UKC

does anyone know the story behind peoples opinion of the grade of this route? i remember it being given a 8c+/9a grade for a while. that appears to have now gone up to 9a. there is some debate about the holds used on the first ascent or something.

i assume it is still unrepeated? have any of the top climbers tried it?

In reply to samsamsam: I thought a vital hold snapped?

In reply to samsamsam: have you tried this?

In reply to samsamsam:

John Dunne did the route and gave it 8c+/9a. This aroused the interest of the great and the good of Sheffield (or, in this case, Jerry Moffat), who tried the route and thought a grade of 8c would be more appropriate. However, whilst working the route Jerry pulled off a 'crucial' hold and thought the route was much harder as a result.

John returned to the route (with Dave Simmonite taking pictures IIRC) and found that the sequence he used was unaltered, i.e he hadn't used the crucial holds. Although out of shape by this time I believe he repeated the crux moves, with Dave SImmonite as a witness, although what qualifies Dave to determine which are the crux moves on a 9a I don't know.

Since then I don't think the route has had a whole lot of interest. John's 'Totally Free' is unrepeated as far as I know as well, although again there is some uncertainty about whether the top roof has lost holds since John did it.

In reply to midgets of the world unite:

thank you for the stats. i was just interested in any subsequent ascents as JD's routes have had a bit of history in the past as being overgraded. i was particularly interested in this one as it seems to have been his 'hardest' route.

the typical mafia mutterings and north vs south yorkshire nonsense is as always, very amusing. cheers

In reply to midgets of the world unite:

although what qualifies Dave to determine which are the crux moves on a 9a I don't know.
Perhaps he means the moves to bypass the lost hold?

In reply to samsamsam:
>

really.... like what?

In reply to Grimny-lyn - the merry dwarf:

Divided Years and Breathless both suffered from significant downgrades when they were repeated.

JD's earlier routes, by contrast, have generally held their grades. The exception to this is the maximum, which JD gave 8b, but easier sequences brought the grade down to 7c+. Whoops!

In reply to midgets of the world unite:

>although what qualifies Dave to determine which are the crux moves on a 9a I don't know.

What you saying Stu?

Probably because I've seen a whole heap of hard routes close up in my time and I know when something looks nails. BUT more likely because JD told me after he had done it (I was watching and taking pics on an ab rope above him) that the sequence he'd just climbed was the crux. I can only comment on what I saw first hand.

It is about time someone got back on the route and repeated it.

In reply to David Simmonite:

Our star player has already tried.... Maybe Malc should have a look, or maybe he already has?

In reply to David Simmonite:

I agree, it would be good if someone tried to give it a go.

Being an ex north yorks resident, JD and his exploits are always of interest to me. I was always curious to know if anyone had repeated Widdop Wall? I know Ian Vickers was trying to do it at the same time...

In reply to samsamsam:

It has been tried in relatively recent history. The conclusion reached was that hold(s?) were missing and that a section was unclimbable or at least not possible at any realistic grade. Whether this is the same section that was repeated by John in front of Dave I don't know.

In reply to samsamsam: I seem to remember someone falling off from fairly high up?

In reply to Richard Bradley:

Jordan Buys fell off, and decked, he was ok though.

In reply to Adam Lincoln: Yeh, i remember that he bounced!

In reply to Richard Bradley:

He always does!

In reply to Richard Bradley: guess were talking widdop wall now. As if jordan decked from total eclipse i'd imagine he'd look in a bad state.

Cheers
tim

In reply to tbertenshaw: yep

In reply to samsamsam: As an aside, can I point out that you are an ugly fecker and know nothing about climbing.

(How's the band going?).

In reply to Chris F:

Thanks for the vote of confidence Chris... life is complicated but becoming less so. Went to NZ for 6 months after glandular fever (lying in bed for 2.5 months). The band, well thats another story.

In reply to samsamsam: Have PMed you.