Dave MacLeod has made a winter ascent of The Hurting, a summer E4 6a in Coire an t Sneachda (left) on Cairngorm. After abseiling down the climb with a view to headpointing it, Dave decided it might be possible to climb without toproping. On his first attempt Dave came within three moves of flashing it but fell when a hook ripped. Three days later, on Feb 19th, he completed the climb on his second attempt, in very poor weather conditions (classic Scottish blizzard and gales and verglassed cracks). Dave has given the route XI,11 and given that it featured very tenuous M9+ or M10 wall climbing with groundfall potential, has tentatively suggested that it could be the hardest single pitch traditional mixed climb in the world.
Dave gave us a preview of his climb at the Fort William Mountain Film Festival the day after his first attempt on it. With typical understatement and enthusiasm he described the climbing and commitment involved in the climb. I have no doubt this is one of the hardest traditional winter routes in the world. Congratulations to Dave.
Dave MacLeod is something else and doesn't get nearly enough credit for the stuff he has done. He also comes across as very modest, approachable, and is willing to stick his neck out on public forums to help people like me debate and understand modern issues. That is commendable in it's own right. Great effort, the difficulties of which I can't even begin to comprehend. Well done.
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