Boulder problems

Adam Ondra:

Aidan used a different starting position. He started from a crouch start in wide compression, using a different sequence for the first 2 (3) moves. All following ascents were done starting from sitstart on the right, which is arguably a more logical start. [...] This has probably resulted in Aidan's perception of difficulty 8C/C+. [2]

There is some footage of attempts on the line in March 2022 here [1].

References

[1] https://youtu.be/H0HMSamy-AI?t=52

[2] https://www.adamondra.com/celestite-8c-flash-and-lion-s-share-8c-flash/

Adds an 8B on top of Blood Meridian before a spicy 7C+ sequence at ~20ft to gain the slab.

Since the first ascent the problem has broken a couple of times and has been glued back together both times.

There is some variation in the line taken by each of the ascenionists so far. Andy Earl climbed a line very close to the arete, Dan Varian and Will Bosi ended up slightly more on the right face at the top and Franco Cookson moved on to the right hand face earlier still, avoiding a couple of moves up the prow [1]. Franco amusingly named his variation Varian the Librarian.

Regarding the grade, Andy Earl didn't offer a grade and Steve Crowe wrote it up for the guidebook as E9 7a. It is now more commonly climbed above a big pile of pads at ~8A.

References

[1] Franco Cookson discusses the controversy around the line on UKClimbing.com, 9th Feb 2022 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/opinions/the_blurry_line_-_when_does_a_sequence_become_a_line-14240

[2] On The Edge 128, page 18

For a many years a campus power testpiece at 8A+, a toehook was discovered in the early 2020s, reducing the difficulty.