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With the recent appearance of a bunch of new E9s, I thought it would be interesting to make a list of all the routes in Britain and Ireland of that grade and above.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=7030
Ordered by area, and by date of first ascent within that area (reveals some interesting things, such as a long hiatus in North Wales between Mission Impossible and House of Talons).
Besides a couple of the new ones which aren't on UKC yet, am I missing anything?
Should hard-enough DWS routes be included? What about things on the margins of route/highball, like Commitment Issues, Hobbie Noble or Mur Gwyn?
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In reply to Andy Moles:
P.S. with credit to Remus's climbinghistory.org for providing the timeline!
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In reply to Andy Moles:
> P.S. with credit to Remus's climbinghistory.org for providing the timeline!
It's https://climbing-history.org/
There's live list here BTW, I'd like to offer the facility of converting search results to Ticklists but it's going to be way off at the moment: https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/search/?sort=grade&query=Trad+E9-E11...
Post edited at 10:32
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In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:
Yeah there are a few limitations to that live list compared to the ticklist format (not least that some of those routes don't actually exist!)
In reply to Andy Moles:
You have a mere E8 Transcendence (E8 6c) in there. There must be some E9's in Lancashire (A Moment of Clarity (E10 7a) springs to mind
Post edited at 10:52
In reply to Lankyman:
Yeah, sifting the comments from the small number of ascents though it sounds like Transcendence merits E9.
Am I right in thinking there is some doubt about the validity of A Moment of Clarity? Has it been repeated?
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In reply to Andy Moles:
great idea! In the south west i think rewind should be included, its had a repeat and settled at E9: Rewind (E10 7a)
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In reply to Andy Moles:
> Yeah, sifting the comments from the small number of ascents though it sounds like Transcendence merits E9.
Probably plenty more of those around the County!
> Am I right in thinking there is some doubt about the validity of A Moment of Clarity? Has it been repeated?
I know what you mean but can't comment.
In reply to Jim blackford:
Thanks, missed that one.
In reply to Lankyman:
No, I have zero opinion myself having never even been to the crag - I just have a memory of someone qualified to comment saying the route didn't really add up in some way.
In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:
The live list is full of Franco nonsense!
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In reply to Andy Moles:
'Direquiem' at Dumby was given 5.14a / 8b+ so unless you reckon that's too close a line to Rhapsody, it could/should maybe go on your list. Although you could argue it might just be top end E8, I really wouldn't know!
In reply to Andy Moles:
> Besides a couple of the new ones which aren't on UKC yet, am I missing anything?
If you know what/where they are, why don't you add them to complete your list?
In reply to Fraser:
Good shout, assuming at least a bit run-out that's got to be E9.
In reply to Nick1812P:
At some point I will.
In reply to Andy Moles:
Hot E9 News. Out for Blood!
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/ukc/new_two-pitch_e9_7a_for_dave_macleod_...
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In reply to Andy Moles:
Good work Andy, love a good list!
I was just looking at Paul's list and noticed this which seems to have slipped under the radar https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/long_haven_quarries-3201/coldfinge... Anyone know any more details?
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In reply to remus:
Gordon Lennox eh, always there in the back of the stable with the darkest of horses.
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In reply to Andy Moles:
Interesting to see Wimberry in the Chew Valley has the highest amount of E9 or above routes in the UK, and plenty of great ones below that. Falls off the radar for most climbers.
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In reply to remus:
One that I'm not familiar with is The Human Skewer (E9 6c) and The Human Skewer Direct Start (E10 6c). No FA details or dates on here and I don't have a recent Cornish guidebook handy, do you know the story with that one?
In reply to Andy Moles:
Mark Edward's numbers (usually a good bet for hard trad in cornwall). I'd missed them off ch for some reason so just added them in with FA dates from the most recent CC guide (chairladder). Weirdly they're not in the index which was a bit confusing!
https://climbing-history.org/climb/2538/the-human-skewer
https://climbing-history.org/climb/2539/the-human-skewer-direct
Post edited at 18:31
In reply to remus:
They are in the index, but the layout of that guide is rather odd, effectively two guides in one, the Lizard section being stand alone with the index for the first part of the guide coming just before that in the middle of the book...
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In reply to remus:
Are there questions hanging over some Mark Edwards routes? I remember some controversy in the past but I can't remember the detail of it. Interesting that some of his routes seem to have had very little attention in any case.
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In reply to Mark Kemball:
So it is, my mistake!
In reply to Andy Moles:
> Are there questions hanging over some Mark Edwards routes? I remember some controversy in the past but I can't remember the detail of it. Interesting that some of his routes seem to have had very little attention in any case.
Yeah there has been some controversy: Shane Ohly went to repeat a route of his and said it was chipped, and then there was a lot of noise around his stuff at Carn Vellan but hard to unpick this from the bolting controversy.
Some of his hard things have been repeated though and the grades pretty much confirmed e.g. Question Mark and Rewind.
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In reply to Cog:
Thanks, I'd just seen that Valinor had been added to the crag and put it in.
As an interesting little factoid, the number of routes of E9 and above may have passed 100 just this year or possibly last (hard to say precisely as there are various highballs out there which arguably should be included, not to mention E8s deserving of an upgrade etc).
In reply to Andy Moles:
Echo wall
In reply to Liam Taylor:
Already there.
In reply to Andy Moles:
Sorry, must have missed it
In reply to remus:
> So it is, my mistake!
More like an error by the editorial team in my opinion. Sticking an index in the middle of a book seems just wrong.
In reply to Andy Moles:
They're being added at a rate of knots!
https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2023/05/new_e9_7a_for_robbie_phillips-73332
In reply to Lankyman:
> You have a mere E8 Transcendence (E8 6c) in there. There must be some E9's in Lancashire (A Moment of Clarity (E10 7a) springs to mind
Sadly no E9’s in Lancashire. For sure scope for them.
In reply to remus:
> Some of his hard things have been repeated though and the grades pretty much confirmed e.g. Question Mark and Rewind.
I think the bolting and chipping controversies have meant Mark’s routes haven’t got as much attention as they otherwise might, plus there’s not loads of climbers in Cornwall.
The grades of some of his hard routes have been more or less confirmed, but others have been downgraded- e.g. Academia (E8 7a), which was originally given E10.
Post edited at 00:12
In reply to Andy Moles:
I did wonder if Gordons new route had made it into the logbooks yet! Surely a contender for hardest under the radar new route! 8c with spaced gear, outstanding.
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In reply to andyinglis:
Very impressive. Are there any photos on t'internet of that part of the crag? Most of the ones on here are of Monkey Puzzle and other bits.
In reply to Andy Moles:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_aberdeen_rock/394349072/ - Its between Comfortably Numb (Dave is on) and the right arete taken by Pussy Galore. Jinx starts right of CN then traverses a break right which Gordons new route climbs directly up into, and ends up close to the right arete at the top.
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In reply to Andy Moles:i... really hard to get a shot of, you can see it in profile here https://www.flickr.com/photos/8027420@N04/10122452526/in/album-721576237194...
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In reply to Adam Lincoln:
> Sadly no E9’s in Lancashire. For sure scope for them.
Are there any 'last great problems' (or would that be giving too much away)?
In reply to Andy Moles:
> One that I'm not familiar with is The Human Skewer (E9 6c) and The Human Skewer Direct Start (E10 6c). No FA details or dates on here and I don't have a recent Cornish guidebook handy, do you know the story with that one?
Wow, I remember reading about the Human Skewer when I think I was still at uni - so early mid 90s? Was it a Ken Palmer route? Or as Cornwall not Devon, maybe another Mark Edwards one?
What grade does Dave think Echo Wall is now there are a few more E10ish routes about?
In reply to meggies:
In short, he doesn't know. It could do with a repeat, or guidebook editors will just have to guess.
In reply to Michael Gordon:
Is rhapsody benchmark e11 now? If so where are all the other e11s?
In reply to philipivan:
> Is rhapsody benchmark e11 now?
I don't think such a thing exists yet.
"If so where are all the other e11s?"
Longhope Direct (perhaps), Echo Wall, Lexicon (Lakes), a couple(?) of Franco's routes
Post edited at 21:54
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In reply to Michael Gordon:
If it's F8c and 'extremely dangerous' then the e-grader gives it E13
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In reply to meggies:
> What grade does Dave think Echo Wall is now there are a few more E10ish routes about?
In some thing recently he referred to both Echo Wall and Rhapsody as 'about E10', but from the comfort of this armchair I'd say Dave's grading is harsh (has he ever upgraded anything?) and if Echo Wall is E10, then E10 is shaping up as a very wide grade.
Not that it really matters, no one's ever going to try Echo Wall onsight, so 8c Death is probably information enough for anyone wishing to try it.
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