Superman | 8B Boulder problem at Crag X


Eliminate. Also known as Superman II. Low start to Hulk. See also Superman SDS.

Immortalised in the 1994 film One Summer, Superman was one of the hardest problems around at the time of its first ascent, c.1989. The problem is somewhat eliminate; an easier version using all the holds is known as Superwoman.

It was originally graded 8A+, at least according to Jerry's autobiography, though was given 8B in One Summer. After the left hand sidepull broke in c.2004 it was reascended by Tim Clifford, apparently also at 8A+; this version was for a while known as Superman II. It's now considered 8B.

Contributors
TdG
23 contributions since 8th September 2025.
remus
19 contributions since 21st January 2023.
Mattsparksy
6 contributions since 4th January 2025.

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Ascents

21 recorded ascents.

Climber Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Jerry Moffatt Boulder | worked Between 1st Jan 1988 and 31st Dec 1989 8A+
First ascent.

The FA year is listed as 1988 in the 1994 film 'One Summer' and in the chronology in Jerry's autobiography 'Revelations'. However, the text lists the FA year as 1989.

Closer to Sheffield, some climbers had started exploring a crag called Cressbrook and added some problems. The first time I saw it, I fell in love with the place. It was a limestone dale with a long wall of smooth limestone, about fifteen feet high. Over a summer, some friends and I developed the crag a lot further adding problems like Jericho Road, Moffatrocity and the Hulk, all pretty hard.

That was in 1988, and the following year, Ben Moon started going there a lot. He started trying a sit-down start to my problem, the Hulk. … Ben was doing well on this. It looked like a fantastic, hard piece of climbing. However, I was injured. A tendon problem in my finger meant I couldn't push it too hard, so I couldn't join in. I was jealous.

As it happened, by the next year, 1989, Ben still hadn't done it. I had recovered, and now he was injured. I managed to do the problem and called it Superman. This was probably the hardest problem in Britain, but at the time, nobody was that interested, apart from those of us who climbed there. Bouldering just wasn't news.(1)

On possible changes in difficulty, Jerry stated:

Firstly on Superman, the foothold that broke wasn't used on the first and second ascent and really doesn't make a difference to the grade. It does feel more greasy than it used to. [3]

References

[1] Jerry Moffatt, Niall Grimes, 'Revelations', 2009, Vertebrate Publishing

[2] On The Edge issue 114, page 44

[3] Letter to On The Edge, issue 104, page 8

Ben Moon Boulder | worked Between 1st Jan 1988 and 1st Jan 1994 8B
Tim Clifford Boulder | worked 1st Apr 2003 8A+
Tim Clifford Boulder | worked 12th Mar 2005 8A+
Dave Mason Boulder | worked Mar 2013
James Noble Boulder | worked 5th Jan 2019
Stuart Littlefair Boulder | worked 28th Jun 2020
Aiden Dunne Boulder | worked Sep 2022
Ben Bransby Boulder | worked 19th Oct 2022
Sam Blackwell Boulder | worked 5th May 2023
Max Milne Boulder | worked 5th Sep 2023
Second go.

Max was close on the flash.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw0Sqd7t2R0/=

Harry Constantine Boulder | worked 10th Jun 2024
Shauna Coxsey Boulder | worked 29th Jun 2024
Leo Skinner Boulder | worked 7th Jul 2024
Adam Wheeler Boulder | worked 6th Aug 2024
1 session.
Spike Fullwood Boulder | worked 4th Apr 2025
1 session.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/DICZ2NxM8hX/

Beidrik Scott Boulder | worked 9th May 2025
Finn Parry Boulder | worked 26th May 2025 8B
Josh Hummel-Newell Boulder | worked 9th Jun 2025 8B
John Welford Boulder | worked

References

[1] On The Edge issue 114, page 44

Eli Cartwright Boulder | worked