[Turboman]

Heard on the Foundry grapevine that the sharp crimp on Mecca Extension has fallen off.
Pretty gutted about this as my sequence relies heavily on this hold.

Can anyone tell me if this is going to be back in place soon.

I've got next Wed booked off work (to avoid the crowds) and could do with knowing if it will be back on by then.

If no one  is volunteering to glue it back on I'll take on the task. 

[shark]

If its been lost you could glue on an equivalent like Simon Reed did

[grimer]

Didn't Peter Whittaker pull it off?

[abarro81]

Pete Whit pulled it off about a week ago. Him and Bailes then worked a sequence without it which they say is harder but not miles harder (RH up high to sidepull, LH under to undercut, fall rightwards to 3 finger sidepull, then up to flake). Mawson concurred with that assessment doing the new moves first try but thinking they were harder than before. Obviously the low method is ruled out without it. Last thing I heard was a text from Mawson saying "Mecca hold staying off! Steve did Mecca ext without it on sun and said he wants it left off."
So it sounds like the hold is staying off and Mecca ext is now solid 8c. It does neatly solve the issue of Kaabah becoming an eliminate  - that is now 8c+ again without having to have crappy rules.


[N.B. The logic for not replacing it is partly that it supposedly used to be a much worse hold before it broke and had that one glued on, however many years ago that was. Steve has long been talking about changing the stuck on hold closer to its original form, but has always been too lazy to get around to it, fortunately for those of us who used the low method.]

[Wood FT]

Heard on the Foundry grapevine that the sharp crimp on Mecca Extension has fallen off.
Pretty gutted about this as my sequence relies heavily on this hold.

Can anyone tell me if this is going to be back in place soon.

I've got next Wed booked off work (to avoid the crowds) and could do with knowing if it will be back on by then.

If no one  is volunteering to glue it back on I'll take on the task.

I've just text Bailes as he had a picture on Faceache with the piece in his hand (it's the diamond one right?), i'll post back if/when he replies.


Edit: it seems I type too slow.

[shark]

It does neatly solve the issue of Kaabah becoming an eliminate  - that is now 8c+ again without having to have crappy rules.

Is this the hold that Simon Reed stuck on which Mawson found you could use as a sidehold whereas the original hold had no left facing edge that could be used from Kabaah ? 

[standard]

http://www.bigstone.co.uk/news/2012/10/09/Mecca_Re__extended/

[shark]

http://www.bigstone.co.uk/news/2012/10/09/Mecca_Re__extended/

Got to be - good spot

A route with history comes full circle! Mecca is one of the most sought after hard sport routes in the Peak. 8b+ and a hard one, the first ascent by Basher in 1986 was done after a massive siege on his last day before emigrating! Now climbed with knee pad technology its bottom of the grade, though the old skool still leave the pad on the ground and slap they way up the groove the hard way.

But however you claw your way to the chains, they are still really in the middle of nowhere, and the extension still has to be done! I was somehow left with the first ascent back in 1998, soft 8c, a route 8a/8a+ after a bit of a rest at the Mecca chains still doesn’t push it up much in terms of grade – so long as you can recover!

But a few years later a good sidepull crumbled off in the middle of the extension, only to be ‘fixed’ with a rather generous replacement in the form of a random chunk from the floor. I wasn’t totally impressed, but it wasn’t much easier so it was left.

But then a new sequence was found using the glued block in a way that could never have been done before. But still, not much easier, so no stress. And finally, people realised you could now avoid the crux of Kabbah (my 8c+ that is to the right) by reaching across into the block. This took Kabbah down to 8c, which was a bit of a shame.
Fortunately the block fell off (and I didn’t knock it off before you ask). And I got the chance of making another ascent yesterday (Sunday 7th). Same grade as before, just a bit harder. So the route gets another little bit of history to add to its colourful past!

Did someone mention something about kneepads ....

[abarro81]

Is this the hold that Simon Reed stuck on which Mawson found you could use as a sidehold whereas the original hold had no left facing edge that could be used from Kabaah ?

Yes, though it wasn't Mawson that found you could use it as a sidepull/pinch, I got that beta from Stu for Mecca ext. The kaabah holds want to lead you out to it, then I realised you could just move L a few moves earlier and climb up to it from below, which wasn't that hard (bit harder than mecca ext). Problem was, even if you filled in the LH side this sequence would still have worked using it as a gaston, though apparently it wouldn't have been possible before as the original hold was apparently more vertical and thus less useable as a gaston. Anyway, Mawson started trying it as an eliminate - going L to the undercut but not the stuck on hold 2 inches below it; my plan was to climb it without rules (8c); now it's not got rules - go super direct (like Steve/Smitton) or use the undercut out L (like Mawson), 8c+ either way.

[Turboman]

Personally I'd like to see the hold go back on.
Seems to me that folk are more interested in preserving the grade of these routes than the quality of the climbing.

The moves on and off that diamond hold were sweet.  Delicate and powerful, balance, tension moves.
For me it's what made the extension worthy of it's 3 star status.

Steve, if you change you mind let me know and I'll get my glue.

[Doylo]

Mecca soft 8b+ with technology - there you have it 

[Kingy]

I tried the extension moves on sunday without the glued on hold. It now involves a small undercut for the RH about 6 inches left of where the glued on hold used to be. At first it felt a fair bit harder as you can't pull in on the diamond to get your feet across to the right on the dinks ready to stretch right off the high LH gaston to either the tiny black crimp or (if you can't reach), the first, tiny undercut. 2nd time up though it felt much better, although still harder than before - you just have to put your feet on the correct smears and find the right way to balance across.

I think its good that an artificial glued on hold has now gone and the sequence now is totally natural. Obviously you can only climb what's there so for the past few years there was no escaping the old hold but now its off and the moves are not much harder I don't reckon it should go back on.

[abarro81]

I think its good that an artificial glued on hold has now gone and the sequence now is totally natural

Apart from the sika on the undercut, and the flake, and the foothold...

[Kingy]

Ahem, well this is the Peak... 

[Kingy]

The small undercut on the new sequence was pulled off today  I have it and will try to put in back on but it is a fragile feature so it may not work. thankfully there is yet another way. A black, flat RH sidepull just below the high  ::)LH gaston allows you to come over with your LH for that gaston and then you're into the usual traverse right. It is a bit burlier than before but the sidepull seems reasonably solid. This route seems to get harder every week! 

[saltbeef]

fat bastard

[Doylo]

Sounds like the peakies need to lay off the pies