I believe there's an unrepeated slab/wall somewhere in the Rivelin area. Anyone know anything about it?
Kevin Jorgeson has repeated almost all of The Groove at Cratcliffe. He opted to finish up the top section of Fern Hill, avoiding a safe but difficult upper eliminate sequence used by James Pearson on the first ascent. James originally climbed an upper line squeezed between Nut Cracker and Fern Hill.
I wanted to know what it would be like to fall from the worse possible place. So, I pulled up Cooper's rope to the break, counted to three, and let go. George took a few steps back and I landed with a hard thud, 5 feet above the ground. Ouch. Didn't need to have George run back after all. The gear held perfectly and I landed safely below the small foot-ledge from which the route's crux sequence begins. All in all, I'd say the route is technically the hardest bit of climbing I have done on the trip, but in the scheme of things, safe.Extremely hard routes, such as those put up by Miles Gibson, feature moves just as hard as The Groove (yes, I have tried some, namely, Superstition*). These climbs can be just as safe as E1's, but because of their physical difficulty, receive an E-grade upwards of E8. I think The Groove falls into this category, of safe and hard. And beautiful. What an amazing, unique and rewarding route.
Kevin has suggested that the crux moves of The Groove would merit a bouldering grade of Font 7C+ (V10).
http://www.kevinjorgeson.com/Travels.pdf[/url]]Today I climbed a route that has been holding my interest for quite some time: The Groove! Isucceeded on my first lead attempt of the day, in decent conditions.For those unfamiliar with The Groove, the name comes from the obvious groove at the bottom of thewall below Fern Hill. The main challenge, is and always has been this obvious feature. As the groovecontinues upward, it fades and the line becomes ambiguous. I had to call people to figure out theoriginal line. As you will read, James and I interpreted the upper wall differently, at no fault of either ofus.I spent a total of four days on the climb. On my first day, I managed all of the lower moves. I spent mysecond and third days attempting the top arete sequence, which felt nearly impossible for my size.Coupled with the fact that I had to avoid a ledge (and easier climbing) just to the side, I decided tofinish climb the route in the most natural, fun way that I could imagine. So, on my fourth day, today, Ijust decided to go for it and finish up the classic Fern Hill. I stuck the one-handed move, pinched thepebble, made the two extremely tenuous (and for me, crux) foot moves, and dynoed to the break.Wearing a grin on my face the rest of the way, I cruised up the jugs on Fern Hill all the way to the topof the wall and into the sunshine.I placed two cams at ground level to keep me from getting clipped in a fall. To protect the crux, Iplaced one small slider nut and one #3 HB offset wire, both clipped to the same single carabiner. Iused one rope and no crash pads at the base.After sending, we went back to shoot close-ups. When that was all over, I wanted to know what itwould be like to fall from the worse possible place. So, I pulled up Cooper’s rope to the break,counted to three, and let go. George took a few steps back and I landed with a hard thud, 5 feetabove the ground. Ouch. Didn’t need to have George run back after all. The gear held perfectly and Ilanded safely below the small foot-ledge from which the route’s crux sequence begins. All in all, I’dsay the route is technically the hardest bit of climbing I have done on the trip, but in the scheme ofthings, safe.As for a grade? I have no idea. It climbs like a 7c+ boulder problem in good conditions. So, safe 7a?I’m beginning to get a grasp of the E-grade system, but where I am confused, is where and how thetechnical grade influences the E-grade. At first I thought, with two grades for one route, they areindependent of one another. One accounts for the physical difficulty and the other accounts for thedanger. Where it is seems to blur is with the high end routes. Extremely hard routes, such as thoseput up by Miles Gibson (like Superstition), feature moves just as hard as The Groove, but are safe.These climbs can be just as safe as E1’s, but because of their physical difficulty, receive an E-gradeupwards of E8. I think The Groove falls into this category, of safe and hard. And beautiful. What anamazing, unique and rewarding route. I only hope that more people go to check it out! I can think of ahandful of the extremely talented grit climbers I have met on this trip that are well capable of TheGroove, if the inspiration is such.While this is not technically the second ascent of The Groove (is it?), as I did not follow the originalline at the top, I have no regrets and encourage all to climb whatever inspires them. After all, isn’t thatwhat its all about?
Skills. Wandered briefly past around about lunch time today en route to the Hueco wall. Was this why Cratcliffe was so damned rammed today?
There's always Equilibrium to flash.
So pearson has potentially overgraded yet another route, does anyone see a pattern developing???
and since no-one else has repeated the line james did (rightly or wrongly the line he did might be eliminate or whatever), no-one is yet in a position to make a judgement.
If The Groove was only E8 then some cunt would have done it years ago. It's not as if nobody tried.