[shurt]

hello everyone

found an old ote the other day with sean myles on the cover on rodney mullen. wondered if this ever had a second ascent or ever been looked at by anyone since? i always thought it was a shame the way it was written up in the new yorkshire grit guide....

ta

[SA Chris]

I'm pretty sure Dave Musgrove has apologised since then regarding his treatment of the route, but no ideas regarding ascents. Great looking line tho'.

[T_B]

hello everyone

found an old ote the other day with sean myles on the cover on rodney mullen. wondered if this ever had a second ascent or ever been looked at by anyone since? i always thought it was a shame the way it was written up in the new yorkshire grit guide....

ta

I tried it on a TR years ago with Nic Sellers. Nic TRed it cleanly that day, and I'm pretty sure he went back and did it cos I think he's still got my peg.

It had one particularly tricky move which I couldn't quite lank 

[rc]

http://www.theleedswall.co.uk/ymc/oldroutesnews.htm
December 2001 News
Ben Bransby has added an impressive new E6 to Earl Crag and repeated Rodney Mullen at Ilkley in good style confirming the grade as top end E7 6c.

[shurt]

my google powers are weak!

thanks for the update. anyone know what mr myles is up to these days. havent heard a lot about him but then again i dont live in gritland anymore...

[Falling Down]

Sean lives in the US. Utah I believe...

[Andy B]

Didn't Sean himself go back and do the route again, without the peg, or without the blue tac?

[Johnny Brown]

Ben Bransby has added an impressive new E6 to Earl Crag and repeated Rodney Mullen at Ilkley in good style confirming the grade as top end E7 6c

I've got some photos of this somewhere. Ben placed the gear on lead which is what I guess they mean by 'good style'. I think Sean's preplaced gear was the straw that broke Dave Musgrove's hypothetical ethical camel's back, the humps being already laden heavily with pre-practice. Ie standard practice for headpoints at the time.

[n_man]

Cos other FA Ilkley activists din't heavily pre-practice on a TR much either. I'm thinking of quite a big lad in particular 

[Paz]

Yeah he just wacked in a load of shit pegs at Ilkley instead and used a pre placed rescue top rope for his own lead(s) elsewhere.  He's a good lad dunny, but he's not whiter than white nor whiter than anyone else.  Least of all than someone also very talented who probably sent Rodney after not too many day raids, given he lived nowhere near the crag.

[Darren S]

Didn't Sean himself go back and do the route again, without the peg, or without the blue tac?

Yes, he did go back and do the route again, placing the peg on lead i believe, and then went back again, with me, to do the photos

[Will Hunt]

Just trying to make sense of what now appears in the grit guide.
"FA Sean Myles  March 1991; Ben Bransby  2001".

There's a footnote that explains that Sean's original ascent had pre-placed gear and that both he and Ben repeated the route placing gear on lead. Did they do this together or did Ben go back first, with Sean subsequently repeating the route in the new style? Does anybody even know?

I'm just updating the text for the select guide and am trying to come up with something that is concise but indicates why there are two names listed. If they both went back and repeated it together (which is kind of what it sounds like) I'd go with something different to just:

S Myles  3.1991 (pre-placed peg); B Bransby  2001



Also, while we're at it, the guide has it in at E9 7a, yet Ben is reported to say E7 6c upthread. Sounds like textbook E8 6c to me? Can El Mocho confirm if he reads this?

[Stabbsy]

Thought I remembered this being discussed recently and here you go...

Seem to remember it was bog standard Myles E7. I can't really see E9 for it, maybe if you didn't bother with the hand placed peg but I don't think what it's graded for.

If I remember correctly (I might have even chatted to Sean about it really briefly) Sean first lead it with the peg pre placed (it's hand placed in a little pocket). He got some stick for this. He then led it again - climbed up, placed the peg, tried to carry on but fell off, lowered down, pulled the ropes then re led with the peg in. It got a weird write up in an earlier guide where they implied it hadn't had a proper ascent (this might have been before he led it the second time). When I did it I climbed up, placed the peg and then downclimbed to the ground, had a rest and then led it after (I don't think I had a go in between and fell off but I might have done).

I guess, ethically, my ascent counts as legit and you could argue both of Seans didn't quite match the best practice (although is a hand placed peg on grit ever going to be best practice). Personally I can't see much difference between them, and in fact it will have been physically harder the way Sean first did it as he actually clipped the pre placed peg on the lead go that he did the route.

Sorry this is a bit OT but can sometimes be good to get the facts (or a semblance of them) out there. Just to reiterate I had no problem with how Sean first climbed it - he was honest about what he had done, and I didn't set out to make the first 'proper' ascent of it or anything.

Doesn’t sound to me like they went back and repeated it together from the above - sounds like Sean’s second ascent precedes Ben’s. Is there any reason to have a second name there at all?

[Fiend]

(I don't think I had a go in between and fell off but I might have done).

Classic El Mocho 

[Will Hunt]

Thanks Stabbsy. In light of some of the frigs that have gone on over the years, Sean's ascent sounds positively saintly. I agree that in light of that there's no reason to include Ben's name in the FA details.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Just trying to make sense of what now appears in the grit guide.
"FA Sean Myles  March 1991; Ben Bransby  2001".

There's a footnote that explains that Sean's original ascent had pre-placed gear and that both he and Ben repeated the route placing gear on lead. Did they do this together or did Ben go back first, with Sean subsequently repeating the route in the new style? Does anybody even know?

I'm just updating the text for the select guide and am trying to come up with something that is concise but indicates why there are two names listed. If they both went back and repeated it together (which is kind of what it sounds like) I'd go with something different to just:

S Myles  3.1991 (pre-placed peg); B Bransby  2001



Also, while we're at it, the guide has it in at E9 7a, yet Ben is reported to say E7 6c upthread. Sounds like textbook E8 6c to me? Can El Mocho confirm if he reads this?

I was belaying Sean on the later ascent. I know Jerry was there on one day.

Anyway, no shenanigans, and peg placed on lead. He did hammer it in though - with the palm of his hand 

Bit of a nasty rope burn on his calf when he fell off, but peg stayed. Taken out, and then re-placed on lead IIRC.

Some of this covered in the other thread. Not sure where that is. Great route, and we were there on a day of very good weather. It was just cold in the quarry.

Perfect grit route for some of the weather we've been having recently. I'd go back up if anyone fancies