UKC

Leo Houlding has led a team to successfully complete a new free climbed route on a huge big wall in the Amazon rain forest. In a trip sponsored by Berghaus, the team of six, plus two local guides, climbed a new route on the 600m, continually overhanging Prow of Roraima in Guyana. Houlding, 39, a veteran of many major trips, was joined by 21-year-old Anna Taylor, experiencing her first big wall expedition. The core team was completed by Waldo Etherington (32), Wilson Cutbirth (29), Dan Howard (31) and Matt Pycroft (30). 

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In reply to UKC Gear:

"This is the first time a route has gone fully free on one of these major expeditions."

Whatever can that be intended to mean?

In reply to john arran:

He means on one of his big wall trips, Asgard, mirror wall etc etc 

In reply to UKC Gear:

With time running out before they were due to leave the country, and despite the weather taking another turn for the worse, the team finally completed the full route and also succeeded in getting locals Edward and Troy to the top, the first Amerindians to stand on the summit of Roraima.

I'm not sure how common this is with expeditions, but I personally find this almost as interesting as the route. Those guys will presumably bring back a load of new experience into their communities, and who knows what the ripple effects of this could be.

In reply to UKC Gear:

With due apology for any imprecision in my recollection, it would be interesting to learn whether the more exotic elements of arachnid fashion have moved on at all in the 45-odd years since the 'aggressive spiders in red underpants' so graphically described by Hamish MacInnes.

In reply to Dan0Me:

Fair enough. From the way it was written, it was far from clear that it was referring to only Leo's trips, and even then I'm very surprised because he's had so much success on trips that presumably aren't counted among his 'major expeditions'. Good on him and the rest of the team for getting this one all free.

In reply to UKC Gear:

Good report, thanks. But "poisonous snakes, tarantulas and scorpions"??! And there was me thinking that Avon was exciting.....

In reply to UKC Gear:

No photos of the feature itself?

In reply to Michael Gordon:

There are some photos [one of the feature] here:

https://explorersweb.com/2019/12/10/houlding-tops-out-on-mount-roraima/

In reply to john arran:

I thought it read a as pop at previous tepui expeditions/trips but maybe not.

It's not quite the Arran/Backshall/Calderon dream team though ........

In reply to profitofdoom:

Thanks for that. Great photos!

In reply to john arran:

Fully free, onsight... None of it actually matters.

The best are often the epics or failed attempts.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I've been reading Hamish MacInnes' book of the 1973 expedition. Well worth your time for the endless horrors of the jungle, slime, spiders, snakes, etc.