In reply to Alasdair Fulton: Aye well...I feel suitably motivated to stick my neck out and comment on the matter..The Indian Face is a route I'd aspire to do and it's not unfeasible that I could climb it one day. I won't let Dave's comments on the route mar that possible ambition or my respect for it.
Dave's comments ARE ambiguously derogative- "
After the huge hype about this route in films, books and the magazines, I was expecting some really awesome climbing". - read "it's not that good".
"although not as big I expected (I guess I’m used to the Ben though)"- "bit small, The Ben's a real crag".
"The climbing wasn’t very technical, just standing up on many very small toe edges for 100 feet. You can take both your hands off on any move on the whole thing, but it’s still super thin on the toes. My feet hurt! Foot cramp was putting me off at first, but then later when I thought about leading the route, I realised that the only thing that would make me fall off would be the snappy nature of the some of the footholds or one of my feet randomly skidding"- "shit climbing and poor rock".
"although the RP protection was not nearly as bad as I had read"- "what's all the fuss about?"
"So I sacked it and went in search of something more motivating to climb"- "it's a pile of shite"-(kind of comment you would make about some no-star choss-heap to be diplomatic).
These comments serve their purpose in that you would find it harder to justify walking away from a route you'd praised or described as an awesome piece of climbing. For me, the unfortunate effect is to belittle the achievement of the three men who have led the route before him, not to mention the status of the line- hence comments on here along the gist of "it's not all it's cracked up to be".
Dave has been commended on this thread for his honesty- I think a far more diplomatic and honest approach would have been to say "F**k that! Not my cup of tea and brings back bad memories- maybe one day, but respect to those who have". Dave, I would say a man in your position should think more carefully about what you write but I believe you do. Anything you write carries weight in the climbing community and I think you could help yourself with fairer, less self-motivated statements at times(re the NE coast). Anything else spoils it for others.
Anyway, well done on Trauma!