UKC

There was a post on john arran's "Onsighting 9a or Indian Face - which is harder?" topic that went "E8 onsight is almost 'common' these days."

I would say that E8 *flashes* are not uncommon these days.

My question is:
How many folk have *onsighted* E8 and on what variety of routes?

In reply to Ssshhh: James Mchaffie has onsighted E8, it may be listed on his blog.

In reply to Ssshhh:

Off the top of my head also Birkett, Buys, Dickson, others I'm sure - though I'd need to look them up to confirm which routes and precisely how anally onsight they may have been!

In reply to Ssshhh:

Didn't James Pearson onsight E8 at Nesscliffe recently? Or was that a flash?

In reply to Ssshhh:

Are we talking proper onsight - without chalked up holds?

In reply to Ssshhh: Ste Mac - Dawes Rides a Shovelhead + Eulogy Direct + Point Blank. Not bad for a clip-up artist

In reply to Ssshhh: James pearson had a pretty good run in pembroke a year or two ago, cant remember how many were onsight though.

In reply to Mr Mark Stephen Davies:

Yeah, on a top rope.

In reply to Ssshhh:

Neil Dixon, The Hollow Man

In reply to Ssshhh:
Out of interest, how many of the smallish number of E8 onsights have been bold for the grade, and how many have been comparatively safe?

In reply to Ssshhh:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=61950

In reply to Vince McNally:

I often wonder about the Hollow Man onsight. Neil describes it afterwards as the 'start of the Clown into the crux of the bells'

Maybe he's done both routes before? Is the 'crux of the bells' thhen followed by a run out independent section? Is that independent bit the E8 bit or easier?

No disrespect to Neil at all, I know not remotely what E8 feels like, and nor do I know the routes in general, but Neil seemed much less impressed than Nick Bullock by his achievement

In reply to john arran:

Woa! I didn't criticise anybody's efforts, as long as everyone is honest that's good for me.

To clarify my opinion about onsighting: I have no complaints about routes being chalked up when you arrive but if you send your mate up to effectively tick mark the holds that is dubious.

Looking through the replies, perhaps a lot fewer people than some think have onsighted E8. I was also interested to hear the selection of E8 routes that have received an onsight.

In reply to Ramblin dave:
From what I've been able to find
The list of onsighted routes is:
Point Blank (3 [more I think], safe-ish but scary); My Piano (2, bold); Hollow Man (1, bold); Boldness Through Ignorance (1, bold - it's a solo); maybe Gaia [by Alex Honnold] (1, bold).

The other routes I've seen mentioned either weren't onsighted (as stated by the climbers themselves!) or, in the case of Dawes Rides..., was actually given E7 by the first ascentionist and only upgraded by someone who had never been on it (see also Caff's and Steve's comments).

In reply to Ssshhh:

James Pearson onsighted End Of The Affair.

In reply to Epsilon:
I would count Nik Jennings ascent of Doug at the Roaches as an insight, and I'm mean.

In reply to Jon Read:
stupid phone, stupid fingers, stupid cortex -- ONSIGHT obviously.

In reply to Jon Read:
An awesome achievement I agree, but clearly a flash:

"Flashed on impulse by Nik Jennings in 2000, having seen a friend headpoint it, and having previously headpointed A Fist Full Of Crystals. It remains, however, a supreme achievement" (a quote from the guide from Nik Jennings website)

Mr Read, do you know of any others? I remember your Grit List website fondly

In reply to Epsilon:
Well spotted, cheers.

So the list of onsighted routes is:

Point Blank (3 [more I think], safe-ish but scary); My Piano (2, bold); End of the Affair (1, bold); Hollow Man (1, bold); Boldness Through Ignorance (1, bold - it's a solo); maybe Gaia [by Alex Honnold] (1, bold).

So that's 6 routes by 7 climbers.

Doesn't seem like E8 onsights are a common occurrence to me.

In reply to Ssshhh:

When this topic used to come up a few years ago people always used to say that someone had onsighted Tender Homecoming and not shouted about it. Unfortunately I can't remember who somebody was supposed to be.

What has Ryan P done in this area? He flashed Countdown to Disaster, didn't he?

jcm

In reply to Ssshhh:



http://gritlist.wetpaint.com/

In reply to bentley's biceps:

Interesting. Only 3 grit E8 onsights on that list, as far as I can see.

In reply to robin mueller:


Yes, I was just looking at the same thing R-Man.

There was a ?BMC list of hard onsights somewhere online, IIRC?

Caff onsighted Dawes rides a Shovelhead a while back.

In reply to bentley's biceps:
Yeah, but it's not E8, as he stated at the time. He onsighted Point Blank which is E8 though.