In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Gordon, I didn't know that people had died on it. I remember going to Stanage in 1975 with a Uni group. There was one guy in particular who was fiercely ambitious - and not in a very nice way. Clearly he had me in his sights as his next 'victim' - which didn't happen.
That day he kept trying the Whillans start, flying off and getting ever more angry and frazzled. So I did it to burn him off. (Caveat: I was still young and startlingly immature then. The following year, after burning off Stevie Haston, he was so gutted and I felt so awful, I've (almost)never done it since.)
Anyway I thought I'd just saunter up 'this Severe' (Hargreaves) to finish. After about 10 minutes of increasingly cautious climbing, I pensively pulled over the top. Hmm... The hecklers below just couldn't understand why I'd taken so long.
Over the years, I saw so many people, in extremis, shove in big rattly hexes that would never have held and then, emboldened by their supposed pro, go for it. At least, with big cams, those days should be over.
A climb of character indeed!
Mick