UKC

James Taylor has made the first ascent of a new E10 7a (8b) on 'The Painted Wall' in Porth Saint (1km North of the Rhoscolyn crags), which he has named Prisoners of the Sun. 

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Beast

How long until Steve gives this a go? He's been quiet this year. 

That is awesome. Very well done.

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time
My back turned towards the sun
Lord knows, when the cold wind blows
It'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line
To talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby
One more time again, now
Thought I'd see you one more time again
There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you, fire and rain, now

Great stuff, and totally agree that FAs should just stick their neck out and try and give their best stab at a grade. They're only estimates, and if future consensus says otherwise, so what.

"I think its the responsibility of the first ascensionist to name and grade the route and to not suggest a grade is a total cop out in my eyes... It's also worth remembering that the climbing community works with a consensus grading system, so E10 7a is only a proposed grade for now and the consensus grade will come over time and repetitions."

Good effort on the first ascent and well said for grading the route. I often think that there has been a reluctanct trend in this, which makes the first ascent of a new route often a bit flat when the topic of "what grade is it" sometimes gets a metaphrorical shrug of the shoulders and it's significance down played.

HXS and "the grades not important" would have made for some very dull 1st ascent reports over the ages...

What?

He's making a proper shit joke about the first ascentionist having the same name as an old musician. 

Just ignore 🙂

In fairness, I think you've been a bit generous about the quality of my joke.