Roxy Elgar has made an ascent of Watermark Extension (8b), at Sella, Spain.

In climbing Watermark Extension, Roxy becomes just the third Scottish woman to have climbed a route at 8b - and the first in six years - after Natalie Berry climbed SatanX (8b) at Gorges du Loup in 2012, and Holly Rees climbed Mecca - The Mid-life Crisis (8b+) at Raven Tor (Miller's Dale) in 2019.

The route, which climbs through a series of limestone tufas, edges, and pockets, comprises 40 metres of climbing, the first 30 of which make up Watermark (8a). The final 10 metres adds an additional three crux sections, before a final slab to finish.

Roxy, who is originally from Ault-na-Goire, but now studies and lives in Glasgow, took two sessions to work out the lower 8a section, and a further three to climb the 8b extension, clipping the chains on her very first redpoint attempt.

We asked Roxy to tell us a bit more about the experience, and here's what she had to say:

My plan for our trip to Wildside Crag in Sella was to get on an 8b, regardless of whether I sent it or not. I had never been on an 8b outside. Our trip was less than two weeks in length, so it felt like it was going to be very tight to send my hardest outdoor route to date, but having sent two 8bs indoors at Ratho in the last few years, four 8as outside last year, and my first outdoor 8a+, Turkish Airways (8a+), this January in Geyikbayiri - Upper Tier, I wanted to see whether I could do the moves outside on an 8b. 

When I stood at the base of Watermark Extension, I felt so intimidated: I couldn't even see the top. Watermark Extension is 40 metres; composed of a 30 metre 8a to the first chain, then an additional 10 metres of climbing in the 8b section with three cruxes: a fierce gaston move, pumpy pockets, and a hard move over a roof onto a scary slab. 

I sent the 8a part of the route on my second session. It was continuously overhanging, with ratty crimps, polished feet, and a painful finger jam section which tore the skin on the sides of my fingers. After clipping the chains on the 8a, I asked Kieran to take so I could have a look at the 8b extension.

It was difficult to imagine myself being able to do another 10 metres of climbing after having sent the 8a. I climbed a few metres into the 8b extension, and had two feeble attempts at the first and hardest crux: a gaston with a tiny, polished crystal of rock for a foothold, the size of my pinky's fingernail. Unable to get through the gaston move, I got massively intimidated and decided impulsively that the route was going to be too hard for me. I called for my climbing partner, Kieran, to lower me, and I cleaned the route of my draws. 

That evening, despite having sent the 8a quite quickly, I was disappointed in myself. I had come on this trip to try an 8b and I hadn't given Watermark Extension a proper go at all. I posted about my send of Watermark 8a on Instagram and amongst some congratulatory comments, one comment stood out to me from Alan Cassidy. Alan simply wrote "Extension…?" and it was the small shove I needed to decide to give Watermark Extension the proper, full-effort attempt I had planned to give it in the first place.

After a rest day, I headed back to the crag with renewed determination. I warmed up putting the draws into the 8a part of the route, before resting for a few minutes at the first chain. I then attempted the moves of the first crux of the 8b and fell. Staying calm, I kept trying, and after ten minutes I had worked out the gaston move and repeated it multiple times. I carried on up the route, taking at every bolt to work out the moves. I made it to the chain having worked out all three cruxes and every single move and clip. The 8b was on!

Duncan Campbell on Watermark, 8a ©Duncan Campbell

The next day I had one more working session on Watermark Extension. On my third go of that day, I repeated the 8a and it felt easier, my body having got used to the moves. I took at the chain and then climbed the 8b extension clean, with no falls or takes, to the top. I felt ecstatic!

We rested the next day. I had that sickening feeling I always get the day before a redpoint session. It is a mixture of excitement to try the route and niggling doubt about my capability to send it. One aspect of my training at EICA Ratho is doing 'doubles' – climbing a route twice in a row to train endurance. I had done 'doubles' on 8a, and I knew I had good endurance. I consoled myself by thinking of Watermark Extension as just like doing a 'double' at Ratho, albeit a hard one!

After the rest day, it was time for my first redpoint session. I climbed the 8a with relative ease, and I felt like I was in that much talked about 'flow state'. As I clipped the first anchor and recovered on some very small crimps, I looked up at what was still to come, knowing that completing the 30 metre 8a part of the route was merely the beginning. 

I climbed a few more moves to a mono, and rested there, swapping uncomfortably between my index and middle finger whilst staring up at the first and hardest crux of the 8b. I made sure to locate the tiny crystal foothold that I relied on for the gaston move. Whilst resting, I visualised in my head successfully doing the gaston, and tried to imagine how it would physically feel to latch onto the next holds so that I was prepared for the pain that was soon to come.

When I felt like my forearms had totally recovered, I went for it, climbing with zero hesitation through the gaston move. I made it to the next rest before I repeated this process of resting and visualisation to get through the final two cruxes. As I stood on the slab after the third crux, I calmed my breathing. All of the hard moves were out of the way. It felt so exposed. I was so high up, miles out of sight of my belayer, alone in the abyss, on a solitary adventure.

As I clipped the chain my heart was racing. I had sent my first outdoor 8b on my first redpoint attempt, making me the third Scottish Woman, after Natalie Berry in 2012, and Holly Rees in 2019, to send 8b on sport. I had been on the wall for over 40 minutes, and as I was lowered to the ground it felt like the exhaustion of doing the route hit me all at once.

I'm now back at home in Glasgow, training at Ratho and revising for my university exams. I hope to climb this season in Scotland as well as Yorkshire, having got a taste of Yorkshire rock last year on a weekend trip to Goredale. I am also excited about more trips to Europe this year, especially Kalymnos!