Climbs

Hubble is a route at Raven Tor in the UK's Peak District. Ben Moon made the first ascent of the full line in 1990 suggesting a grade of 8c+, making it the hardest route in the world at the time. It is now considered closer to 9a, making it both the first 8c+ and the first 9a!

The route is unusually bouldery and powerful with the meat of the difficulty being a short section on undercuts at the start of the route that is around 8B/+ as a boulder problem. The top of the route is roughly a 7c sport route so shouldn't present any issues for a climber capable of getting through the bottom, though Ben Moon famously fell off the top the first time he managed to climb through the boulder problem.

A kneebar on the crux undercut match move was first discovered around 2014 which apparently makes this move slightly easier. It was first successfully used by Mathew Wright on his ascent in 2020. This method has now been used on several successful ascents. So far, ascentionists using the kneebar method have suggested it doesn't significantly alter the overall difficulty with leg length being a crucial factor.

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Cai72J2Sn9BulGmXw7vYE?si=i-sq4M9RShin62B56rWk8A

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. [1]

The grade of a given ascent depends quite a bit on the particular gear used.

References

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

Initially given 9a which would have made Adam Ondra's 2012 ascent the first onsight of the grade. However Adam felt the route was more 8c+ and Daniel Woods, who flashed the route on the same day, agreed.

The first 14b in America.

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

Previously a project of Bernd Zangerl's.