18 year-old Aidan Roberts from Ambleside has made the second ascent of John Gaskins' Traci Lords SDS (f8B) 8B+ at the Lad Stones, Coniston Boulders.

 

Traci Lords sit 8b+/V14 One day of good weather brought undoubtedly my best climbing day ever! Got this done then put up a logical start to manpower (avoids pulling on off a rock) weighing in at hard 8b/v13 and topped the day off with a flash of Booze cruise 8a/v11. Traci took me about 3 sessions but found this whole new beta at the end of my second, pleased to get it done! Very nearly dropped the easy finish as you can see, would've been a heartbreaker if I hadn't already done it twice.... Thanks to the support from: @thenorthface @lyonequipment @beastmakers @usefulcoach @edenrockclimbing

A post shared by Aidan Roberts (@aidan.roberts98) on Mar 2, 2017 at 10:09am PST

The problem is a pure line of small holds and tension moves. The sit moves are the crux and add only two moves to the stand, but are very low percentage and powerful, including a small right hand two-finger crimp.

Aidan told UKC:

'Linking these moves leaves a tired right hand for an otherwise relatively easy stand (about 7C/+) but a nice victory swing all the same. The problem has been made easier since a hold break on the left hand stand start holds but I think the grade of 8B+ feels fair, we’ll see with time.'

Aidan had previously had two short sessions on the problem using different beta involving a heel hook. At the end of the second session, he found a more basic method that suited him better, but was far more finger intensive.

He added:

'Good weather is rare at the moment so I was keen to get it done between the rains, after about two hours I had three good goes where I dropped the last move twice before topping it. It’s nice to get such a historic problem done regardless of its history of past ascents.'

Later in the day, Aidan also established a logical start to Manpower, weighing in at 8B as well as flashing Booze Cruise 8A.

In 2015, Aidan became European Champion following a win in the European Youth Bouldering Championships in L'Argentière-la-Bessée, France (UKC News Report). In the same year, he made the third ascent of Neil Gresham's Freakshow 8c at Malham Cove as his first 'proper' sport route! (UKC News Report).

Aidan is sponsored by: Beastmaker, Eden Rock, La Sportiva, The North Face, Petzl and Useful Coach