Ethan Walker has redpointed Devolution (8c) 8c at Raven Tor (Miller's Dale). For those not entirely clued up on their Raven Tor trivia, Devolution climbs the lower crux section of the mega classic Jerry Moffatt route Evolution (8c+) 8c+, before heading off rightwards via some delicate crimping into the headwall of Chimes of Freedom (8a+).

Ethan told UKC:

"It is of course a cop out in many ways but still provides some seriously hard climbing and if Evo itself is considered 8c+ these days then this has surely got to be 8c in its own right. Either way, it is still pretty stiff! I figured on giving it a bash as the meat of the route is still the lower section of Evo and it would provide a good stepping stone to trying this afterwards."

Describing the redpointing process, Ethan commented:

"It started to get a little frustrating at times, as redpointing does. I kept blowing the big lock-off move to the break but it was mostly due to my finger splitting which meant my attempts were rather limited. I had to have quite a few days off from climbing to make sure my skin was in the best shape it could be for the next session. Forced down time is seriously not my thing."

He added: "I am not sure what is worse. Falling off after doing 30+ moves or falling after about 3!"

Ethan is now setting his sights on Evolution 8c+, which will match his hardest redpoint to date of Kabaah 8c+, also at Raven Tor:

"Now this one is out of the way I am psyched to get stuck into the main event. Who knows if it will go this year, as the season is rapidly drawing to a close. Hopefully there are a few weeks yet so at least if nothing else I’ll be able to lay the ground work for a full blown attack at it next spring."