Ted Kingsnorth on hold deterioration:
Regarding holds changing, there are 2 key holds that have altered a bit since the FA in 95. Firstly the crux sidepull/ pod between the second and third bolt for your left hand has got smaller due to it crumbling. Apparently it used to be significantly bigger. Secondly the slopey pod for your right hand used to have more of a lip on it in the 90's and this broke off making this bit harder. Its the redpoint crux now - this broke agin majorly last summer but was repaired back to its former state as the piece that broke was retained and put back exactly how it used to be.
Thirdly, there were some holds between the 6th and 7th bolt that broke about 8 or 9 years ago [2015/16] but a repair was done to a key crimp so this section is about the same as what it used to be (the old holds can be seen in the Chris Savage video or the Malc pics).
I understand that this year [2024] the jug by the kneebar rest higher up has crumbled plus some other sika has decayed (not sure where) but I don't have any knowledge of this as haven't been up there to look. [1]
On balance it is not possible to know whether the route has gotten noticeably harder since the first ascent because no one has tried the route in it's previous state vs. it's current state to know if the difficulty has changed.
[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,33869.msg697741.html#msg697741
16 recorded ascents, including 1 unsuccessful ascent.
| Climber | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Moffatt | Lead | worked | 1995 | 8c |
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First ascent. 4 sessions. Harder than Liquid Ambar.
Jerry nearly made the first ascent in 2 days but fell off the top roof due to not knowing the sequence well enough. Jerry initially suggested 8c+ but revised this to 8c after Nic Sellars made a fast repeat of Jerry's route Evolution at Raven Tor and downgraded it to 8c:
References[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,33869.msg697764.html#msg697764 [2] On The Edge Issue 53, page 48. |
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| Nic Sellars | Lead | worked | 1995 | |
| Malcolm Smith | Lead | worked | 1995 | |
| Steve McClure | Lead | worked | Jun 2006 | |
| Chris Savage | Lead | worked | 19th Jun 2011 | |
References |
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| Tim Palmer | Lead | worked | Aug 2014 | |
| Alex Barrows | Lead | worked | 21st Jun 2015 | |
| Alex Megos | Lead | worked | Jun 2016 | |
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Second go.
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| Jon Freeman | Lead | worked | 18th Jun 2016 | |
| Jordan Buys | Lead | worked | Apr 2019 | |
| Luke Dawson | Lead | worked | 20th Jun 2020 | |
References |
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| Josh Ibbertson | Lead | worked | 2021 | |
| Eder Lomba | Lead | worked | 1st Jun 2021 | |
References |
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| Ted Kingsnorth | Lead | worked | 29th Jun 2021 | |
| Pete Dawson | Lead | worked | Jul 2021 | |
References |
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| Tony Mitchell | Lead | did not finish | ||
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Tony had been attempting the line prior to the first ascent but was shut down by a long move through the roof, which he managed to reach twice from the ground but was unable to pass. |
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