Castellan | E5 Trad climb at High Tor

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First ascent.

First ascent.

Peak limestone also drew John in – albeit nowhere near to the same degree as his beloved gritstone and he didn’t have it all his way either. Apocalypse (originally E6 but now E4), a case in point, wasn’t John’s finest hour. John, having seconded Steve up the first pitch, failed to lead the top pitch. Later that month (April 1976), the pair dispatched Castellan (E5 6b, 6b) on High Tor to give one of the hardest routes on Peak limestone. Again, Steve Bancroft got the first and arguable the hardest pitch – something which rankled Allen considerably. That pitch consumed so much time and effort that they had to return a second day to allow Allen to lead the top pitch. That barely consoled the miserable Allen however.

References

[1] https://www.climber.co.uk/news/john-allen-god-of-grit-the-legend/