UKC

Neil Gresham has continued his Yorkshire new-routing mission with a new addition to Kilnsey - Premonition 8b+. Premonition is a full-height extension to Ron Fawcett's Extreme Rock classic E5, Deja Vu. It follows Pete Gomersall and Jill Lawrence's 1975 aid line directly through the roof apart from a slight deviation where it shares the final section of Freakshow and goes right into Mandela.

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In reply to UKC News:

Congratulations Neil - this looked much blanker than Freakshow!

In reply to UKC News:

Well done Neil, looks like another quality addition.

In reply to UKC News:

Neil actually started up the Visitation-Déjà Vu linkup which is a more direct line and harder than either Visitation or Déjà Vu!

In reply to UKC News:

Your news item makes it sound like Neil was the first to climb that link up, when it had been climbed without Neil's extra bolt often before. The new bolt effectively retro bolts the runout section on Déjà Vu.

In reply to UKC News:
All the Déjà Vu threads are replaced frequently. Diminishing Returns, Visitation, and Déjà Vu all have had many ascents recently and they all clip those threads at the start, so I don't understand why a climber as strong as Neil feels the urge to retro bolt the start.

In reply to Steve Crowe:

reading the article it looks like he didn't retro bolt the start though.

"avoiding the old threads apart from the first two at the bottom of Deja Vu".

A shame if the runout on Deja Vu is now retroed - although in recent years it has been fairly easy to climb off line and clip bolts on other routes on this section. I'd have to do it again to see what sort of a difference it's made. What a hardship...

In reply to Steve Crowe:

Eee by gum, I remember when Deja Vu got totally retro - bolted, back in the day.

I took them all out, with Dave Barton I think.

Does Dave Pegg's Aboriginal Sin ever get repeats?

In reply to UKC News:

Big Ron is no enigma - he can be found down the Works any day of the week Neil. More likely he's ignoring you as clearly you've lost your marbles. Deja Vu is a 3-star Extreme Rock E5 on perfect rock. Why on earth would you want to replace the threads with bolts?!

In reply to Steve Crowe:


If that's the case, then it's a real shame. Have you re-climbed Déjà Vu since the new bolt Steve?

In reply to duncan b:

I usually warm up on Déjà Vu or one of the variations and then I top rope Wise Blood to keep it clean. So I must have led Déjà Vu about 20 times this summer. I have got funds from the YMC to replace all the threads when necessary. When Neil's new bolt went in I was able to clip it mid runout without moving off line.

In reply to Steve Crowe:


So we know who to blame for all the polish.

In reply to midgets of the world unite:


Sad but true. Neil has confirmed to me that he intends to place bolts in the start of Deja Vu.

In reply to UKC News:

Could somebody please explain the difference between clipping a bomber thread and a stainless steel bolt. Maybe its the pretty colours! I personally like bright yellow ones. Modern bolts are quite shiny though! Oh yes one has to be replaced every 2 or 3 years the other lasts 25 years plus. Maybe its in the climbers psyche? maybe some climbers regard threads as hand placed or trad! even. Is fixed gear 'fixed' or not? Is some fixed gear 'less fixed' than some other fixed gear? Oh and this is posted in regard to keeping the positioning the same (as in putting the bolts exactly where the threads are) and not in regard to the 'new bolt'.

In reply to UKC News: Surely an 8c climber can cope with a little run out above bomber brand new theads on an all time classic Extreme Rock E5?

Andy F

ExactIn reply to Tom Briggs:


Exactly. It's not as if Ron is Osama bin Laden. I still remember that run out and the feeling of clipping the belay on an Extreme Rock E5.
What's next for Neil, bolting Balas as the groove which goes right at the top could do with climbing? Maybe he wants to bolt the area around Central Wall as there might be space for a line or two?

If I was his sponsors I'd be telling him to get his arse up to Kilnsey and remove the offending bolts or we'll do the same with his cash.

Andy F

In reply to UKC News:

I'm not sure of the exact time-scale of Deja-Vu's past (i.e. when which bolts went in, when which ones were stripped etc...), but when I did it a couple of years back it was essentially a sport route barring the two threads at the beginning. Maybe I took a single set of wires and a few cams, but I certainly didn't place any and it certainly didn't feel 'trad' in the conventional sense of the word because 95% of the runners were bolts and the only things that weren't were the threads which were fixed/in-situ.

If it is a case of the 'thin end of the wedge' by removing the threads and replacing them with a bolt then it's a very, very thin wedge seeing as every other runner on the route is a bolt anyway - it's not like he's gone and bolted Right Wall!!

In reply to Steve Crowe:


Those bolts are coming out.

Deja Vu is a classic route and thousands have enjoyed it as climbed by the first ascensionist. By all means replace the existing fixed gear like-for-like, but add no existing fixed gear please.

Rob - many have an emotional attachment to that route, it was and will be a big deal for many. It was an old aid route freed using the old aid gear. No it isn't Right Wall, but it is a very fine route.

I'll have a word with first ascensionist Ron Fawcett when I next bump into him at Bradwell co-op

Thanks,

Mick