UKC

Ben Cossey, 23, the Australian climber resident in the UK doesn't hang about when it comes to repeating hard Peak classics, usually in flamboyant style.

Last year he soloed Gaia E8 6c at Black Rocks, in January this year Ben climbed Parthian Shot E9 6c (Burbage South) at night by headtorch. In Marc...

Read about his latest ascent at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

Photo sequence courtesy of Pete 'POD' O'Donovan.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: What is with this super blocs thing?

Oh and I count three mats.

In reply to Richard Bradley: it's a better way of describing routesd like this which are very hard, essentially boulder problems, but high, and so have traditionally had a trad grade. Nowadays, with a few mats and spotters, they are a bit more doable (yet still very impressive), and not really a boulder problem or a route.

Brilliant effort, good to see someone not moaning about conditions and just getting on with it

In reply to Richard Bradley:

Tall problems with v-grades are 'highballs'. Tall problems with Font grades are 'super blocs'. Maybe?

In reply to Richard Bradley: Three in the first photo, two in the second where he reaches the top.

In reply to Richard Bradley:
What you meant to say was "Well done - great effort"

James P

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Where are the photos of Parthian Shot at night?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Glad I wasn't the passer-by - wouldn't want the responsibility!

In reply to Richard Bradley:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/older.html?month=4&year=2007#36182

highball, off-the-deck, super bloc.....gotta love the terminology.

In reply to John2:

The second photo is what is known as a close up. You can just see the edge of the black mat touching the boulder.

In reply to Paul L:

Come on chaps.......never mind 2/3 mats...start splitting the grade.

So this was a ground-up, 2.5 matt, 8 fall, one spot, 21 degree C, 10 mph wind speed, done at 50% relative humidity, bacon and egg butty and a cup of tea for breakfast ascent.

And Richard, that would be 3 rashers, eggs done over-easy.

But how many sugars in his cuppa!

Mick

I'm stunned by the complete unwillingness by folk on here to acknowledge very good ascents. Seems like people are more interested in nit-picking about the number of mats or whatever, and then getting back to arguing about the grade of some trivial route. shame

In reply to GDes:

i know what you're saying but i think in this case it was just maybe a bit of confusion about how the quantity of pads was reported.....so no dramas.

as a fellow con i will be doing my bit for the aussie grit onslaught by attempting a ground up onsight of the sloth at the roaches over the coming long weekend!

In reply to Yorkspud:


"Oi! Excuse me! Mate - would you try and catch me and save me from severe injury or death as repeatedly fall off from about 8 mtrs up there? OK, cheers... here we go."



The fella is clearly bonkers. A fine fine effort.

In reply to Anonymous: Why would I tell mick his story was a great effort?

The climb being bloody good goes without saying.

In reply to GDes: I'm picking at Mick's reporting not the accent.

Personally, I would not require any mats for my 'ground up' of the 'Super Bloc' concerned. Can you guess why?

In reply to Richard Bradley:

Yeah, what's with 'super bloc'... we already have 'highball'. And why call a problem a bloc as some 'pro climbers' seem to be doing? I don't get it? Is it a strategy to add more value to what people have been doing for years... like Ron climbing Careless Torque 20 years ago! We seem to be losing the British art of understatement. Not to say that any ground up ascent of Careless isn't impressive, just that it (or any other highball boulder problem) doesn't deserve new jargon when there's nothing new about bouldering above head height.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Good effort Ben - Guys, rather than concentrating on the number of mats couldn't we concentrate on his very good impression of an orangutan in the second picture?

In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:

Well said. Whilst it is a good repeat and not one I'd wish to follow, Ron's original ascent was 20 years ago, no mats etc etc.Now that is what I call impressive.

In reply to neilh:

after top-rope practice etc. etc. Do keep up at the back.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Cool new angle of photos by Pod

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Tricky one this which will obviously run and run and run ad infinitum.

While an ascent of a hard highball problem / route using pads is a good effort it is obviously a totally different proposition than without the pads. Taking the big fall one time let alone 8 would not be an option without the protection of pads on CT but a ground up ascent is seen as better than one with top rope practice. Hmmmm.

Although people will continue to try, the respective qualities of such ascents cannot be quantified and cannot be graded using the same system. E grades are meaningless if you can fall from the top hard move of a problem and walk away unscathed so surely just a font grade will suffice? With pads 8a/+ without E6 7a.

As for all this "Super Bloc" stuff I have to agree that we already have enough wanky terminology to describe routes / problems. Highball will do thanks. Or maybe I'm just an out of touch cynic.

Anyway. Good effort Ben!

In reply to Alun:

From what I remember at the time Ron just went higher each time and jumped off...no mention of top rope practice...move to the front???

In reply to neilh: He was meant to have jumped off NTBTA from increasing heights to prepare for falling off CT. As far as I know he was also meant to have top roped the top moves too.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Amazing effort, especially considering the conditions. The line at the Eastern Grit crag, and in good style too.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: nice one Ben. mats or not, v impressive. i stood under it on Friday and though how mad it was!

have you considered trying 'wizard ridge'????
i remember watching 'hard grit' years ago now saying it was one of the last few great Peak lines (routes) for someone to do.
bout time we had some young brave climbers give it a whirl! (or am i behind and someones already done it now?!)

Adders

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Nothing on the ape?

In reply to adders2: That was Johnny's idea of a joke I believe & that it is actually a lot harder than anyone imagined.....i.e he couln't do half of it even dogging it....plus its a solo with a shite landing, much more serious than CT or gaia ec....

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Incredible, well done Ben. There's no stopping ya!

Love the photos too, it looks like you enjoyed yourself

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Just to set the record straight, there were actually FOUR mats, though these were of 'normal' size compared to the some of the enormous pads previously use on this route.
And the sole spotter for Ben's actual ascent was 16 year old, 5'5" Peter Whittaker, a member of the British junior climbing team who, despite his lack of bulk, did make one excellent 'field'!
The 'unknown' passer by story comes from the previous Saturday when a couple of passing climbers offered to spot — one of them apparently loosing quite a lot of blood from his nose during one of the longer falls
I think the most impressive thing about Ben's ascent was the conditions, but then, as he says, "Back home in New South Wales you wouldn't even take your jacket off on a day like this!"
Pod.

In reply to north country boy: ahh that'll explain why its still not been done then!

maybe one day when we've evolved...

In reply to Pete O'Donovan:

Cheers Pete...report updated. And mucho for the wonderful photos.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

Mick

In reply to Tom, UKC News Editor:


Yes more clarity needed on this. Is "super bloc" equivalent and alternative to "highball" (cf. abseil/ rappel) or is it subtlely different? And how about the pronounciation? Do we have to say it in an Allo' Allo' accent?

In reply to tobyfk: It's a soft c, so it's pronounced more like 'superblow'....

In reply to TimS:

OK .. and where's the emphasis in the 'super'? The french would load it all in the 'per' with a bit of a roll on the 'r', right? I am struggling to envisage the average Stanage Plantation resident managing this ...?

In reply to tobyfk: The o sound is slightly elongated, and as you said there is a slight roll on the r - 'That Careless Torque, is is a sooperrblow yes?'

In reply to seagull:


You could fall off it and walk away unscathed without pads too. E grades are still meaningless though...


You only get the E6 if you onsight it, which contrary to previous news articles and my attempts to argue otherwise hasn't been achieved on Careless Torque yet.

In reply to Paz:


Why only onsight? Did Ron onsight it too?

In reply to Paz:

Interesting. However that is taking the "E grade is only for an onsight" concept to it's nth degree. In my opinion a ground up ascent without pads would be completely worth the E grade.

In reply to TimS:

Ah yes. Got that.

In contrast 'highball' should be presumably be tackled with a stoner SoCal drawl: 'Man, Careless Torque is like way highba-a-l-l'. [Mick: please correct]

But is there a semantic difference?

In reply to tobyfk:

I think you have it there Toby.

In reply to tobyfk: Haha, can't believe this thread is still going!

Anyway, just to add, didn't Rich do it ground up with pads and then go back and do it again without pads?

In reply to seagull:

In mine too. I don't think they'd find an onsight of many other E6s quite so problematic. I'm just applying reductio-ad-absurdum rigourously to the status quo so I'll be able to say: `see I was right all along - the ground IS in'.

In reply to tfk:

It would get a bit confusing. I can imagine your stereotypical bleusard saying `La Berezina? Oui c'est un super bloc'. Or does `super' not go before the noun in french like `grand' and `petit'?

In reply to Paz:


It's an interesting quandry though but one that is easily solved.

If you reverse to the ground/jump off on an onsight attempt on a sport or trad route then that's ok. If you fall/jump off on a boulder problem then obviously the onsight/flash attempt is gone.

So with a highball problem that also gets an E grade you can tick the onsight of an E6 (or whatever it gets) if you climb it ground up (no pads) but can only have the flash of the problem if you did it first go without falling or reversing.

Simple really.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Great on Grit ...

when is the young man going to come to Wales and repeat Trauma

and a ground up on Indian Face ?

In reply to Ian McNeill:

Er. A bit of a different proposition Ian!

In reply to seagull:

Fantastic, that's me you and Yorkspud who think you should be able to jump off and still claim the onsight then.

And well done Ben you mad bastard.

In reply to Paz:

Well I'm old skool mate and that always used to be the ethic. Otherwise lots of people would have to untick a lot of their (perfectly valid) onsight ascents.

If you've not weighted the rope it's still on for the onsight imho. Do the same people who think jumping off isn't allowed also think you can't downclimb to the ground?

In reply to Paz:

E6? What a load of rubbish. Ulysses is the same height, with a 6b crux at the top approached by 5c/6a climbing. Careless has a 6c/ 7a move at the same height, with a 7a/7b move to get there. An onsight, no mats ascent would be worth solid E8. Even with 3 or 4 pads I'd say a ground-up ascent is worth E7.

A fine effort by any standards.

In reply to Adam L:


My point was conditional on it being E6, which I think it can't be as you apparently have to flash font 8a to onsight it.

In reply to seagull:

Pass.

In reply to Adam L: An E grade with a bouldering mat????

Damn good effort anyway.

Congratulations Ben. Fine effort

Again too many f**king idiots on here to realise what this is about.

And by the way Mick, Superbloc. Less of the US hyperbole please

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: soloed gaia and lead parthian shot by head torch? whats in his head?

In reply to seagull:

It's not a tricky one at all! It's cut and dried. Ground up above mats as opposed to headpoint, is practically more difficult because you can't 'work' the moves and scarier/more bold because you are highly likely to take large falls repeatedly from high up. On the headpoint the padless-ness is pretty irrelevant because the chances of falling off the top bit (which is much easier than the bottom) are minimal. Anyone capable of doing the bottom will almost certainly not fall off the top if they have got the moves wired on a top-rope. As far as I know, none of the headpoint ascentionists have taken a fall from the upper bit and none of the ground upper haven't.
Ground up being more difficult and more bold is clearly ethically superior, by a big margin. That said, I dare say Ben did it this way simply because it's a purer more satisfying way to climb the feature.

In reply to Theclimbinglab:

<hijack> Theclimbinglab: if you read this thread again could you check your lost and found post regarding the gear at Harpur? Cheers, S. </hijack>

In reply to Boy:

Good points but you mean cut and dried "in your opinion" IMVHO.

In reply to Paz:


Of course you can. The ground is just another big ledge.

This whole on-sight/flash bollocks is drawn from sport and boudering and has no place in real climbing. What counts is ground-up.

jcm

In reply to Adam L:

Come on, surely Ulysses is significantly higher than CT.

jcm

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

F*cking bon effort that man!

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Fantastic ascent! Surely its much too warm for this sort of tomfoolery?!

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Great Job Ben