#32 Hard Trad, Yosemite Action and Top Blocs
A busy week with top sends across the grades in all disciplines...
Molly Thompson-Smith climbs another Font 8B
British climber Molly Thompson-Smith has climbed her second Font 8B with an ascent of Euro Roof Low Low in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Molly was competing in the Salt Lake City Boulder World Cups and took some time to visit the nearby bouldering area. Writing on her Instagram, she said:
'Despite the comps not going too well, I had a great trip to the US with good food, weather, time with GB Climbing & beautiful days outside! Was very happy to squeeze in a second afternoon out in Little Cottonwood Canyon last week & venture down a couple moves deeper into the cave to do my second 8B.
'Even if my results don't show it, I feel in good shape and hope I can convert that into more good sessions on rock & on the lead wall this summer!'
Back in April, Molly climbed her first Font 8B, Keen Roof at Raven Tor, which took her just two sessions. She was the fourth British woman to climb the grade after Shauna Coxsey, Mina Leslie-Wujastyk and Frances Bensley.
Below is video of Molly climbing the 8A+ version called Euro Trash:
Zangerl, Larcher and Vanhee repeat Pearson's Le Voyage (E10 7a)
James Pearson's 2017 E10 7a, Le Voyage, has seen three repeats in quick succession from Jacopo Larcher, Siebe Vanhee and Barbara Zangerl. The line at Annot in Hautes Provence follows a crack up a 40-metre wall that's gently overhanging. Zangerl estimated that the difficulty is around 8b+. At the time of his ascent, Pearson said: 'Le Voyage is definitely the best new trad route I have ever done'.
Yosemite gets its first Font 8C
Yosemite was an early proving ground for bouldering and climbers travelled from all over the world to attempt problems such as Ron Kauk's Midnight Lightning (V8/Font 7B) and Jerry Moffatt's Dominator (V13/Font 8B) but it's been a bit behind the times recently. Pablo Hammack has now given the valley its first Font 8C boulder problem, naming it Love will tear us apart. Watch the video below:
First 9a for Dinara Fakhritdinova
Russian climber Dinara Fakritdinova has climbed her first 9a with an ascent of Max Factor in Bahchisaraj, Central Crimea. Fakhritdinova was the European Champion in 2013 and had previously climbed up to 8c but had never attempted anything harder. 8a.nu report that once she had completed the moves, the route took her just seven attempts. She recently won both Russian Championships in Lead and Boulder and appears to be making a return to form following a serious injury early in her senior IFSC career.
Free Golden gate by Amity Warme
US climber Amity Warme has made the second free ascent in the space of a week of Golden Gate 5.13a on El Capitan, just after Bronwyn Hodgins' ascent. Amity had spent a month in the Valley and climbed the line ground-up in 5.5 days.
Skye Wall E7 6b by Rebekah Drummond
24-year-old Scottish climber Rebekah Drummond has ticked Dave Birkett's Skye Wall E7 6b. The line was initially graded E8 6b/c and consensus has settled around the E7 mark. Rebekah had made the remote and difficult-to-access line her big project and spent a few separate trips working the moves before leading both the lower "easier" pitch and the harder second pitch yesterday.
Rebekah wrote on Instagram:
'Climbed pitches 1+2 placing all gear on lead. Pitch 2 is the money pitch but it was pitch 1, the 'easier' pitch, that had been niggling my mind over winter.
Bit of a relief to no longer be thinking about it. Thought I would feel a little more satiated but I'm already googling info on new project ideas, preferably something with significantly less faff to get to.'
Muy Caliente! E9 6c by Angus Kille
Angus Kille has climbed his fifth E9 with a repeat of Tim Emmett's Muy Caliente! in Pembroke. Originally graded E10 7a, consensus has settled at around E9 6c.
Angus wrote on Instagram:
'It's one of the best quality routes I've ever climbed. Unfortunately it wasn't ideal conditions yesterday, but it was good to have the extra challenge to stay focused instead of waiting for everything to be perfect before tying-in to the sharp end.'