19-year-old GB Ice Climbing Team member Emma Powell has ticked Andy Turner's Quick Release (D10+) at The Works, Hodge Close. The line climbs through a steep roof and features a long crux move, which is hinted at by the route name.
In 2019, Emma climbed the Newtyle Quarry classic Fast and Furious (M10). She wrote on Instagram that she wanted to try something harder.
Emma set her sights on Quick Release just before lockdown started and worked it for around three or four months once she could return to the crag. It took her roughly six sessions to complete and she complimented her time on the route with training sessions on her home drytooling wall. Emma told UKC:
'I had been training hard over lockdown ready to tick this route once it ended. I am over the moon to have done this route, as it is the most strenuous and challenging route I've ever faced. In addition, I climbed it in the style of DTS, which means that I didn't use Figure 4s or 9s.'
In 2014 and 2016, Emma placed 3rd in the UIAA Ice Climbing World Youth Championships in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France and Rabenstein, Italy, respectively. She is currently ranked 1st in Britain following her results in the British Tooling Series.
Comments
From the photo it looks like sombeody's drilled holes in it for the picks to go in?
Isn't this aid climbing? Pulling on skyhooks gives a similar result (pulling on wires only slightly less-so). Not sure rock can survive the demands we sometimes place on it.
As someone who has climbed Quick Release and has also done a fair bit of aid climbing I can confirm that they are not even remotely similar!
Nice work Emma.
Google "skyhook".
Nice one Emma! Some brutal moves on that.