[unclesomebody]

After a boozy night of drugs, women, and illegal cockfighting, New Years Day saw some fine action on the Clum Coast. A visiting James Pearson went down to Hartland Quay to find an exceptionally low beach and an even more exceptional overgrade. The low beach rendered the starting hold of ache ball about 2m off the ground, revealing a 6/7 move extension. The keen youth set to work and despatched a wet ache ball, then set about drying the extension. 10 mins later, we had aching balls. I also repeated Ache Ball and we thought it warranted 7C with the extension being 7C+ and being named Aching Balls.

[Dave Westlake]

Good Work guys.

I met a guy down there last easter who was trying the extension.  He was getting pretty close too - as far as i remember he'd got to the slap move - so i suppose theres a chance it may have been done before? I haven't seen him since though so ive no idea.

Your comments on the grade are interesting.   Didn't Pearson do the original a while ago?  Its been on his 8a.nu willy-waving list for a while (at 8a).  Do you know why hes changed his mind?

Having not done any other hard problems, im in no position to comment on the grade, but it seems to me that 7c (for the original) is pretty harsh - considering the number of strong climbers who've tried/done it and said 8a.

for example...

As far as i know  - and i may well be wrong -  Ru Davies (cheif sandbagger) has been on it but didnt do it.  I dunno what he thought about the grade but if it was 'merely' 7c this surprises me a bit. -im sure ive read somewhere that he ticked a couple of welsh 8a's in a single visit?

Having said this, i suppose conditions may have been crap when he tried it.  When i spoke to Si young about it a while ago though, he said that it had had about 8 ascents that he knew of, and the consensus was 8a, but who knows!

One thing that is for sure is that its a mint problem in an awesome setting.

I just hope you boys haven't been near my project...!!!

Dave

[irish si]

all i can say is bungle did it......... ha ha

[Ru]

I didn't really give it a serious go when I was down there as I wasn't into pulling hard on the razor sharp right hand crimp which spoiled the problem for me. I pulled on a few times then bagged it to go and do the other problems nearby. I can't really comment on the grade.

[Pantontino]

"During two brief visits Rupert Davies and Stu Littlefair made quite an impact, managing quick ascents of Caseg Groove sds (V11/8a) and Cross Therapy (V11/8a) in the Elephantitus Cave, Llyn Gwynant."

As for Ache Ball - maybe it has changed? Tidal problems get hammered by the sea/pebbles - perhaps the holds have changed slightly?

Or maybe they found a trick sequence that no-one else spotted?

Or maybe it was overgraded after all?

[Doylo]

its in devon, its had 8 ascents and you think its 8a! Its hardly bas cuvier is it! I'd also like to see the same folk on Caseg sitter and Cross Therapy since there so piss for 8a.  :shock:

[Dave Westlake]

its in devon, its had 8 ascents and you think its 8a!   :shock:

why does everyone seem to have a problem with devon :?: im not saying its not a soft touch but it pisses me off when people seem to assume that anything outside the peak is both soft and not worth reporting :!:  :x

its funny that no one seems to mention any of ken palmers stuff when they slag off south west grading :!:  :!:

[james]

I first climbed ache ball using a bad sequence, with bad conditions and thought it pretty soft for 8a. After getting a bit more experience and using a better sequence I now think it very soft for 8a, 7c in fact. No holds have changed since I first tried it over 3 years ago. The low start from the ledge at the back (only possible when beach is very low) adds a few more relatively tricky moves, with maybe the crux getting into the starting position of ache ball.

[Doylo]

its in devon, its had 8 ascents and you think its 8a!   :shock:

why does everyone seem to have a problem with devon :?: im not saying its not a soft touch but it pisses me off when people seem to assume that anything outside the peak is both soft and not worth reporting :!:  :x

its funny that no one seems to mention any of ken palmers stuff when they slag off south west grading :!:  :!:

i wasn't slagging it off dave, but it is a backwater venue, and 8 ascents (or more now) is a lot for an 8a. And the guy who reported this is from the peak!

[Jim]

also its not any area in partcular thats gets slagged of for being soft touch grades.....
its all area's and venues

[Soxs]

Dave is possibly the most honest climber I know, he did lots of asking around about how hard ache ball was to try and confirm its grade before claiming his first 8a tick so its no wonder the small amount of pride he has feels a bit dented tonight.

No doubt he'll climb many more in the future, however, it's well known that James undergrades all his problems, just check how many of them have been repeated? I find it hard to give a grade to something well below my limit so god knows how JP can do it.

So what if Ache Ball is soft touch for a guy who can cruise everything going, it's still hard enough. Happy New Year one and all :D

[unclesomebody]

Firstly, Si is right. I climbed it, and therefore it can't be 8A. I've never climbed 8A, and I would really feel like I was lying to myself if I claimed Ache Ball as 8A.

Also, James really doesn't undergrade his problems. It's just that he's got an idea of what the grades really represent. It's like saying Moon undergraded all his hard problems/routes. It's not the case. It just seems that nowadays people would rather big themselves up rather than work hard for a grade. If you climb something and you think it's fucking nails there is no shame in it being ONLY 7C. It seems to me that as the grades get bigger all over teh world, people feel that they should operate closer to the top. So if I am 5 grades away from v13 (back in 1990) I should now be 5 grades away from v16. This isn't the case. Don't want to sound sycophantic, but how many repeats have things like Stuperman and the The Press Low Left had? Consider they are in the HEART of the peak, home of many many strong climber... and they are only 8A+ (really half a grade harder than ache ball?!?!?!)

I'd say that Doyle's point is very valid also. A load of ascents from a little place like that would really imply that it's very soft. How many other 8A's get so many ascents in such a small area?

Ultimately, no one is having a go at you Hippy Dave, or saying that Devon is soft. Basically, if you compare Ache Ball to many many other problems that I have climbed all over the world then I think it is probably 7C. No offence intended!!

For a benchmark 8A try "Too fluffy to be hard".   And so ends my rant on grades and willy waving.

[andy_e]

ONLY 7C

Yeah, I'm chuffed when i climb 6c!

[Jim]

I would like to join in the willy waving but I've only got a choad
 :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

[KH]

I also repeated Ache Ball and we thought it warranted 7C with the extension being 7C+ and being named Aching Balls.

How did you get on to the start of the original problem?

I was on it today and it looked easier to do the extension into it, than it did just to pull onto the normal problem.

[james]

It was still possible to start ache ball, just a bit harder than normal.  The low beach also makes the finish feel a little spicey.  The low start is a lot friendlier to your skin than the upper bit, with a really cool cross through move to get to the start of the original.

[Stu Littlefair]

Interesting to see people think Ache Ball is "only" 7c. I'm prepared to go with the masses, because they're always right, but it is interesting to note that I found the sitter to the Caseg Groove much easier. For me a useful comparison was the Terrace which is similar in style, probably 7c, and which I find very easy in comparison.

Am I using a duff sequence, or is it just one-of-those-things? What sequence did you use on the original problem james? Also, if you find yourself that way again, check out the project roof-crack; it's a goer, and a ridiculous line. Prob best not tried with a low beach though  :shock:

[Greencar]

You are right about it being similar to the terrace, and that the terrace is easier, but I think the terrace is 7b+.
As for sequence:
Lh/Rh-Undercut thingy
Rh-Sharp crimp
Lh-mid arete
Lh-corner finger lock hold
Rh-Jug

I think this is more or less the same as everyone else?

Looked at the roof crack, you just need a high beach and lots of tape, it will go.

[james]

That last post was by me, sorry for confusion, not on my computer.

[Stu Littlefair]

Same sequence then. Oh well, probably just old age catching up!

Edit: good effort on extension by the way.  There's also the wall to the right of Carnage to go: mega line, slightly poor landing. If you ever want to fill a car with pads and spotters to go have a look, let me know, eh?

You might be right about the Terrace, but I wonder if you boys need a trip to font to recalibrate your grading scale? Perhaps you've all got really strong without noticing?  :wink:

[Doylo]

to be honest i think the most important issue here is that anybody who knows Unclesomebody knows he can't climb 8a in a session, he's shit  :wink:

Stu - u too strong, agree with others , terrace is never 7c+

[james]

Not suer where carnage is? have had a quick scout about a few times. Care to enlighten me?
Oh and unclesomebody is not shit, the times they are a-changin.

[Doylo]

twas a joke

[Stu Littlefair]

Not suer where carnage is? have had a quick scout about a few times. Care to enlighten me?
Oh and unclesomebody is not shit, the times they are a-changin.

Carnage is on the other beach to Ache Ball. i.e From the car park, looking out to sea, it's on the beach to the right.  At the far end of the beach is a very overhanging wall; carnage is on the left hand end of this wall via  a crimp and a big undercut. Beefy 7a+/7b.

The project is the wall to the right via a vague line of sidepulls. I've got to the top of the sidepull rail but balked at the next moves. Both are great problems.

[james]

You mean the beach to the left.  Looking out to sea, isnt the beach to the right the beach with ache ball?