[Duma]

and drying the holds with a fan

edit- SM beat me to it.

[remus]

Seems fine in cases like this, sounds like it was much closer to the 'improving conditions' end of the spectrum than 'trying to dry a sopping problem'.

[Duma]

I dont think this was miles the wrong side of the line, but drying holds on sandstone or grit will always leave a risk of the rock still being wet under the surface, and a well known climber explicitly mentioning the practice on their social media when reporting a significant ascent is a very bad idea IMO

[cowboyhat]

the post has been edited now so it didn't happen

[ferret]

Seems fine in cases like this, sounds like it was much closer to the 'improving conditions' end of the spectrum than 'trying to dry a sopping problem'.

Doesn't seem any different to going to Almscliffe on a windy day because you know it will be the first to dry.

[Will Hunt]

Nice to see everyone honing their Punitive Piety game. Allez.

[gollum]

I genuinely wouldn’t know what a portable fan would be used for at the crag, I’d kinda assumed it was stuff like this, but have no real idea, just know there was a long thread on here about the best one and you occasionally see them in the background on videos.

Perhaps someone could enlighten me.

[Duma]

Cooling your hands

[gollum]

Cooling your hands

Cheers, fair dos.

[SA Chris]

Apparently good for desmegging sheltered holds too, and keeping midges at bay.

[Bradders]

Seems fine in cases like this, sounds like it was much closer to the 'improving conditions' end of the spectrum than 'trying to dry a sopping problem'.

Doesn't seem any different to going to Almscliffe on a windy day because you know it will be the first to dry.

Bit I was worried about, and hence why I jumped straight in yesterday, was if you were to do it on an edge or something and potentially surface dry it, but it's seeping or wet behind it, then you might well be able to use the hold but it'll be much more likely to break / crumble from behind.

Basically I'd be really cautious of doing anything to artificially dry grit, albeit I'm sure it can work in certain situations (e.g. like Nathan was doing here, drying big solid slopers that are 90% of the way there anyway is probably no big deal).

[SA Chris]

You did right to flag it up.

It's like blowtorches being no big deal if used rarely on the right rock type, but if people see others doing it on social media it suddenly becomes ok, and next thing everyone has one that is used indiscriminately, and flakes and patina start to go.

[Anti]

and keeping midges at bay.

Well fuck me. I've never considered that. Do they really? I cover myself in smidge and even tried citronella  candles but if a portable fan really is half decent for this I'm going to snap up the next one I see.

[turnipturned]

and keeping midges at bay.

Well fuck me. I've never considered that. Do they really? I cover myself in smidge and even tried citronella  candles but if a portable fan really is half decent for this I'm going to snap up the next one I see.

Yup, particularly good at Kilnsey when belaying.

[r-man]

and keeping midges at bay.

Well fuck me. I've never considered that. Do they really? I cover myself in smidge and even tried citronella  candles but if a portable fan really is half decent for this I'm going to snap up the next one I see.

They are great for that if you are standing or sitting right in front of the fan, and the midges aren't at apocalypse level. They won't keep your route or boulder midge free, but you can escape into your pocket of breeze between goes. Or when belaying, as Dan said.

[tomtom]

(Other surprisingly useful uses of the mobile fan I’ve found include: drying a patch of carpet, helping get a bbq going, directed at a rack of clothes drying)

[SA Chris]

You sound like a fanboy tt.

[tomtom]

You sound like a fanboy tt.

I was blown away.

[submaximal gains]

Akira has had a 4th ascent, from Joshua Fourteau, and all three climbers and  to have repeated it (Joshua, Lucien Martinez, Seb Bouin) have said it felt 9a

https://fanatic-climbing.com/akira-de-nouveau-repete-par-joshua-fourteau-joshua-fourteau-climbs-akira-video

Uncut footage of Seb Bouin's ascent here

Akira was the first route to have a grade of 9b in 1995 proposed for it by Fred Rouhling. There was a lot of controversy about whether Fred had actually done it, whether it had been chipped, and how hard it actually was at that time which is all nicely written up here https://www.climbing.com/people/fred-rouhling/

[Bonjoy]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMKkwJEDAS6/

Nathan did the Boss yesterday.

With a proposed downgrade

Seems a bit ungentlemanly to propose a downgrade without mentioning you've found new (presumably easier) beta.

[shark]

Did Billy do it the same way as Ned?

[Bradders]

Nathan's sequence looks quite different to Billy's at least. No backwards toe hook for a start.

[teestub]

Looks like Nathan uses a little right hand undercut which Billy (or Ned from the little bit of footage) doesn’t use before the big sloper in the roof.

Hard to comment whether this is any easier from my comfortable arm chair 😄

[carlisle slapper]

Well impressive from Billy and Nathan.There are no instagentleman BonJoy! it's the platform for skipping past the heavy details surely. Ned did a good bit of caveat prediction in his interview IIRC saying how pointless it is grading the top end as on most problems beta improvements can far outpace a grade. Turns out to be a decent example of how true that can be. And complex multi move roofs are a prime candidate for small gains in efficiency. Looks like from my armchair that undercut helps provide direct compression to weight the heel toe well, and the heel at the start and falling in looks clever from Nathan too. compression and weighting heels is always hard from obtuse/ right angle compression as its harder to pull the weight back onto the feet through the core.
Interesting situation on grit really. Second coming broke in 2017 and got easier so is well out the picture, and voyager has broken and gotten harder recently, no reascent yet? (just heard that on the grapevine) so its hardly the medium for a stable benchmark anyway. Would certainly be great to see a font like situation in the next few years where the fast comp repeaters shift to cutting edge new development, Then i'd be more inclined to agree with you there Gav.

[BRidal]

Figure I'd weigh in on this one, though I can't really make a direct comparison between the two sequences as I never tried using the spike for my hand. I was aware that it was possible using the spike as it is also the sequence that Micky used before me, but its not the nicest of holds and I also think it looks quite fragile. I wouldn't be all that surprised if it got ripped off at some point. So I wasn't in a rush to pull on it and Ned's sequence worked fine for me.

Dan's observations of the sequences is very astute, my sequence requires tension down into your lower limbs the whole time, whereas once Nathan comes up into the spike he has solid compression between his arms and has a lot more freedom to move his body around. Based off this I believe Nathans sequence is a bit easier, and also leaves your body less fatigued for the final moves off the toe, which was the crux from the start for both of us.

My reflection's on the grade came mostly from comparisons to Fat Lip and The Vice, these are the two main problems I have done of a similar difficulty and style. The Boss felt harder than both of them to me, and so I felt no reason to question Ned's proposed grade. Having said that I'm totally open to the possibility that the sequence I used is also 8b, it felt quite hard and I know that I'm in pretty good shape at the moment, but it also didn't take me that many goes overall, and the battle with conditions I had definitely contributed to how big a deal the boulder felt in my head.
To confuse matters, Nathan has tried and not done either The Vice or Fat Lip, and thought The Boss was easier than both of them so it's swings and roundabouts 

I can weigh in with some confidence about its status as the hardest boulder on grit though. I have tried Voyager pre and post break and believe it has got quite significantly harder than before. To my knowledge nobody has done the crux move since, and I would speculate that the easiest way now will be by a different sequence, closer to what Ben did on the first ascent. I think there is a reasonable chance that it is now 8C from a sit, certainly a more stout 8B+, either way a good bit harder than The Boss in my opinion, albeit in a very contrasting style.