[andy moles]

Steve has climbed all the hardest routes in England

Hard Cheese, Immortal, Nothing Lasts, Baron Greenback, Sleepy Hollow...?

[petejh]

Kelly's Overhang?

[Tom de Gay]

And then there's Echo Wall, which rarely even gets mentioned even by Dave any more, which will probably stand forever as the mythical island just beyond the horizon on the grading scale. It's already waited a lot longer than one-time equivalent Indian Face did for a repeat, and I'm not hearing of any wads with shovels looking to rent in the Fort.

The most overlooked Dave Mac route might be The Fugue in Glen Croe. King line, looks a bit like Parthian Shot but is quite a bit harder (than pre-break Parthian). Scotland's second E9, climbed in 2002. Short walk-in and simple logistics. Any repeats?

[Johnny Brown]

Sounds like you tried it Tom?

[Tom de Gay]

Yes, I found the rock hard to read and the crux bouldery. Gear around half height. The style was not really my forte, so if – unlike me – you’re sport fit and good at not falling off, perhaps it’s OK. Also tried some of his other routes – Misadventure, Hold Fast, Great Escape, Impulse. They all seem pretty fair for their current grade (Misadventure was a bit stiff for E7). Obviously, the difficulty has been notched up significantly since then. Mind Riot is 8c!

[SA Chris]

Has the Gathering on the underbelly of the Cioch had many other repeats, UKC says 2 since the FA, but not sure by whom.

[edshakey]

Significant not repeats:

Old news but Jakob Schubert failed to repeat Sleepwalker (V16/8C+). New news, he has now offered a downgrade of 2 grades.

Some reflections on the GRADE of SLEEPWALKER ... Following my failed attempt to send Sleepwalker, I thought a lot about its grade. Given how manageable the single moves felt, I don't think that it would be much harder than V14 with the right conditions (it was too dry when I tried it). I know it is unusual to downgrade before sending, but I think it's absolutely valid to do so if you got a really good impression about the difficulty of each move. Thanks to a night in Las Vegas for opening my eyes in that respect.

No doubt there's an implied knock on effect for the stand.
 

[Will Hunt]

Check your calendars, folks.

[remus]

Check your calendars, folks.

I want it to be true.

[edshakey]

Was posted not long ago - is the no-fools-after-midday rule not a European one too? 

[steveri]

Adding ‘too dry’ to my list.

[andy moles]

Has the Gathering on the underbelly of the Cioch had many other repeats, UKC says 2 since the FA, but not sure by whom.

Calum Muskett managed a quick unplanned headpoint and thought E7, so not really in the same bracket as Dave's hardest stuff.

[Bradders]

Sounds to me like a combination of Dave finding new beta, plus better gear, making it neither as hard nor as dangerous, plus the fact that he's spent most of his time establishing new routes rather than repeating others meaning his gradar is possibly a little out.

More likely therefore that his Scottish things are undergraded than Lexicon is over.

[User deactivated.]

gradar

Excellent 

[Alex-the-Alex]

Sounds to me like a combination of Dave finding new beta, plus better gear, making it neither as hard nor as dangerous, plus the fact that he's spent most of his time establishing new routes rather than repeating others meaning his gradar is possibly a little out.

More likely therefore that his Scottish things are undergraded than Lexicon is over.

Sounds to me like Steve and Neil should have tried 40 eggs a day, 15 hrs sleep a night, and taps aff for power. All amounts to big grades for bad beta from where Dave's sitting.

[Kingy]

Perhaps important to state that Gresh was aware of the extra headwall gear Dave used but decided not to use it:

There is, potentially a placement for either a skyhook or an RP in a tiny flared pocket at the midpoint in the runout but you would need V11 boulder strength to be able to take a hand off to place it. Even if you were strong enough, the placement is blind, so you wouldn’t be able to assess if it had gone in properly and it would almost certainly rip, so I doubt it would be worth the effort. I think pieces of micro-gear like this can be a distraction and lure you into a false sense of security. Personally, I’d rather know where I stand and look at a bigger fall onto reliable gear. I also think that the hook would break the rock and that something could land on your head.

https://www.climber.co.uk/news/neil-gresham-talks-about-the-first-ascent-of-lexicon-e11-7a/

[cheque]

But maybe I'm mistaken, and that's actually the name of the route?

Lexicon E11 7a

 

It’s always weird when people refer to routes with the grade straight after, not so much as a comma inbetween. Do they do it in conversation?

When I first started climbing I was unsure as to whether Rhapsody E11 wasn’t the full name of the route 

[Hoseyb]

It feels a bit like Dave now operates a quasi-closed grading system where E10 is as hard as it gets, and the grade compression that implies doesn't feel very beneficial.

Nah, it's just history repeating itself.

Scottish E10 is the new Scottish VS

[remus]

Toru Nakajima has re-climbed Dai Koyamada's problem Epitaph after hold loss and suggested an upgrade to 8C+.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb05hVJvDgh/

[remus]

UKB denizen Barrows has onsighted Momento Payaso at Otnar in Spain, weighing in at a hefty 8b+.

Anyone other than him and Steve Mac in the brits who've onsighted 8b+ club?

[shark]

Tom Bolger maybe?

Other possibles in this list:

https://climbing-history.org/list/10/hard-flash-or-onsight-ascents-by-brits


 

[Wellsy]

Strong work Barrows, very good effort

[abarro81]

Haha, that was quick Remus, we're not even back to the house yet!

Defo Tom on L-mens (still my hardest onsight belay tick ever). Jim onsighted Kale Borroka IIRC. Bosi, Buster, Pearson and maybe others have flashed too.

[Fiend]

Strong stamina-ing barras!

[Nike Air]

Thought you were injured, had hung up your knee pads and had gone done the road of Powerball championships....