UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => news => Topic started by: Bubba on March 02, 2006, 08:42:21 am
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He emailed me the following:
Thought you might be interested in something I've done at Burbage North, I've done the direct on ‘Windjammer' (E1) as a highball boulder problem. The thing is about 10m long in total, but the hard part ends at 6m. Interestingly, the challenge was pointed out in the old Froggatt guidebook (page 64) which states of Windjammer: ‘Needs a direct start really; any takers?' I'd tried the line several times over the last ten or more years but never worked out how to do it. Turns out it is a really big one armed press, followed by the crux which involves getting one foot established above the lip of the overhang.
The only other person who I know had tried the line was Pete Robbins, who intended to utilise a side runner. I thought that the best way to do it, considering the height was to pad it out and climb it as a boulder problem. I used a 8†thick Foundry crash mat and three other smaller bouldering pads to pad it out.
Nicholas Ecoffet, with whom I worked the moves, reckoned about Font 7b+. John Arran has photos
The problem is called Enterprise.
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If its not clear, this was toproped first. Not without precedent, but disappointing still. How's about we impose a moratorium on top-roping grit boulder problems? Including projects. Be nice to have some really good ground-up objectives left for the generations to come.
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i was waiting for someone else to say it first. shame this was done in this style. always impressed me as a line since i first did windjammer years ago. nevermind.
is it really a boulder problem too? although more generally i do concur with JB's mausoleum point...
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shame he had to litter our national parks by leaving a gym mat at the crag in order to do this route! Why not just get all your mates to turn up at the crag with mats? Oh yeah, sorry, stupid question :wink:
P.S. on a less inflamatory note I'm sure i've read somewhere (online, be it in some new routes list or mag area report) of this being done or at least claimed before, but I have no idea who by, at what grade, or where i read it, so feel free to dismiss this insight.
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JB - but the ground up repeat is still open, as is flash...
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Font 7b+ isnt really that hard by modern standards
6m isnt really that high (considering the mat thickness)
Surely this could have been dispatched ground up fairly quickly by someone with sufficient talent?
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I think it should have been made clear that this line was top-roped first, this was not clear either on here or UKC. That lack of transparency has diminished the open reporting of using a very big mat to protect it.
However, it's been climbed now and the on-sight/flash/ground-up is there for everyone. It's not like there were hordes of people out there trying the ground-up first ascent (as far as I know and I apologise if it turns out that there were hordes of people or even one person trying it in this fashion). The first ascentionist climbing it as he did doesn't really seem to have left any great "footprint" or affect upon the crag, other than leaving a new line for people to try in their own style. Okay, so maybe there is a slightly purer style than the first ascent, now let people go climb it in a purer style.
The one regret that I can see people having is that "future generations" (or our own considering that it's not that hard) have lost a potential ground-up first ascent. But they've still got a ground-up ascent to try, just not the first ascent.
No doubt I've missed something glaring in my argument, so apologies now for any inconsistencies or errors... :oops:
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I' tried this a number of times (about 7 years ago?) and there were certainly a few people looking at it, there was also a rumour that it had been falsely claimed.
Basically iy's a one move wonder, easy out to the good hold on the lip and then a very odd move (I could get my right arm straight but couldn't get my feet up) to allow you to get a foot on.
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The relevance of this ascent is shown up in context with other recent gritstone news.