Linden | E6 Trad climb at Curbar Edge

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First ascent. 2 points of aid.

With 2 skyhooks placed in drilled divots for aid, a source of controversy at the time. Keith Myhill wrote in a letter to Mountain Magazine:

This event must surely mark the lowest point in gritstone climbing for a very long time.

To which Drummond replied:

…Rome wasn't built in a day, nor Cenotaph ascended by Saint Joseph without a pin here and a pin there. And Quietus top-roped first. I'm still learning how to learn. Silly Myhill. It isn't your hill. The route is there for you too. Go on – open your legs – let's see what you can do. Balancing on those two impeccable skyhooks should keep you quiet. You might even learn to pray; and not prey.

Though in a later interview he repented:

I erred and was willing to err. If you are creating something, to a degree you have a right to define the way in which to create and I was willing to chip holds… I was different, in that I was wilful and was prepared to change the rock to suit me because I was at the cutting edge and had a right to blunt it a little. I was wrong.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/ed_drummond_1945-2019_-_a_retrospective-11940

[2] Mountain 28 (1973), page 15 /library/9632/mountain-28

[3] Mountain 31 (1974), page 39 /library/11050/mountain-31

First ascent.

Nah don't agree with being pumpy or desperate!! Soloed this onsight in 1982 no big cigar but it hadn't even been led then!! [1]

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/curbar_edge-21/linden-11110