Ben Bransby

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 67, page 73

First ascent.

An incredible onsight effort. Ben fell off with a hand on top of the crag!

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 92, page 80

First ascent.

First ascent without using the bolt for protection. Ben had tried to chop it but the bolt turned out to be sturdier than it looked, so he led it with the bolt taped over.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 88, page 10

First ascent.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 88, page 10

First ascent.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 88, page 10

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 88, page 10

First ascent.

Placing all gear on lead.

Second ascent.

Ben watched Dave MacLeod top rope the route before flashing it with the gear in place. He then repeated the route placing all the gear on lead. Dave found some extra gear that was not used on the first ascent and Ben suggested this brought the grade down to E7/8.

References

[1] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/ben-bransby-flashes-e9-in-britain.html

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/1o7RLJApyhQ2CEBAwVKzvz?

[3] On The Edge Issue 103, page 10

After onsighting it Ben then downclimbed it too because he wanted to keep his boots clean!

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/1o7RLJApyhQ2CEBAwVKzvz?

Protected via a rope tensioned between two pieces of gear in adjacent routes.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 106, page 12

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,31049.msg625211.html#msg625211

References

[1] A record of ground-up and on-sight climbing on Peak, Yorkshire and Lancashire gritstone

With Ivan Tresch.

After a big night out in Leeds Ben felt unable to manage a day at university so instead travelled down with Ivan Tresch to try this problem. Unfortunately conditions were a little warm for their liking, so on finding some duct tape in their bag, they made little umbrellas out of tape to keep the crucial slopers in the shade! [1]

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/1o7RLJApyhQ2CEBAwVKzvz?

Second go.

First ascent.

Took a lob first RP, then Caff did then stripped gear and I did.

With Ivan Tresch.

In a day.

Ben and partner Ivan Tresch were caught being light-fingered in a local shop and were given a court date a couple of days later. Unsure how the court appearance might go, they decided to make a quick one day ascent before going to court in case their freedoms were more limited after the appearance in front of the law. [1]

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/1o7RLJApyhQ2CEBAwVKzvz

First ascent.

After our extensive testing of the slider this turned into a pretty safe thing although I think Pete [Robins] saying E7 is possibly a little low (although it is Pete so what you would expect) Comparing to other E7 7as such as Little Women and Groove is in the Heart (fell off the last move on wed) it felt very slightly easier, Fb7b+ rather than Fb7c?, but a fair bit bolder - both the above are very safe, lots of runners and short falls, the Promise has one ok runner and a ground sweeping (although quite short!) fall. We only felt happy taking the fall on the Promise after a few 'practice' falls from right by it and with 5 pads and a ladder below (I would have been happy with no or one pad on the sunday).

I think for James' ascent (not trusting the runner, no pads) you could probably add an E grade or two (I am sure with UKB grade SCIENCE we could work out how many exactly). [1]

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10607.msg176038.html#msg176038

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/the_promise_-ground_up-_video-1499

First ascent.

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,11096.0.html

References

[1] https://vimeo.com/35950595

Fourth go.

References

[1] https://vimeo.com/35875749

First ascent.

References

[1] https://vimeo.com/37721688

Second ascent.

Snowballed.

References

[1] https://vimeo.com/63314131

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/05/long_hope_repeated_-_mchaffie_and_bransby-68088

First ascent.

References

[1] https://youtu.be/aBdbUUzdvjg?t=4100

First ascent.

The first time the route had been re-climbed since the flake broke.

References

[1] https://twitter.com/dmmclimbing/status/402829127793016832

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/11/ben_bransby_climbs_parthian_shot-68542

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6r-McDgBc0

[4] Ben commenting on the style of his ascent, September 2023 https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/ukc/james_pearson_climbs_parthian_shot_e10_6c-763419?v=1#x9822066

When it came to reclimbing it after the first flake broke I did as James [Pearson] says - climbed the original line up Brooks crack, trav left and up. I placed a higher side runner in Brooks, I can't remember exactly where but I think it was a body length or so higher than where you trav out. My thinking was it would keep me off the ground if I fell off the crux and the flake broke, but from higher would be less help. My excuses where that from big trad/adventure routes you often wiggle 'off route' by a couple of meters to place gear, I was a bit more of a wimp (wife, kid, dogs etc), and I found the route hard (I'm not as good as James, Jacopo [Larcher] etc). I placed gear in the flake on lead but then did fall off the crux. The fall was less pleasant with the side runner as it did pull me right a little into the arete below rather than just into space/against the flat wall, but it was a lot better than hitting the deck. I left the gear in for the next go, when I did manage it, so although pre placed on the ascent it was only the 3 or 4 pieces that I had placed and equalised as best I could on lead...

Second ascent.

References

[1] https://twitter.com/dmmclimbing/status/448116087448956930

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvnGcCz2kDs

First ascent.

Second ascent?

First ascent.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgl6owWD1F_/

https://vimeo.com/775048098

First ascent.

First ascent.

First ascent.

Pumpy. Blowing hard on the top. Thought this was going to be a touch harder but didn't quite feel like the + today. I have a feeling this climb suits me, both in the style of climbing and morphology so grade may be conservative. Nice to do the full line. Good effort to James and Sam finding the original and Tim on the extension.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C73w9B7NK1y/

[2] https://northwalesbouldering.com/newsitem.asp?nsid=1076

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/C73ptwPtsEf/

First ascent.

References

[1] https://northwalesbouldering.com/newsitem.asp?nsid=1079