In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Dear Mick,
this still sounds as though you are trying to protect your position. It's good at least, that you inform us of the third party nature of the source of this news item. For those of us that know the route, it's now easy to see how Neil had not made a deliberate attempt to mislead anyone, which is good for Neil too.
For those that do not know the route, and what has not been well reported, is that the meat of the route is the second pitch, so it isn't really appropriate to talk about Neil soloing "The Flying Dutchman". Neil may well have talked about it in this way, in terms of what the route offers within a deep water soloing context, but the implication from the manner of the reporting, was that "The Dutchman" had been soloed. It hasn't. Neil did not solo "The Flying Dutchman". The route as a whole warrants E7 6b/c and maybe easy 7c, above rock. The first pitch alone would be E5 6b and 7b, above water.
I suppose I'm writing this in order to protect the stature of the original route, and as a contemporary of his, Nick White's achievement on the first ascent. Of more concern, is a worrying trend to misrepresent what has gone before, in order to dress up the current vogue.
Dave Thomas.
