[Andy Harris]

I saw on 8a that an old Orgon project right of bronx finally went down the other week. I remember seeing various hot hots trying this years ago. Infact i think i saw the guy "creating" it before that. This got me musing about projects of old that haven't been ticked from around that era.

Markus Bock ticked an old Gullich project last year next to kaum zeit zum atmen but there is still an amazing wall left of kamasutra 218 @ luisenwand

The mightiest of all has to be LeMenestrels old Plage project at Buoux. This looks amazing and given BEN DID THE MOVES BACK IN THE DAY IT MUST WAY IN AROUND 9A-9B, surely this must be getting some attention?

Finally theres an old boulder project at Isatis on the memel block on the left of the steep face. About 3/4 moves on what looks to be decent hands & fee. Surely this can't be too hard. Looks  like Tyler would eat it for brekkie!

[GCW]

I may be wrong, not being au fait with Peak Lime, but didn't Gaskins have a project next to Hubble?  Did it ever get done?

[abarro81]

That project off la plage looks liable to suffer from the Buoux-grey-rock-means-horribly-painful-pockets syndrome which might put a few off. Still, it does look amazing. Has anyone on here done the 7c+ through the left side of that roof?

[moose]

I may be wrong, not being au fait with Peak Lime, but didn't Gaskins have a project next to Hubble?  Did it ever get done?

Was that the "Brandenburg Gate" project? I vaguely remember talk of it having multiple cruxes, each harder than Hubble... that the Staminaband / PUTP link was just a pleasant distraction from its difficulties!?

[Kingy]

of all has to be LeMenestrels old Plage project at Buoux. This looks amazing and given BEN DID THE MOVES BACK IN THE DAY IT MUST WAY IN AROUND 9A-9B, surely this must be getting some attention?

Fred Rouhling had a tickle on this last year, he writes about it on his blog: 

http://www.varapping.com/fredrouhling.htm

He says he is too short to do it the way Ben Moon did the moves and says it gets the sun all day, so you have to try early in the year. Looks like he is keen to come back!

More locally, any knowledge on the old project right of Orange Sunshine?

[dave]

I may be wrong, not being au fait with Peak Lime, but didn't Gaskins have a project next to Hubble?  Did it ever get done?

Was that the "Brandenburg Gate" project? I vaguely remember talk of it having multiple cruxes, each harder than Hubble... that the Staminaband / PUTP link was just a pleasant distraction from its difficulties!?

bearing in mind gaskins used to warmup for this project by lapping hubble blindfold carrying a rucksac full of anvils and burning matchsticks under each of his fingernails, you can guarantee that its pretty fucking nails. I don't know if there's anyone out there now who'd have a chance on it. prehaps scotty?

[Paul B]

He says he is too short to do it the way Ben Moon did the moves and says it gets the sun all day, so you have to try early in the year. Looks like he is keen to come back!

hang about, hasn't Fred got a MASSIVE wingspan?

[Adam Lincoln]

He says he is too short to do it the way Ben Moon did the moves and says it gets the sun all day, so you have to try early in the year. Looks like he is keen to come back!

hang about, hasn't Fred got a MASSIVE wingspan?

He is 5' 9" with a plus one ape index.

[GCW]

Shit, A.  Do you sit on the bog studying your Top Climbers Top Trumps or something?

[sorry for the 2 bad puns]

[Adam Lincoln]

Shit, A.  Do you sit on the bog studying your Top Climbers Top Trumps or something?

[sorry for the 2 bad puns]

There was a myth flying around he was 6ft 5 with a +6 ape index. When climbing mag did an article on him it turned out not to be the case. Just remembered the stats from that. 

[dave]

climbing magazine slaughtering the pig of ignorance.

[Kingy]

hang about, hasn't Fred got a MASSIVE wingspan?

This is lifted from Fred's blog entry above, re the Grand Bombe Bleu, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak:

"Je suis trop petit pour essayer les méthodes imaginées par Ben Moon".

[Sloper]

I think the project opposite Memel will be a project for some time to come (I'd love to be proved wrong).

Anyway, routes wise, who knows; certainly not me.

[Palomides]

Sharma has had a tickle on the Plage project too. This snippet is from an interview in Escalade MAg, Jan 2008

Comme tu es toujours à la recherche de lignes extrêmes, as-tu déjà essayé le vieux projet de Buoux, le bombé bleu à gauche de La Plage ?
Oui, mais il n’y a pas assez de points pour essayer correctement les sections. Il en faudrait au moins deux ou trois de plus. Sinon, c’est une très belle ligne.

The Fred blog's really interesting. I was under the impression that Ben hadn't actually done all the moves on the project, which is why he modelled the holds in tinfoil and recreated them in Stalybridge. Sounds like Fred couldn't hold the swing from jumping between two finger pockets on the first section, so he found a mono for the left hand.

[Teaboy]

More locally,

The 'Angel' project at the left end of LPT remains curiously undone, although I expect this is less significant than the roof above La Plage.

[Palomides]

Talking of roofs, there's also "Les yeux plus gros que le ventre" (eyes bigger than the stomach!) - which goes right across the biggest section of the roof/cave at Russan. This was equipped about 10(?) years ago by the late Pierre Rouzo (co-equipper of Claret and other places).

It's 45m long, of which 35m is nearly horizontal, and is entirely natural - there's an amazing line of small tufa blobs. There used to be a video on the visitvenusproductions site of someone trying this, but I think the site has been reorganised.

I'm pretty sure that it goes l to r in this picture, right out across the roof, past the hanging tat. The classic 8a Moi Vouloir Toit starts in the same place and heads leftwards on the bigger holds.

[Dorian]

I saw on 8a that an old Orgon project right of bronx finally went down the other week. I remember seeing various hot hots trying this years ago. Infact i think i saw the guy "creating" it before that. This got me musing about projects of old that haven't been ticked from around that era.

Markus Bock ticked an old Gullich project last year next to kaum zeit zum atmen but there is still an amazing wall left of kamasutra 218 @ luisenwand

The mightiest of all has to be LeMenestrels old Plage project at Buoux. This looks amazing and given BEN DID THE MOVES BACK IN THE DAY IT MUST WAY IN AROUND 9A-9B, surely this must be getting some attention?

Finally theres an old boulder project at Isatis on the memel block on the left of the steep face. About 3/4 moves on what looks to be decent hands & fee. Surely this can't be too hard. Looks  like Tyler would eat it for brekkie!

Could this be the luisenwand project..? http://www.climb.frankenjura.com/php3/select_route.php3?id=2-01-11--13

[north_country_boy]

Talking of roofs, there's also "Les yeux plus gros que le ventre" (eyes bigger than the stomach!) - which goes right across the biggest section of the roof/cave at Russan. This was equipped about 10(?) years ago by the late Pierre Rouzo (co-equipper of Claret and other places).

It's 45m long, of which 35m is nearly horizontal, and is entirely natural - there's an amazing line of small tufa blobs. There used to be a video on the visitvenusproductions site of someone trying this, but I think the site has been reorganised.

I'm pretty sure that it goes l to r in this picture, right out across the roof, past the hanging tat. The classic 8a Moi Vouloir Toit starts in the same place and heads leftwards on the bigger holds.

went here last year. The line you mentioned was fully equipped but still a project in my guide.......amazing cave, but not that many climb-able lines, very short on thise 'tufa blobs' you describe....

[Palomides]

Sorry not to be clear - as far as I know, "les yeux..." is still a project, and the only equipped line straight out through the main steepness from the back of the cave (until you reach the right hand side, where the angle eases off and there are some tufa columns). There are various 8a/8bs in there, but they all head up for the big hole in the roof.

[Andy Harris]

v.interesting, the plage project info had totally escaped me. It's obviously brick as Rouhling or Sharma would have done it quick smart if it were around 9a. Should make for some good footage with that sort of exposure! Come on Ondra.

as for the memel problem i just can't believe it's so hard. has anyone tried it or know of anyone who has. maybe it's reputation is based on hearsay and its a classic 7c+ for the taking. surely neil h or uncle know a bit more.

[Jaspersharpe]

The La Plage project does look absolutely amazing. On that blog entry Rouhling says that it's "very, very hard" and "probably 9b". Ben did well to even consider it possible all that time ago let alone do nearly all the moves. It's also surprising that such a line wasn't drilled into submission years ago bearing in mind where it is.

As far as it's position is concerned yes, it does get full sun nearly all day but if you have the motivation to get up early then you can get a couple of hours of good conditions on the routes in that area in even in August (if you're stupid enough to be climbing there then).

[Sloper]

as for the memel problem i just can't believe it's so hard. has anyone tried it or know of anyone who has. maybe it's reputation is based on hearsay and its a classic 7c+ for the taking. surely neil h or uncle know a bit more.

I recall a day in the forest with some of the local super stars who showed me how to do memel (which is now apparently 7a according to the 'Off Piste' Guide??????????) and I'm sure they told me that Marc Le Menstrek and loads of others had tried it and got precisely as far as I could.  On the other hand I might have been halucinating.