Franco Cookson has climbed a direct finish to Steve McClure's GreatNess Wall E10 7a at Nesscliffe. The Sandman maintains the grade of GreatNess, according to Franco, but adds slightly harder climbing in fewer moves. Following his ascent of The Meltdown 9a in March, Franco has also added an extension to the line.
> Surely The Sandman isn't a separate route, but merely a small variation on GreatNess Wall - in complete contrast to the furore over The Prow.>
Actually they sound like similar cases - a bit of climbing which differs from the parent route. But it's not unusual for a direct finish to get given a different name even if it's not really required.
Sonnie Trotter did a couple of minor variations on his way to completing Rhapsody - an E8 called Cop Out (which doesn't inspire much confidence in its worth!) and Direquiem at E10ish which seems a more direct slightly easier version of Rhapsody. Whether they'll go in a future guide remains to be seen and it seems likely that to most suitors the main challenges will remain the 'least resistance' line of Requiem and the 'most resistance' line of Rhapsody.
Fri Night Vid Finding Focus - Life Behind The Lens of a Climbing Photographer
This week's Friday Night Video is a portrait of a prolific climbing photographer from Wedge Climbing. Sam Pratt is well known in both the outdoor and competition scene but if you haven't heard of him, you've likely seen...