UKC

Blind climber Jesse Dufton has made a non-sight ascent of Destiny E2 5c on Lundy island, describing it as one of his hardest leads to date. 

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This is mega!!! Incredible effort 

That is phenomenal. Having recently flailed at a non-repeat of this is September, I have nothing but the upmost respect for his acheivement. Well done Jesse!

If UKC have a chat with Jesse at some point in future, I'd be really interested to know if he's tried headpointing anything. He's obviously a very, very strong climber and it would be interesting to know what sort of grade he would be climbing on rehearsed routes. 

He must have so much extra in the tank from having to feel around and work stuff out 'on-sight'. My prediction would be that the difference between his O/S grade and his RP grade would be much larger than a 'typical' climber. 

I don't know if Molly climbs exclusively with Jesse (or with other people as well), but if so, his list of routes is rather impressive (using classic British understatement here).

I should add that it's impressive regardless of that.

Should the title really be E2 5c (not E2 5b) considering the climb gets voted hard E2 5c at least (in UKC)? Is it 5b in some books?

I suspect that was a typo, as it was E2 5c in the opening paragraph, so I've updated the title accordingly.

Amazing effort, as always, from Jesse. I think the thing that blows my mind with this, much like it did the Old Man of Hoy, is how complex the approach must be if you can't see where you're going. They're pretty tricky even when you can, which is what makes it all the more impressive. As for the route, I thought Destiny was pretty tough for the grade - certainly pretty stubborn!! Great route though...

Must be an interesting technique for climbing blind.
I'm guessing here but he must have well trained the ability to lock off every hold while he feels about for the next one on every move. For a non blind climber that would get very pumpy very quickly even on modest grades. 

I'd imagine crack climbing suits better as it's easier to feel your way up the line as opposed to a face climb where the next hold could be anywhere.

Good effort anyways!

I imagine anything slabby and/or with small footholds would be an absolute nightmare. Got to aim more for the big, grunty routes. 

He's done Pebbledash (HVS 5a) which although a couple of grades down, relies totally on friction for a couple of moves IIRC. That impressed me as much as some of the burly routes he's done.

I did pebbledash a few days after Jesse and it blew my mind how you would do that without seeing the footholds.

Mind you everything he does I find pretty mind blowing (allthough he did abseil on my head once, I was quite miffed until I realised who it was)

If he says "sorry I didn't see you there" he really means it.

Epic lead! theres some reachy moves and some "blind alleys" on that route, along with friction etc. IIRC correctly about 3 crux sections. 
Its a top route, and a awesome ascent. I suspect many dont have the bottle tie on to Destiny, even though it'd be on the tick list for most lundy visitors with E1 or above capabilities. 
Let alone with sight difficulties. 
Bet the pint at the Tavern was welcome!

He told me that Three Pebble Slab (HVS 5a) was quite straightforward for him, he must have a pretty good feel for what will stick! 

Amazing effort. 
I was slightly confused by the first photo. It's Knightcap on the other side of the island to Destiny.