British expat Tom Bolger, now residing in the village of Santa Linya, has started the year in the best possible way, finally succeeding on Edu Marin's Ciudad de Dios at his home crag, Santa Linya.
The route starts with a short bouldery 8c+ that leads to a rest. The second part also weighs in...
Tom Bolger - quite a few now
Stevie Haston - Descente Lolita 9a
Dave Macleod - A Muerte 8c+/9a
Stew Watson - Mordor 8c+/9a
Chris Savage - Esclatamasters 9a
can't think of any others off the top of my head
it is hard to believe steve mac hasn't done one abroad, but i don't think he bothers projecting stuff for too long on holiday!
good effort Tom that's awesome news...and to Barrows too for his first 8b+!
Tam Stone20 Jan 2011
In reply to ali k: Has Stevie Hastons route been repeated or confirmed at the grade?
True, at first glance this looks completely impossible. Suppose there's at least some purchase from a knee bar with his back (i.e. left foot), although at a pretty painful angle!
In reply to ali k:
Anyway that brings it down another one. Given 'mordor' and 'a muerte' are slash grades that leaves only Bolger and Haston. I wonder if Haston's has been confirmed or tried by anyone?
Maybe only Bolger then?!
> So what have we learnt from all this? - Brits only climb 9a at their local crag.
Very good point but not just applicable to Brits I would guess. The really impressive climbers have always been the ones with a good away record. Moffatt in the 80s, Ondra, Sharma and Favresse now.
Not to demean Tom Bolger's efforts though, multiple 9s are extremely impressive, even when they are in your back garden. Sounds like he had a great day and was almost as pleased for the Japanese guys succeeding on their 7bs as he was for himself.
Simpson did Action Directe which is 9a, how could anyone forget that.
Tam Stone21 Jan 2011
In reply to Quarryboy: Have you been locked up for a while?
Tam Stone21 Jan 2011
In reply to Björn Pohl - UKC: I saw Tom Bolger climb at Ratho a while ago, before the refurb. He was incredible then, I saw him lapping the hard routes, he must have been pretty young. I was told at the time he could lap any route in the building. Good to see him reach the top levels.
I know there was that whole thing about whether he lied or not. But I still think he did it, he was observed and I don't think he would have gone to the effort of all the training that he showed in the film if he didn't actually do it in the end, plus they showed him doing all the moves.
In reply to Björn Pohl - UKC: And to think I taught him all he knows! The day suddenly dawned when he said " why don't you just campus the moves like this sir..." on a Kilnsey 7b. The novelty of taking him climbing after school wore off after that. Well done youth, chip off the block and all that. Say hello to your dad for me. Dave S
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