In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:
Does Al, or anyone else, know if Pumping Iron itself has ever been repeated?
I've chatted to Glenn (Sutcliffe) about this, and reading between the lines, it was obviously a pretty hard and spooky lead.
In fact Glenn was only able to pull it off by using the same technique he deployed to good effect at Dow Crag on Crisis - namely his natural extreme competitiveness, driven to unprecedented levels by the presence of a marauding Birkett.
It would be interesting to know what people with modern fitness - but lacking that crucial psychological drive - make of the route now (though to be fair, Glenn thinks that Dave may well have repeated it shortly after his first ascent, and commented that Dave seemed to be finding the climbing rather easier than he did).
I remember peering down at a line of fresh chalk when I did The Committal Chamber - on a route which looked so good I almost jumped on without actually knowing what it was. Glad I didn't as it later transpired it was Rad's chalk from the first ascent of Phoenix in Obsidian....
Neil
