Earlier in the month, Daphne Kyriakaki pulled on to the bottom of Coronary Country (original start) (E7 6b), on the south face of the middle fin at Lower Sharpnose Point, with an audacious flash attempt in mind.

The three star route is described in the UKC logbook as follows:

Attempting to flash the route seemed 'optimistic', in Daphne's own words, and yet - after more than an hour of fighting - that's exactly what transpired.

We caught up with Daphne over the weekend to find out more.

Daphne, congratulations on your flash of Coronary Country! You mentioned on Instagram that going for the flash was something you felt was quite optimistic, and yet something that you still felt psyched to really fight for - what was it about Coronary Country that made it a good contender for a flash attempt in your eyes?

Thanks! I first tried to flash an E7 two years ago when I tried Booby Prize (E7 6b). The conditions were quite terrible and I didn't manage it, but it felt super close, and I really liked the slightly overhung crimps and pumpy style.

Coronary Country looked like it suited my style of climbing, and I got a tip off from Grant Farquhar that he thought it was flashable with the crux being just after some decent gear. It felt quite optimistic because I hadn't really done any trad in a full year and just had two weeks of warming up back into it in Pembroke, and E5 onsights were already feeling quite taxing.

Talk us through the gear on the route, how much detail did you have on it before your flash go, and were there any surprises?

I thankfully had good gear beta from my partner Ian. Apart from the crux gear I didn't always know exactly where the gear was going, but I took the suggested rack and it turned out pretty well. I somehow failed to get the two nuts before and after the crux in properly which was a bit nerve racking.

The gear overall seemed better than expected, although the rock was a bit soft - I placed two nuts on top of each other and when I tried to get them out afterwards they were stuck and I couldn't access the top one with a nut tool, but a strong pull downwards just broke the rock around them…

What about the climbing itself, what steps did you take to give yourself as good a chance as possible to flash the route?

To be honest I didn't prepare too much. Ian explained their sequence for the crux and chalked all the likely holds for me. It was helpful having Ian around so I could shout down and ask if the holds on the next bit are good, or a desperate - "tell me the next bit is jugs!"

I was feeling pretty fit after two weeks in Pembroke, and sometimes I prefer to trust my instinct and "flonsight" instead of trying to copy someone else's exact sequence.

Talk us through the actual ascent, did it all go to plan, or were there some surprises along the way?

Everything was going pretty smooth until I got to the first peg (right below the crux) and couldn't remember what Ian's sequence was. I really wanted to have a good fight, so I was worried about blowing it with stupid beta right before the crux.

Luckily Ian shouted up at me a few different options and I managed to improvise something, despite all of Ian's suggestions being too reachy! Once I got to the crux I felt like I had already achieved my goal and could just give it my all. The crux was super fun and went perfectly, then I started getting really pumped… I heard Ian egging me on to just do two more hand moves to a jug, so I gritted my teeth and pushed on only to be really disappointed by the "jug"!

After a long time desperately trying to recover, the real fight started. Ian had chalked some holds going up and left, and after looking at the guidebook and UKC photos it seems like this was a harder loop. I was incredibly pumped, and handholds and footholds were crumbling all over the place, but somehow I stayed on. Then it was just an unchalked-choss-roulette to the top, luckily with some soothing words from Jordan at the top of the fin.

How did it feel to pull onto the top of the fin, and to have flashed such a beautiful three star route?

Absolutely surreal. My head game was feeling great and I felt like I could climb without much fear of falling or failing, and put up a really uninhibited fight. I don't think I've fought that hard on sport or trad for a long time, so it was really really fun, and topping out was just the icing on the cake. 

How long were you on the route for? Tell us a bit about the climbing at Lower Sharpnose Point, is it an area you'd recommend to those that haven't been before?

From Jordan's time stamps it was 1 hour and 27 minutes, as I'm sure Jordan and Ian will remind me of for a while. I like to shake out on every hold and keep everyone waiting, thanks for the belay Martin!

Tell us a bit about the climbing at Lower Sharpnose Point, is it an area you'd recommend to those that haven't been before?

I would absolutely recommend it! I remember coming here as a VS/HVS leader and being dragged up The Smile (E1 5b) after being extremely intimidated by the abseil in and the impending tide. A year later I came back and did Out of the Blue (E2 5b) as my first E2, and a year later again I tried Pacemaker (E5 6a) as my first E5.

Whatever my level, I've always been challenged and had a great time, the routes and the setting are world class. It feels incredibly remote and adventurous, and has a sporty style of climbing. Even the time Ian and I got optimistic with the tides and ended up stuck on a ledge for five hours is a fond memory!