[remus]

Looks like a thin one! As I understand it, it adds a hard direct start in to the cruxy bit of the meltdown and then does Franco's direct finish.

For those struggling to follow along at home, here's a little topo that Franco put together when he did Meltdown Direct.



https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy3dUaztBFm/

[Fraser]

Looks like all that artic fingerboarding paid off

[Duncan campbell]

Wow! Great stuff Franco… especially impressive post expedition!!

Has it been filmed for Brit Rock judging by that short?

[remus]

Has it been filmed for Brit Rock judging by that short?

Hopefully there is some footage (9a+ slab, fucking rad!) But I think that clip is an old one.

[stone]

Great stuff!

Is the style of climbing on these crazy-hard slate routes completely different from Somehow Super at Cheedale Cornice?

[andy popp]

Sounds amazing! But still absolutely no clue where it goes on that topo?

[SA Chris]

Glad it's not just me! Does it climb the "Hard Section on Meltdown" or not?

[Kingy]

Amazing work from Franco and Ondra is looking interested judging from his comment on Insta.

Yes it does climb almost all of the hard Meltdown section before taking on the direct finish via the red line.

The topo is bad, the problem is that it only shows where the Meltdown direct finish goes. Rather confusingly, the purple line is not a route but I think is meant to be a kind of square bracket showing the section where the hard climbing on the Meltdown is located. An arrow(s) from the caption would have been a better idea here. I spent ages looking for a key that would show the line of the purple route but there is none.

We are left wondering where the direct start comes in from?

[SA Chris]

Aaah. Thanks, makes sense. Direct takes the line of the rope maybe?

[remus]

Sounds amazing! But still absolutely no clue where it goes on that topo?

Sorry for the confusion, the topo is an old paint pic franco put together when he did meltdown direct. Here's something marginally better I whipped up (based on Franco's description), with The Dewin Stone in green.

ed: also, as Kingy said, Im not super clear on where exactly you start for dewin stone.

[jwi]

When I understood that the purple scribble was a curly bracket and not a bit of climbing, it became a little more clear.

[spidermonkey09]

Thought I was having a stroke trying to interpret that. Thanks for the explainer Ted and Remus!

[Bradders]

Yes thanks, it wasn't very clear. If the green line is accurate that's very cool; straight up, no deviating.

[SA Chris]

Great, glad I know where it goes now. I'm heading down tomorrow for a shot at it

[teestub]

Some interesting Franco colour added on the other channel:

Well done on the route Franco, sounds full on. A pity you didn't write something about how spending time on a sailing boat going to Greenland was some kind of training for this... the continuous movement of the boat in the waves meant you were adjusting your centre of balance over your feet the whole time and led to the calculation of the vectors becoming instinctive and therefore the rockovers on the slate sea of the Meltdown felt almost as easy as sitting down on the sofa.... Johnny would have given us all something like this.

Am I right that you led the bottom direct start with a hanging rope with knots in to clip? I'm not a rabid bolter but I think it would make sense to go and actually place the bolts? I've always found the NWB fund really helpful with lending the kit to bolt and often providing the bolts themselves at a really generous price, and I'm sure there are plenty of folk who can teach you how if you are not sure.

Apologies if I am wrong about this or that there is some ethical reason for the hanging rope.

And again good effort on it, I'm sure there are plenty of folk chomping at the bit to go look at it, which is surely the best compliment you can get.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/ukc/the_dewin_stone_9a+_slab_for_franco_cookson-765149?v=1#x9843206

[Kingy]

FFS. How are other people meant to try it?

[remus]

Tbh I don't think it makes that much difference practically for this route. I think most people top rope meltdown before getting on the lead, so only minimal logistics compared to that.

[ali k]

Bit odd not to mention it before it got a write up on UKC.

[Wil]

Classic Franco.

[Kingy]

it may not get repeated due to faff.

anyone know if the direct finish is bolted?

[Bradders]

Based on the write up on UKC including this:

Potential 50 footer down the slab from the end, so kind of has an E10 vibe when you're tired on redpoint

I guess not

[El Mocho]

Sounds like Caff has been to look at it:

"Is a good effort from Franco. The start to gain Meltdown is easier than Meltdown start. Less hard moves. Finish will be punchy on the full link though."

 

[36chambers]

Looking at those lines without context, but knowing Franco's involved, I definitely would have assumed that one was highlighting where a classic climb went and the other was showing the route Franco took when he told instagram he repeated said classic

[Fiend]

Especially the purple one.

[northern yob]

WTF

So what on earth is going on with this? The whole knotted rope thing is bollocks, in my mind it’s basically not a route, what he’s done is a little better than a top rope ascent. If he’s not put the bolts in because he wants it to be a trad route, then it’s an unfinished project and doesn’t deserve a name and grade. If he’s gonna bolt it with bolts where the knots were it’s far from ideal, and in my eyes a legitimate ascent hasn’t occurred….. is this ok these days?

I’ve held off on this because I sound like a miserable old twat, it’s becoming more apparent to me that I’m turning into Ken Wilson, but do people really think this is ok…?