Climbs

One of the eight ‘last great problem’ projects listed in the Derwent Grit guide. [1]

Jerry Moffatt did all the moves, Johnny Dawes top roped it in a oner, Ron Fawcett was hovering, but it was Andy Pollitt who tied into the sharp end, jumped through the crux and wobbled through to the top – narrowly avoiding a disastrous fall when he slipped on the final sloping ledges.

The route was first climbed on the 2nd of March 1988 by Andy Pollitt and graded E9. The pre-clipped 'hand-held' peg used on the first ascent was later discovered to have actually been placed with a 'hand-held' hammer. [2]

The grade of a given ascent depends on the particular gear placements used. The first ascent and early repeats used a peg in a slot high on the left. Later repeats used a cam in a good slot at half height, that requires a traverse to access. Some people have combined the cam and the pegs, some people have used neither!

References

[1] The others were Dharma, Gaia, End of the Affair, Kaluza Klein, Soul Doubt, The Screaming Dream and The Groove.

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2010/10/ryan_pasquill_flashes_knockin_on_heavens_door-58563

Alex Megos's contribution to the legendary School 50. A modern classic.

Very morpho. 8B if you are tall enough to span the first move, otherwise you have to dyno which is worth 8B+.

Around 2019 some pebbles broke on the crux holds making the problem slightly harder.

Originally climbed from a slightly higher start and called Ummagumma Klem Loskot added the lower start a week later.

Previously called the Black 90 project a reference to Jade which was called the Green 45 project before it was climbed.

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

Originally put up as 8B+, the consensus seems to have shifted to 8B.

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.