Climbs

John Dunne:

It is undoubtedly one of the best routes on grit, in terms of the line, the position and of course climbing. [1]

References

[1] Yorkshire Gritstone Volume 2, 2014. Page 63.

Originally climbed with no pads and a single ball nut for protection. James gave it E10, believing any fall would involve hitting the ground. Subsequent ascents tested the ball nut (above pads) and found it to be better than expected with the ball nut holding around 20 falls. Based on this, grades around E7 to E8 were suggested.

Due to the falls the quality of the placement deteriorated, with Jordan Buys ripping the gear in a fall from high on the route. It is not clear how reliable the placement currently is. [1]

Now usually climbed as a highball above a big pile of pads.

References

[1] https://johnroberts.me/outdoors/2011/11/the-promise-is-it-finally-the-end-of-the-affair/

Originally climbed as a trad route at ~E7.

First ascentionist Mark Leach stated there was a pebble that he didn't want to stand on in case it broke, so he used a really hard sequence. Then he stood on it and did the route first time. Ben Moon used the pebble too. It's not clear if the pebble still exists.

Although originally a trad route, it's a contender for the first 8A in the UK, climbed a few months before Careless Torque.

The first E9 in Scotland. Repeats have taken a slight variation through a line of least resistance, rather than MacLeod's original. [1]

References

[1] Dave MacLeod Moving the Needle, 2024.

Akira is a route with a complicated history and a degree of controversy, largely around the fact that first ascenionist Fred Rouhling suggested a grade of 9b at a time when 9a was the cutting edge and no routes had been proposed at 9a+ (though some routes from the era have subsequently been upgraded to 9a+, for example Mutation at Raven Tor). Subsequent ascentionists have suggested 9a is more appropriate. To complicate things even further, the repeat ascentionists chose not use kneebars but did suggest that using them would lower the grade further.

Holds may have come and gone on the first part of the route:

Can confirm via a friend that worked Akira pretty hard that the initial section used to be 8B. His breakdown was 8B to a crap rest on a 3 finger pocket into a second 8B to the lip. He never tried the final rope section (8a?) as he thought it was pointless. [1] [2] [3]

Dani Andrada:

I almost did it [Akira]. I fell at the last move of the boulder crux. I find that section hard for 7C as Bouin and Lucien Martinez have now proposed. It's a boulder of about eight moves, which can be 8A or 8A+ in my opinion. I think the proposal of 9a is correct taking into account that they may have made some moves with kneebars as well. I went 7 or 8 days to try it. The place is quite ugly and I had a hard time finding someone to accompany me. The route is in the same style as Ali Hulk in the Cave of Ali Baba, in Rodellar, but the spot is so ugly that it is difficult to motivate oneself to go there. [4]

Jean-Baptiste Tribout, speaking in 2000:

I visited Akira in 1995 it is certainly one of the hardest routes in the world that I have ever seen, and I climbed on it and managed to do a lot of the moves, but I couldn't do the hardest moves. To be able to link up all thes hard moves into one clean ascent is incredibly hard. It's a completely natural route, which is great! The route i also very technical, and scary in a way because it is 3 to 4m off the ground it's difficult to commit to the moves, and with these moves you could fall flat on your back. [9]

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10607.msg621712.html#msg621712

[2] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10607.msg621740.html#msg621740

[3] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10607.msg621741.html#msg621741

[4] https://woguclimbing.com/seb-bouin-lucien-martinez-repiten-akira-opinan-9a/

[5] https://www.grimper.com/news-25-ans-apres-akira-enfin-repetee-etions

[6] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/11/fred_rouhlings_akira_repeated_-_twice-72635

[7] https://www.instagram.com/p/CH52khijvz7/

[8] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4T8j5taHKyu11HnWMKvxWT?

[9] On The Edge Issue 102, page 43

First discovered by Dave Graham it was a project for a long time before Shawn Raboutou made the first ascent.

Originally climbed without knee bars and given 8C, now considered to be 8B.