All climbs

Originally climbed with a desperate feet low sequence (~8B), this was subsequently improved slightly with a toe on the rail (abely demonstrated by Ben Moon in Hard Grit) before some heel hooking technique was applied which lowered the grade to 7C.

A minor variation avoiding the jug and going straight to the top at ~8A called Fight Club has been climbed. [1]

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 95, page 19

The crux first move is 8B+ on it's own, with a tricky ~8Aish sequence still to do after you stick the start.

Lou Ferrino in to Trigger Cut.

Previously considered 8B until new knee bar beta lowered the grade.

The first proposed 8C, it was later downgraded to 8B+ when Dave Graham found a heel hook. There were also suggestions of hold improvement. Around November 2009 the crux pinch broke off making the problem harder. Dreamtime is now considered 8C again.

References

[1] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/dreamtime-a-dream-which-vanished-for-a-second-only.html

Generally considered to be 8c+/9a.

Climber:

Mecca (8b+) Mecca and the three extensions – Mecca Extension (8c), Hajj (8c) and Kaabah (F8c+) were all first done by Steve McClure between 1998 and 2004. Mecca Extension is reckoned to be the more accommodating of the three and it’s been popular ever since it was first done. Hajj is said to be much harder and perhaps not surprisingly it hasn’t attracted the attention that its siblings have and has had few repeats. Steve’s ascent of Kaabah came during the 2004 Petzl Roc Trip on an especially sunny day in late summer.

[…]

The route starts up Mecca but swings out right where the original routes swings left to the half-height lower-off. Incidentally, this alternative was first bolted by Simon Reed as an alternative and slightly harder finish to Mecca itself. From the shake-out roughly level with the Mecca lower-off, Kaabah kicks-in with a hard, crimpy sequence up the headwall to a junction with Mecca Extension in a shallow corner up which it finishes. Gaining and climbing the hanging corner on Mecca Extension is the crucial section on Kaabah where the difficulty of the climbing is further exacerbated by hard clips.

References

[1] https://www.climber.co.uk/news/pete-whittaker-talks-about-his-repeat-of-kaabah/

Originally given 8C+ but later a downgrade to 8C was suggested by the FA Paul Robinson.

Daniel Woods offered this iconic description:

Start matched on a half-pad crescent shaped edge, paste your left foot on a glass smear as well as the right, pull on and do a left hand move to a quarter-pad, rounded, slick crimp. Bite down hard on this hold and move your right foot high and right onto a decent edge, then isolate the left arm and come right hand into the shark's tooth. This hold is so cool yet loco! How you grab this hold determines if you do the next move or not. For me, I place my ring finger on the left side of the spike and middle finger on the right side (the hold size is less than a quarter-pad and bites like no other). I then load my two fingers and wrap my thumb around the side of the tooth. When you get this, you make a fist with the wall and can feel the edge cut through a couple layers of skin, which is what holds you onto the wall. I then bring my left foot high on this knob right below the starting hold and explode to the left hand mini-pinch. This hold is slick, quarter-pad, and has an OK thumb catch, which makes it positive. It is hard to have the right accuracy to get this hold perfect. Now you are in the stand of Rastaman Vibration (V12). From here you switch your right foot onto the knob and place your left foot on a smear out left. You eye up the final half pad, rounded crimp and jump to it. Your feet go nearly horizontal while your fingers are squeezing these two holds. Once controlled, you do the remaining 30-foot slab to the top of the boulder.

Allegedly conceptualised by John Yablonski whilst under the influence of LSD. Named after the Jimi Hendrix song as it was considered as unlikely as lightning striking at midnight and for the lightning bolt shaped hold.

References

[1] https://kletterszene.com/stories/the-classics-boulder-midnight-lightning/

Considered to be one of the first 8B+s in the world.