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sungam
Oct 2, 2008, 12:00 AM
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James Pearson has climbed his Devenshire coast project, naming it "walk of life" and giving it the intimidating grade of E12 7a (somewhere around 5.14d RX).
Here's what the cameraman filming him had to say:
"the climber is on the route for 45 minutes[snip]. That period of time allows the doubts to kick in. "What am I doing here? This is crazy". That period of time also has a big impact on the cumulative difficulty of the moves, compared to just doing them in isolation. So it is not just a head game. It is scary, yes, but hard and also incredibly sustained."
"The face is concave. The bottom is a steep slab, then it gradually tilts back to vertical. Beyond the first section there is one good piece of gear. Thereafter the gear is very poor, very difficult to place, and very difficult to tell if it is placed well. Most of the pieces are no 1 or 2 sliders and the seams into which these are placed are either chossy or parallel sided and frictionless."
"James fell during his first redpoint attempt, a monster fall. I was filming on ab and through the view finder I did not expect him to stop. I was certain he would just keep plummeting. But the gear at that point did hold. I stripped the route for him that day, and the micro cam that held the fall was in a shocking placement, and it was mangled and bent.
That day was a quite terrifying experience. We have filmed many routes with James, and he has never fallen before."
holy crazy lead, batman!
Read the full story from the camera man HERE
Jame's words should follow soon on his blog.
(This post was edited by sungam on Oct 3, 2008, 1:09 AM)
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yodadave
Oct 2, 2008, 12:56 AM
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sick puppy!!!!
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sungam
Oct 2, 2008, 1:21 AM
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See the pictures?
Looks like some thin climbing for sure.
Crazy how there's been a fair few E10's, one E11, now one "harder then E11 but don't want to say the word E12 8c+ XX" and now another E12.
So Rhapsody is still the only E11. So ronry.
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yodadave
Oct 2, 2008, 1:24 AM
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yeah the thing looks so blank and the placements sound horrific
i'm glad he was able to walk away after the first fall,
the belay looks fun too!!!
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sungam
Oct 3, 2008, 12:45 AM
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I'm surprised that a thread about using webbing for anchors has gained more views and replies then a thread stating that the a route with the hardest trad grade ever given has been climbed. No one cares?
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Crackattack
Oct 3, 2008, 1:01 AM
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Dam That thing looks sick!
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mojomonkey
Oct 3, 2008, 1:21 AM
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sungam wrote: I'm surprised that a thread about using webbing for anchors has gained more views and replies then a thread stating that the a route with the hardest trad grade ever given has been climbed. No one cares?
Maybe more people can relate to webbing anchors and have an opinion... How much more is there to say here than "damn."
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sungam
Oct 3, 2008, 1:25 AM
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mojomonkey wrote: sungam wrote: I'm surprised that a thread about using webbing for anchors has gained more views and replies then a thread stating that the a route with the hardest trad grade ever given has been climbed. No one cares? Maybe more people can relate to webbing anchors and have an opinion... How much more is there to say here than "damn." 
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yodadave
Oct 3, 2008, 3:12 AM
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Is it correct that noone has sent 5.14b trad yet?
seems like it has been:
Cobra crack 5.14
The Path 5.14a
Rhapsody 5.14c
Walk of life 5.14d
Its crazy how close hard trad is coming to cutting edge sport
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sungam
Oct 3, 2008, 3:23 AM
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You forgot Jame's other epic route "The Groove at Gratcliffe" (did he ever name it?) it was around .14c as well.
And Dave MacLeod's "echo wall" is 8C+ climbing with a death-call if you blow it...
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Valarc
Oct 3, 2008, 3:34 AM
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yodadave wrote: Is it correct that noone has sent 5.14b trad yet? seems like it has been: Cobra crack 5.14 The Path 5.14a Rhapsody 5.14c Walk of life 5.14d Its crazy how close hard trad is coming to cutting edge sport
Has meltdown been given a firm grade yet? Last I read anything about it, it was stated as simply 5.14 with no letter attached.
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mojomonkey
Jan 16, 2009, 5:37 PM
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For what it's worth, Dave MacLeod nabbed the second ascent of this. See http://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2009/01/therapy.html.
Interesting write-up on his blog, including his thoughts on the rating. He also has a follow up on grading importance, given the reaction of his view that Walk of Life was not as severe as initially rated.
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senilechaz
Jan 16, 2009, 5:59 PM
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Wow that route looks very impressive. And in my opinion Dave Macleod is the one you would want to confirm a rating. I personally have no place saying what it looks like or what it could be but Dave has spoken and I will listen. And this wouldn't be the first time one of Pearson's routes was downgraded "The Promise" that he gave E10 and was being talked about as the hardest route in England was downgraded by Jorgeson and Honnold to E8.
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rockforlife
Jan 16, 2009, 6:18 PM
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sorry sungam maybe its not that hard after all
maybe it is, i think you should go climb it for rc.com and give us the real grade. we will even acept top rop accents. what ya thinks?
Edit: unless you are still in the US of A?
(This post was edited by rockforlife on Jan 16, 2009, 6:19 PM)
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limeydave
Jan 16, 2009, 6:19 PM
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He downgraded it to E9 and did it like a gent too.
Grab some popcorn and check the UK climbing media
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yodadave
Jan 17, 2009, 1:40 PM
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E9 what???
Yeah dave changed the E grade but what about the difficulty grade?
Still 7a??
I think for James it may have been E12. There were key placements discovered after his FA and some that he presumed sketchy have now held falls. I think the focus on E grades in the UK has become a little odd to say the least.
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yokese
Jan 17, 2009, 3:36 PM
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yodadave wrote: E9 what??? Yeah dave changed the E grade but what about the difficulty grade? Still 7a??
E9 6c
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sungam
Jan 17, 2009, 11:56 PM
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rockforlife wrote: sorry sungam maybe its not that hard after all maybe it is, i think you should go climb it for rc.com and give us the real grade. we will even acept top rop accents. what ya thinks? Edit: unless you are still in the US of A?
Dave Macleod has downgraded every E10 or higher he's ever repeated...
Most of the E9's too, save Birketts.
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gritstoner
Jan 18, 2009, 2:03 AM
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sungam wrote: rockforlife wrote: sorry sungam maybe its not that hard after all maybe it is, i think you should go climb it for rc.com and give us the real grade. we will even acept top rop accents. what ya thinks? Edit: unless you are still in the US of A? I am still in the US of A, in colorado. Dave Macleod has downgraded every E10 or higher he's ever repeated... Most of the E9's too, save Birketts.
yeah, but birketts a nutter and all his routes are double hard.
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jakedatc
Jan 18, 2009, 2:35 AM
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sounds like dave did a better job of finding gear and is a better slab climber. more than likely more experience on crazy hard run out shit than the other guy gives him that edge sweet looking route.. too bad they couldn't bolt that arete ;) loooks awesome
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sungam
Jan 18, 2009, 7:46 PM
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jakedatc wrote: sounds like dave did a better job of finding gear and is a better slab climber. more than likely more experience on crazy hard run out shit than the other guy gives him that edge sweet looking route.. too bad they couldn't bolt that arete ;) loooks awesome
No bolts on UK sea cliffs or mountain cliffs, sorry.
The exception, with much hassle over the years, is the arbroath sea cliffs.
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jakedatc
Jan 18, 2009, 8:04 PM
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i know no bolts.. i was just playin' if it's got gear then thats a sweet line
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