shorter? It's at Rivelin, called Auto da Fe. It's given a different grade for some reason.

During 80s grades the first E1 I tried was Vice is Nice at St. Govan. Slumped on gear at the top.Too much cake at Ma Westons just before was the excuse. Then the next day did Street Legal at Mowingword with no cake and no slumping. Funny that these are both E2 now!

So with today's grades my first E1 was Beyond the Azimuth at Carreg y Barcud which we graded HVS.

Like for many others on this thread mine was Cemetery Gates. I seem to remember the climbing being steady until suddenly the holds got smaller and and further apart and I was like, oh this must be the crux, can't stop now! Back at the hut someone asked me what I've done. I was beaming with pride "Cemetery Gates, my first E1"! They asked me what the gear was like. Not suspecting a trap, I said it was fine. And they said something along the lines "Well, it can't be an E1 then?" What a prick! But well played...

North Crag Eliminate (E1, 5b), Castle Rock, June 1976, inspired by the HR write-up, most definitely.  I was teaching in Carnforth at the time. Slipped out early (those were the days) and was on the crag by 4.30. We were alone, in the sun, carefree and I was loving the first few years of my Lakes exploration. After a predictable epic, the pint in the Kings Head was nectar. The route had not disappointed and it subsequently became etched in my climbing consciousness. Such a shame that rockfall now denies subsequent youthful adventure.

In fairness, that's probably true. What an amazing first E2 though!

The 'full whipper'? In my same uni club that was another term for a groundfall.

My first extreme was Something Better Change (E2 5b)one summer evening at The Roaches. If you've ever walked up the steps connecting the Lower to the Upper Tier, you'll have passed it on your right about half way up. It's an attractive, narrow slab with the tempting crack of Yong (HVD 4a) just to its left - but place a sensible side-runner in here and you're only getting HVS. It's named after a Stranglers' song so it's no surprise that it's one of Gary Gibson's  creations. Although it was only a month or so after leading my first proper VS, I already knew I loved the intricacy of movement on slabs and I was strangely attracted to boldness. That day I'd lead Technical Slab (HS 4a) and Central Route (VS 4a) and I was feeling good. I'd looked at it on the way up and as the day drew towards its close I could feel it calling my name. Despite the big grade jump I knew I'd regret it if I didn't just get on it while everything felt right. It all flowed really smoothly and I knew I wasn't placing gear in the crack - I wanted the satisfaction of my first extreme tick. At the top I sat down to belay Nick up it, looking out over Staffordshire as the light turned golden and feeling the grit still tingling in my fingertips. For me, there's not much that can beat that combination of view, physical sensation and emotion.

I've since soloed the route and I'm one of the few UKCers to have logged what is actually a very good variation: Something Better Change Right-hand (E2 5b) - but, being older and a good deal less bouncy, I finally gave in and put a mat under it that time. Looks pretty small when you're committed to the crux though. The Roaches has always held a special place in my heart. Every time I walk up the steps I look up at the route and smile to myself. If you're unlucky enough to be with me, I'll probably stop and tell you this story all over again!

Surely the ground curtails a full whipper.

Yes. Now done it 7 or 8 times and hopefully not for the last time. New knees might be required though.

Mine was Death Cap (E1 5a) at Earnsheugh in 2018. I led the 2nd pitch. I hadn't actually led HVS or seconded E1 at the time but at the belay, Keith offered me the lead so I took it. Looks like I've done it 7 times now. Such a great cliff.

My second E1 was actually The Needle (E1 5b) I seconded the 5b pitches though. This ascent was in a warm dry Feburay. Some dutch friends had come over for a week of winter climbing but they got some cragging and mountain trad instead.

http://grahamwyllie.blogspot.com/2019/03/dutch-luck-needle.html?m=1

I can't remember the first route I led that was given E1 when I did it. That doesn't mean that getting into extreme grades wasn't a big thing it is simply that E1 wasn't introduced until after I was already comfortable on routes that were then graded simply Extreme that are now about E2. If you are old enough your first E1 will inevitably have been done before there was such a thing. There are still plenty of us around.

At current grades there was a time when my first VS leads on mountain volcanic rock, gritstone and limestone had all morphed into my first HVS leads on those rock types. Now one of them: Central Buttress at Avon, has morphed again into my first E1 on any rock type. I can remember that all too clearly. I was terrified.

Bella Lugosi is Dead in the Dinorwic Quarries. Psyched myself up for a few days and approached it in serious fashion. Efficiently flowed through to the crux, at which point I encountered a green ceiling of midges, freshly hatched from the rancid festering puddle at the routes base. On this particular late summer evening I had chosen to wear tight shorts and a baggy vest, as was de rigueur at the time. I've got no idea what happened next in an adrenaline fueled fight for survival, I just remember pulling my partner up with some force and running away. Every bit of exposed skin was bitten and swelled to the extent that I could  barely open my eyes. Great route though apparently.

Pocket Symphony at Beeston Tor. Lots and lots and lots of threads. 🙂

Abanana at Bowden. Essentially a solo a there is naff all gear in it

Central Buttress was the first route I did at Avon - seconding. I wasn’t used to climbing on limestone, let alone the very alien-feeling Avon limestone, and it felt desperate for the grade, which was then … (wait for it) … VS!!

First one was Hangover (E1 5b). 
Age about 20 and ‘a few’ pints the night before I think I was… hungover that is … and the name appealed in the guidebook. 
 

I sort of woke up high in a technical bridging groove as my only runner tinkled and slid down a gentle arc of rope round the corner and far out of sight. 

toes started shaking a bit as I was looking at a fair amount of flight time/cratering.
The hangover was quickly forgotten. Don’t remember the moves to the top but they were intense. 
 

I’ve not repeated the route! 
 

My first I think was First Finale at Anglezarke. We (Dad and brother) had had a superb week of English and Welshclimbing. Quite a change from Scottish walk ins and weather. This included my first grit experience diamond crack at Frogget and Brant direct in the Pass. We stopped at Anglezarke on the way home as we used to live in Preston and it was on the way home. Don't remember the route well but the whole week was memorable and a breakthrough in confidence from being a VS leader. Also confirmed my confidence in jamming.

Snap! My first E1 lead was Debauchery (E1 5b) on High Tor after I’d been climbing about a year or so with a bunch of people climbing much harder routes and dragging me up them as a ‘perennial second’. A really outstanding route. They were fundamentally crag rats, so grit was the main activity and even back then, bouldering was a thing with them (1980), so I’d done a lot of grit seconding. Something Better Change (E2 5b) and Chalkstorm (E3 5c) were leads that predated that first E1, being pointed at them with the advice ‘clean your boots youth’. Pre stickies, wearing EBs, they were special routes.

My first was Easter Rib (E1 5b). It wasn't my style at all, and took some steady focus! I've done it since, when I had some very small cams. That made a difference! I'm surprised this route doesn't appear more often as a first E1.

Snap again! My second extreme was also Chalkstorm (E3 5c), a few weeks later. I put a low side-runner in, so maybe that counts as my first actual E1. It was a good job I did, as I fell off on the onsight attempt! Took quite a swing, but no damage done. My mate and I then decided it might be wise to practice it on top rope first, so it was actually a headpoint. My next decent onsight extreme was Enigma Variation (E2 5b) up on the Roaches Skyline, another boldish slab. I did eventually get round to climbing steep stuff, but it took a while.

Not the Stone Roses? I think you've let yourself down there Rob!

My first E1 was North Crag Eliminate in May 1979. Or so I thought at the time. 

It was three years after I first touched rock but for the first two and a bit I only got out once a month, on VDiffs and Severes in chossy Somerset quarries. My schoolboy partners and I agreed we might try the occasional HVS in the distant future if we got really good but that was the extent of our dreams. E1 was Extreme, the Top Grade! Climbing one implied you were a Top Climber which we clearly weren’t. 

Three weeks at University broadened my horizons and I climbed my first HVS, Three Pebble Slab, then nearly 50 more over the next six months. Several were not really HVS: Brown’s Eliminate, Debauchery, Delicatessen, or the Verdon’s Luna Bong which had a funny French grade so didn’t count. In my mind I had yet to lead an E1.

In the end it happened by accident, running pitches together inadvertently meant I was presented with the crux. It was fine, easier than many routes I had already done of course. The dam burst and in the next six months I climbed more than 50 E1s and E2s from Cornwall to the Lake District. 

Had I reflected on this experience I would have realised several things: firstly that you should try not to let yourself be over-awed by number or reputation. Secondly, some routes of a certain grade will be easier for you than the bald number might suggest (and some of course will be harder) since we all have different strengths and weaknesses. Thirdly, who you climb with and their expectations play a huge role how you climb. Although E1 no longer represents a Top Grade, I think these general principles often still apply. I still frequently fail to apply them. 

Im not up with all the modern jargon but isn't that a Redpoint?

Think this is an important factor for many - I started climbing with a small club in the south of England where no one climbed harder than VS & looked on extremes (this was a little before E grades) as something for super heroes. Within a month or two I was leading VS & was pretty solid at that grade, rarely failing to lead VS on sight in places as far apart as N & S Wales, the Lakes & the Peak but never taking the obvious move  to HVS or harder.

Then I went to university (Oxford) where several members of the mountaineering club climbed harder routes.  That shattered the impression that hard routes were only for the elite & I led a HVS (Brant direct) on my first weekend meet &, as noted above, climbed the occasional extreme with others although I didn't lead any where I knew I was leading the crux or only pitch until a year or two later when I moved to Scotland.

But climbing with those who are better still had its limits - even seconding I don't think I ever climbed anything harder than E3 despite climbing with those who climbed E5 & harder.

In the interests of generating as much specialist jargon as possible, "headpoint" can be used to refer specifically to pre-practised trad and "redpoint" to refer specifically to pre-practised sport.

also that ‘modern jargon’ is do years old…

Redpoint, headpoint, ground up, onsight,

It's still rock 'n' roll to me!

Redpoint, headpoint, ground up, onsight,

It's still rock 'n' roll to me!

I'm  very impressed how much some people remember about climbs they did decades ago!

Mine was Kirkus's Corner (E1 5b) in summer 2005. All I can remember is that I found the crux quite tough but the bold bit above straightforward.  I'm pretty sure these days it would be the opposite! I do also remember that I was really chuffed with it. That summer in general was brilliant, we spent a lot of time doing lots of VS-E2s in a day on the grit before going back to Uni. I've never had another period where we got quite so much done.

Good thread. Mine was 'Beast from the Undergrowth' at Baggy Point. I can still remember the feeling of exhilaration, 40 years ago, on the top few moves when I knew I had 'done it'.

Never actually led E1 but fell of Mississippi Buttress Variant Direct a week after seconding it fine, which was really annoying!

My first E1 (E0 if you're Fiend) was Cameo, Wilton 1 in 1989. Dropped all my small wires after placing my second piece of gear. Decided to press on, effectively soloing the crux and only placing one more wire about 5ft from the top.

Andy F

This has made me look back at my logbook, so far, the first 5 E1s that I led were all HVS when I led them. I will be back with a more complete answer when I have more time...

Hi Rob.  In the summer of 1980, aged 17, I was encouraged by my mate Flog, and by a miner I knew only as 'Bob from Barnsley', to try my momentous 'first E1'.  We decided that this should be Sirplum in Chee Dale.  While driving out from Sheffield we thought it would be a good idea to do a warm up route before we arrived in Chee Dale so we stopped at Stoney for me to lead Dead Banana Crack (given HVS at the time).  So far as I can remember everything went fine on both routes that day and I became a proud E1 leader.  We all now know the truth, that DBC is harder than Sirplum, and weighs in at a feisty E1 6a.  In fact using modern grading it turns out that I had unwittingly already led half a dozen E1's, all given HVS back in the day, but this is irrelevant as pushing your grade is phycological and the route is what the route is given at the time.  So to me, Sirplum remains my step up to E1.   38 years later i encouraged my son Jake to lead Sirplum as one of his early E1's which enabled us to make the comparative photo showing the changing fashion and gear styles over the decades.  (photo attached to Sirplum on UKC).

Here’s the link you forgot 😉

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/chee_dale_upper-10865/sirplum-1215...

Great pair of pics!

This made me realise I don't remember.

I do know it too would have been when I was at Bangor Uni and a BUM, pretty sure it would have been in Vivian Quarry.

The name The Madness did pop into my brain as a possibility, was that around in the mid 90's and was it an E1 then?

Cameo (E1 5a) at Wilton.

I have to agree that your peer group is an important factor when considering "pushing your grade".  I mixed with a small group of a dozen or so climbers around Sheffield back in the 60's and 70's. There were many routes that I aspired to climb, their reputation scared me off, but once someone in the peer group climbed one most of us followed after.

TPS, so that doesn’t count, obviously. Which means my first E1 was Cinturato. Now that’s graded E2, unless your belayer is up the slope (mine was) - in which case it’s E1. Although when I climbed it that method didn’t incur a drop in grade. Rockfax (I think) subsequently suggested a drop in grade to HVS with a high belayer. I’m not sure when the upgrade to E2 occurred. Taking all the above into account, my first E1 was an HVS until it was upgraded to E2 at which point it became an E1. 

This is going to be one superb article. As a climber who still aspires to climb more E1s, my advice is simple: climb more VS / HVSs. My first was Green Wall (E1 5c*) at Cheesden Lumb Mill, a short climb but my memory still takes me back to saying to myself, "Hold on and keep pulling!" which at the time felt desperate until the rock over finally felt 'safe'. Funnily enough, my most recent E1 (5b*) felt more committing with no gear on the slab for 7 or 8 metres. So I have learnt not to pay too much attention to grades.

Looking at the photo, I would add judgement around when two ropes or extending runners may be beneficial. I think this becomes more important around E1 as the ground gets steeper (so there are more significant consequences of ropes not running freely) and runners become less in line (though of course there’s plenty of that on easier routes as well).

My first E1 was Sinecure in North Pembroke with an incredibly supportive second.

Yes that is what it was when I did it. As I said, it morphed into HVS and then E1 later. No need to "wait for it".

I had to look this up. It was Wrong Hand Route (E1 5c) at Bamford Edge. Certainly not the easiest E1, not that I've done many. I don't think I intended to 'do my first E1' at the time and just felt like trying it. I recall using the 'wrong hand'. There was an intense moment after the crux when I realised I had to select the correct wire first time or I would be too pumped to continue.

I’ve done a few and I still can’t get off the ground on this one!

North Crag Eliminate in July 1990. Long ago in geological time.

I did 3 Pebble Slab a month before that but everyone knows it’s E0

Sirplum

Sirplum (E1 5b)

It was memorable! 

Crikey, that's a hell of a route to pick as your first E1!

This thread is both fascinating and addictive, you´re going to have a great time writing the article I think. The bottom line: many roads lead to Rome! (My personal road was a bit of a cheat - leave the UK with a few HVS leads under your belt, come back as a solid UIAA VII climber, and cruise your first E1 classic, which almost gives me the feeling that it shouldn´t count.)

Like so many, I´d already led a few then-HVS´s which are now E1s: Strapiombante (E1 5b) (with tons of beta), Southern Rib (E1 5b), the first pitch of which was glorious, but the horrific grassy slope to the rotting fencepost belay above pitch 2 was the psychological crux. I was back there for a walk a few years ago, and the whole buttress seemed to be covered in ivy; shame! Then there was Medusa (E1 5b), of which I can´t remember a single detail, except that I was basically scared of the whole crag. So I´m sticking to Debauchery (E1 5b) as my first proper claim.

One thing which stands out in a lot of the posts: having a stronger and supportive partner, or really feeling the buzz and just going for it when the urge hits you seem to be very strong ingredients in the recipe for success on that first E1 lead. Fascinating, how your mindset can convince your muscles and coordinative skills that it´s going to work, and it (well, mostly) does. Trad is 50% mindgame!

Great thread - thanks to all!

Lime Street Direct at Willersley, great route, still pleased I can still get up it 30 years later!

Flying buttress direct, although it was HVS at the time 

Yeah - can't remember why now! I went a  bit off-piste too and ended up on  an (easy) section of the Spider A3 before rejoining the route! 

My first E1 was perhaps rather ambitious, but all went well and it's still one of my best-ever climbing days. Now E2, I see...

White Slab (E2 5c) Lester Hartmann had said that it was his favourite climb. Parky and I had been going well on bolts in the Ecrins, and we had a perfect September day. We decided that we'd 'go for it'.There was a pair ahead, but they didn't hold us up much. I led pitches 1, 3 and 5, and Parky was quick on the lassoing.

Everything took longer than we'd anticipated.... Mrs Penny H was expecting us back at 4.30, but we finally reached a worried lady in the dark at 7.30...... after that I've never given her an 'eta'.

The next year, my first route graded E2 was a solo! The Conger (E2 5c) I've now started this ten times, and only reached the top once......

Great thread Rob.

My first E1 was Shivers Arete (E1 5b) which was a curious affair and possibly an odd choice with a bolt protecting the funky last move. I was pretty nervous on the last stance and didn't really understand the crux sequence though it was fun once I decided I needed to move.

While the climb was memorable and a fun line to boot the memory that stands out is bumping into Tim Greenhalgh at the bottom who was about doing some general tidying telling me that the old bolt failed at something ridiculous like 0.4kn (?!) which would have been a hell of a ride. 

Good Times!

First E1 lead that was graded that at the time was Gripper (E1 6a) but before then my 1st E lead was Commander Energy (E2 5c) and my 2nd was Wall End Slab Direct Finish (E3 5c) on one of those memorable days when everything just flowed like magic - good job too because I only put 2 bits of "distant" gear in - must have been doing something wrong there with the order 😁 - especially since I never got much better ☹.

I'd also soloed 4 E1's that are all now given bouldering grades and led or soloed several others that are now given E grades but weren't at the time.

My first E1 was Aviation on Hay Tor’s Lowman… I think I had climbed one, maybe two HVS’ previously as I was all about becoming a ‘proper climber’. It did take a few attempts, basically just to get going above the overlap… think it was my first hanging belay also! Probably all very sketchy as my friend and I were self taught as we didn’t know any climbers older than us… 

Great times.

I've been giving this a lot of thought. The first E1 lead I recorded in my logbook was Sword of Damocles (E1 5b), 19th June 1977. But, was it my first? I certainly climbed plenty of HVSs before then that have since been upgraded. The other point is that until shortly before then, there were no E1s. That is to say E grades had not been invented. It was a serious problem for us, we had no idea of just how hard anything harder than HVS was, they were all graded Extreme, with the occasional Hard Extreme such as The Thing (E2 5c) (now E2). The articles in Crags and Mountain magazine dividing Extreme into E1 - 5 opened a whole new world for us. The E grades given in the articles were pencilled into our guidebooks, we were ready to take them on!

It was,  Coronation street at Cheddar.

I had just arrived from Spain with a useless rack of stiff wires and removable bolt hangers. Led my first HVS the previous weekend at tremadog, the fang, and felt sufficiently experienced to tackle Coronation  Street. 

We nearly got benighted on route and I remember leaving all my useless wires clipped to a peg and launching up a groove with little else than rotten pegs for protection.

It was freezing, abseiling  down a rotten gully from the top in the dark.

Slept in the toilets.

A great experience. 

Even more so in the Lakes, nothing more than VS.

VS (Hard)

Description starts: An extremely hard route.

The first route that I climbed that was graded E1 at the time (I've worded that carefully!) was Aviation on Haytor.  It was Easter holidays 1982, first year at university.  It was a gloriously sunny day and the whole thing went off without too much difficulty. The guidebook we had was Pat Littlejohn's SW Climbs, which gives it E1 5b, 5b.  I led the second pitch which is definitely the easiest of the two and probably not really an E1 lead.  But we didn't know that at the time and having found the first pitch quite reasonable, I started my pitch thinking it was going to be the hard one.  The grade seems to vary with every guidebook so I've never been sure whether to count it or not.

The next one, about a month later, was Park Lane /Doomsville on Gogarth Upper Tier.  I led the first pitch and recall going up and down a few times before committing.  I got to the belay and suddenly remembered it was actually my birthday!  My partner led the second pitch, again getting the harder lead (seems to get E2 nowadays) but he despatched it without fuss.

My great friend and climbing partner on both these routes, John Walters, was killed in a road accident in the early nineties, so my memories of these and the many other routes we did together are always tinged with sadness.

Hi Rob.

My first success at E1 was Cenotaph Corner (E1 5c) way back in June 1986 in the midst of my Uni finals. Spent "forever" on the route, including what felt like hours psyching-up for the move out of the niche. 

Earlier in the year, with a huge 5 months experience of climbing, and a couple of easy HVS's under my belt, I attempted Mani (E1 5b) at Stoney, but dobbed-off a few times on the crux. A mate then lead the route on my gear and gave me a bollocking for falling on half a rock 1 so many times. I returned to climb it clean shortly after doing the Corner.

Post Script - apparently I led E2 before leading E1 - Shit Wall (E2 5b). Very forgettable, and must have been graded easier at the time!

Was it as late as the early 90s? The last time I climbed with John was during my postgrad years in the mid 80s, and in my hazy recollection of those days his accident was shortly after that. But I suppose memories of exactly what happened when long ago get compressed. In any case, John has a prominent place in my memories too as one of the Lost Good Guys.

Ah that explains it, see my other puzzled response to your post!

Just spent a long time reading some of the great stories in this thread.

Unfortunately I can't remember my first E1 - I know I dabbled with several of the usual-suspect-soft-touches in my late teens and early twenties, but can't remember which was actually 'first'.

However, I very much remember the route that made me feel that I had really 'cracked' E1. I swung leads with my old friend Ian on Super Direct (E1 5b) at Dinas Mot, one cold November day in 2003/4ish. I remember yarding away on the final big layback moves at the very top, feeling like a superhero. After that day, I felt that I could do any E1 anywhere!

I’ve emailed you.

I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. The reason would be that the top half is hard 5c and it's definitely E4.

Only half joking, but the point I was trying to make, Chequers Crack is a sandbag at HVS, possibly still'd be a sandbag were it upgraded to a E1 or even E2 for that matter. I also think that the top half of Autodafe is not significantly harder than its bottom half. There's also another route, Palm Charmer that shares the same start and its top half is quite easy, definitely easier than the start. That one is also not an HVS. 

I agree that chequers crack would not be a friendly first E1

Didn’t Chequuers Crack used to be graded HVS 5a? The bottom half was always tough and strenuous to put the gear in, I used to find it easier to solo it rather than lead it. 

Yes. In the old days, with way less protection gear than now, the moment one got on a climb like Chequers Crack, one realised one needed to go at it with some oomph, I.e., a couple of minutes climbing with a couple of runners.

If you can do it, everything is easier as a solo, surely?

It's still stubbornly HVS, but 5a must have been outrageous, even in Whillans'/Brown's day. Rockfax gives it 5c. I don't remember how hard it was, but I did think I had mastered HVS until I tried it. Quite humbling. 

 Even with modern gear, if you can lace it these days, you are too strong.

It was easier to solo as the crux wasn’t too high and you could jump off onto your beer towel 🫣😉

IIRC, on Chequers Crack (HVS 5c) one of the most obvious bits of gear on the lower crack made the moves significantly harder. The problem being that you didn't realise that until you'd placed the gear - and of course moving the gear would be completely knackering.

Don't think I've led this completely "clean" by today's ethics - yo-yoed in 84; definite lead falls in 09 ☹

Interesting to know if this is any easier to climb with crack gloves. I have always regarded using such aids as cheating, but for Chequers I would happily make an exception!

First extreme that I was solely responsible for leading it all was White Slab on cloggy. Followed by celebratory mixed grill in wendy's cafe. First where I graduated from being "the apprentice" to sharing leads, the Tomb on Gable crag with John Brazington (he was sadly killed in alps a couple of years later). This was the sunday before I was due sit my O level geography on monday morning. I had to be dragged out of bed by a teacher so I could sit (fail) the exam. My parents were horrified. 

I don't think any of the jams in the lower crack are wide enough for hands - not sure about this but IIRC also it's a smooth crack rather than rough - somebody with better memory or recent experience will be able to correct me if necessary.

The upper crack would probably benefit from gloves but that bit's only VS - as long as you can rest well enough in an awkward position in the break.

My memory of the lower crack is that it’s too narrow for hand jams and too wide for good finger jams, and VERY shiny as a result of multiple small Friends placements. Biggest snag is that the only good protection goes exactly where you want to put your hands. So, confession: I failed on it. On the same grading scale the nearby Chequer’s Buttress is about MVS at the very most, or Hard Severe. [All this from memory of at least 25 years ago.]

Never really regarded myself as an E grade climber, but looking through my stats on here I find I’ve done more E1s than I imagined.  Most of my routes of this grade have been seconded, or they’ve been upgraded since I did them, and a couple have been top-roped, I have to admit. My first was done in 1972 - Scarecrow Crack (E1 5b) which was HVS at the time IIRC. It was top roped.

My first E1 lead was Aphid's Wall (E1 5b) in 1993. My comment on UKC was that I thought it was worth HVS 5a, but that was probably not because I thought it easy at the grade, but rather because the guidebook gave it VS.

Chequers Buttress is very high dependant. If you are 5' 4" as I am then you have a tricky 5a move up the arete to reach the jug. If you are taller and can reach it then it is a lot easier.

Eventful day. Led a 'soft' E1 at Cambusbarron near Stirling called 'the doobie brothers'. Met some bros smoking doobies at the top out too. 'Fair play tae yous daein' that, scary man'

My pal also did his first E1 ground up the same day before our other mate took a groundfall of the crag classic E4 from 2m and ripped his gear (he'd been working the route all day). 

Mountain rescue in attendance and a trip to Larbert A&E (oor pal was fine, just a broken wrist). Saw my forst ever UK badger on the drive home to Edinburgh. 

Eventful day...

Well, I’m 5’ 7” and still had to do that one tricky move using a poor hold. But one tricky 5a move doesn’t put it very high in the HVS grade, does it?

Bog standard HVS. No way is it E1. It was in the early 70s, and even more so today. Still a good route though.

Bog standard HVS. No way is it E1. It was in the early 70s, and even more so today. Still a good route though. In fact the votes on here back this up.

Chequers Buttress (HVS 5a)

Limbo in Avon Gorge, done many decades ago. Had done loads at HVS but struggled and failed on quite a few E1, mentally I was intimidated by the grade and deep down didn't really believe in myself, so would usually find an excuse to back off. Eventually I chose a relatively safe and lower end E1, Limbo, which over the years has oscillated from HVS 5b to E1 5b (finally settling at E1, it seems). Anyway, I nearly talked my way out of committing to the crux sequence but did it, and it was fine! All that fuss about nothing!!

It was my first Extreme in 1973 when I led it, I wasn't going to argue, I hadn't the experience. Soloed several times subsequently so happy memories.

My memory is similar to yours. I tried finger jams first go and popped off. Second go I used more of a layback, which worked a lot better. Obviously placing gear was hard. I thought it was worth E1. 

Dovedale Grooves, May 1968, on sight.

So it turns out that Birdlime Traverse (E1 5b) has now been promoted to E1, making this retrospectively my first.

Mine was Brown's Eliminate. University club freshers' meet, waiting at the bottom of Green Gut to take a beginner up, and a parade of club members passed by soloing BE, so I figured it couldn't be that difficult and had to be more fun than waiting for the bloke on GG to finish.

jcm

When was Brown's Eliminate E1? It's been E2 5b since at least '91.

IIRC in the mid-late 70's orange Froggatt guide it was XS(-) 5a.

In the 1985 Derwent Gritstone guide it's E1 5b.

HVS when I first led it in 1976.

I think it was Cotton Terror at Anglezarke, and I did it by mistake thinking I was on Terracotta. Scared the shit out of me.

A few years later I then took a ground fall off the same climb due to the friable bit being very friable and this put me off climbing throughout my 20s as it was a perfect combo of loose rock and gear failure.

I later led the Waster at Chevin Buttress once I got back on the wagon in my 30s. If anyone has climbed this, you'll know how bad a choice this was!

Gargantua at Daddyhole.. Gargantua (E1 5b)  1994 My brother had recently met a local hot shot climber who wanted to lead it. I had only done a few HVS and wouldn't have thought about leading an E1 at that time. So we all drove up in my car one Sunday and scrambled down onto the beach. Once he looked at the line he changed his mind completely, so quite quickly I decided to go for it. I think the lack of deep thought about it helped and I actually found the first pitch was fine. I can remember feeling bulletproof after that and insisting that instead of sharing leads I would lead the top pitch too. I found that this was the highlight of the route.

I then stupidly thought I was an 'E1' climber until I got totally shut down on the next one I tried. It  took me about a year to lead my next.

My first "E1" was an accident whilst attempting what I thought was my first HVS.

An eager NQT and aspirant SPSA took 16y.o. me to North Wales for a week of logbook fattening, only to be rained off the pass on our first day, forcing us to Tremadog and the ever dry Striptease, VS.

Having swapped alt leads on that as my first VS, I had spied another team on The Fang next door and convinced my partner to let me have a go.

Naturally, with no route finding skills I sketched straight up the first pitch of Extraction (E2 5c) instead; a mistake that wasn't realised until many years later.

15 years ago, on a road trip around Wales and the Lakes following the good weather, my boyfriend at the time (not G!) and I found ourselves in Pembroke.  I was pushing my grade all week - I probably led more HVS that week than I have in the rest of my life.

I got on The Great Valerio The Great Valerio (E1 5a) at Carreg-y-Barcud. At the time it was given HVS. There's no way I'd have done it if the book said E1 like it does now.

Half way along the traverse I dropped my set of peanuts into the sea, so had to continue without them. We went back the next day and retrieved them at low tide.

I don't have much memory of the climbing, apart from bricking it and trying very hard to hold it together in order to continue. I would not recommend a long traverse with small fiddly gear as a first E1.

Towards the end of the week, all the grade-pushing got to my head and it ended badly with a fall off Concrete Chimney The Concrete Chimney (HVS 5a) at Gogarth: I ended up off route, the rock was a bit smeggy, and I fell off. Fortunately the not-very-good nut held my swinging fall. I've never climbed as well since then.

Long traverses with small fiddly gear at about HVS or E1... that sounds like just my thing Just had to look it up right now in the old blue guide. Can't imagine why I have never noticed that one before.

Did you hand or foot traverse? 

That made me laugh!  jcm’s university days were, errr… earlier than that date.

(As were mine)

😂😂😂😂😂

I did wonder whether it would have even been HVS back then or would it have been something like "Very Severe - hard (rubbers)"

Nothing particularly significant about that date, merely the earliest guide I had access to.

Besides, that was nearly 35 years ago! You could be not even born then and still be practically middle aged...

Yes, the stories on the thread are probably skewed by the assumption you can still remember anything as far back as your first E1’ or ‘Mild Extremely Severe’ (or, according to Ron James, HVS).

Now you’re just being rude! 🤣

Hand traverse, because it had more gear (or would have until I dropped the nuts...)