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First E7 onsight (Read 33160 times)

SamT

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#175 Re: First E7 onsight
December 13, 2021, 10:41:16 pm
 :lol:

Bonjoy

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#176 Re: First E7 onsight
December 14, 2021, 10:58:54 am

UKB is just 8 or so boulderers arguing about grades, right Grimer? :)

That's a bit vague isn't it. Is that like 8/9/9+?  ;D
Depends who you count as a boulderer. Maybe it should be on fractions based on the amount of time spent bouldering.

DAVETHOMAS90

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#177 Re: First E7 onsight
December 14, 2021, 09:44:25 pm
Talking of split grades, E7 sport equivalent etc, (kind of on topic) I thought it was a stroke of genius to see the FA of Zoolook recorded in the back of High magazine at E7 6c/d .. until I saw the route misspelt Zodook or something like that. That was back when Fawcett was considering the tech grade as something that included cumulative physical effort, and some people claimed the grade of 7a didn't really exist.

mick J

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#178 Re: First E7 onsight
December 15, 2021, 11:35:09 am
Some insight into Gogarth adventures in the early 90s ... I climbed a lot here throughout this period and also many years leading up to it ... always with an old school no nonsense crew with no blurred lines regarding ethics which meant full clarity and a strictly on sight no inspection approach . My best effort is documented in the white cliff, an attempt at a pure onsight of the Bells which ended up with me grabbing the peg and getting it next go ... had the peg been tied off or extended it wouldn't have been a problem ... still a harrowing lead . The one that got away was Hardback .. I was drawn to this as Jonny said it was as hard as New Dawn so not very .. I didn't factor in the shit gear and some dubious rock . After a couple of days and some big falls I bailed at the overlap and escaped up Trex . I lowered down to get the abandoned gear and top roped the brilliant headwall above up small twin flakes to a thank god jug ..the top is hard and would be very intimidating on the lead . That was game over for me since id practiced it . Dont know what anyone else has done on this but its fantastic and probably a path by todays standards .. is anyone interesed anymore ? 

DAVETHOMAS90

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#179 Re: First E7 onsight
December 15, 2021, 07:51:04 pm
That's great info Mick.

I hope folk are interested.

The significant ascents are often the ones that don't quite make it - the levels people are operating at under the radar.
On the Bells, out of interest, what gear did you have in the Cad? I found you were soloing already when you got to the end of the traverse. I spoke to Andy, and he said he'd found some micros at foot level before committing to that section to the peg (the first hard climbing). Sounds like you had a bit of a gripper there!  ;D

mick J

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#180 Re: First E7 onsight
December 16, 2021, 09:21:46 am
Hi Dave hope things are good .. no gear in the Cad above traversing right so yes soloing up to the peg ... having gear up by the bolt is not doing the route .. took along time to commit and was eyeballing the peg but couldnt clip ... just managed to get a quickdraw on and grab it ! I subsequently found out that other ascents had the peg tied off / extended ..oh well .

Johnny Brown

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#181 Re: First E7 onsight
December 16, 2021, 01:54:02 pm
Quote
I hope folk are interested.

I think a fair few are.

Quote
The significant ascents are often the ones that don't quite make it - the levels people are operating at under the radar.

Doesn't need to be under the radar, repeats are rarely big news and nearly-but-not-quite repeats not news at all. That's always been a failure of climbing media I think, pulling out the 'significant' ascents rather than the most interesting or inspiring. But it's human nature and resources rather than deliberate I suppose.

DAVETHOMAS90

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#182 Re: First E7 onsight
December 16, 2021, 05:17:09 pm
They tend to be "under the radar" though JB. It wasn't an expression of something intended.

The best stories are the ones that inspire towards better things, to build upon (I don't mean in a patioed, twelve matts kind of way  ;) ).

Edit: I guess I disagree with nearly-but-not-quite repeats not being news. It's where the depth and complexity lies.
Anyway, the Insignificant Repeats thread is at 412 pages!

Through the media, I think we very often tend towards commodifying things, and away from the experiential, which is why Mick's post is so important. Agree? :thumbsup:

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#183 Re: First E7 onsight
December 16, 2021, 08:03:46 pm
Definitely very interested in the topic, anecdotes, tall tales, and shenanigans  :2thumbsup:

Johnny Brown

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#184 Re: First E7 onsight
December 17, 2021, 12:23:33 pm
I guess I disagree with nearly-but-not-quite repeats not being news. It's where the depth and complexity lies.

Through the media, I think we very often tend towards commodifying things, and away from the experiential, which is why Mick's post is so important. Agree? :thumbsup:

Yes absolutely, that's what I was trying to say. The great thing about forums is they democratise the news away from the gatekeepers of the past.

DAVETHOMAS90

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#185 Re: First E7 onsight
December 17, 2021, 08:55:04 pm
Hi Dave hope things are good .. no gear in the Cad above traversing right so yes soloing up to the peg ... having gear up by the bolt is not doing the route .. took along time to commit and was eyeballing the peg but couldnt clip ... just managed to get a quickdraw on and grab it ! I subsequently found out that other ascents had the peg tied off / extended ..oh well .

Sorry Mick. I hadn't seen your post.
That's a mighty fine effort  :2thumbsup:

Really good to get a bit more info about other people's efforts on these things. I'd hi-jacked a Japanese climber for the trip to Wales, and he was pretty perturbed about the prospects.

What constitutes a successful ascent?
I'd certainly say that yours does, but maybe not as unblemished as you'd like. A great effort.
There are a lot of lines that get blurred with some of the more high profile ascents, that folk don't want to ask questions about.

I think that some prior knowledge fits with the whole  ethic - i.e. a bit of info on what you might expect, so good to raise that question in the context of this thread  :thumbsup:

 

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