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With some tension (hence the name?)

Dave Cook:

The story goes that the 1957 guide­ book credited Brown with the ascent before he had even considered the route. Anxious that the guide should contain no misleading information, he led it to put the record straight. [1]

References

[1] Mountain 26 (1973), page 30 /library/9630/mountain-26

Allen's first new route on Curbar

With 2 skyhooks placed in drilled divots for aid, a source of controversy at the time. Keith Myhill wrote in a letter to Mountain Magazine:

This event must surely mark the lowest point in gritstone climbing for a very long time.

To which Drummond replied:

…Rome wasn't built in a day, nor Cenotaph ascended by Saint Joseph without a pin here and a pin there. And Quietus top-roped first. I'm still learning how to learn. Silly Myhill. It isn't your hill. The route is there for you too. Go on – open your legs – let's see what you can do. Balancing on those two impeccable skyhooks should keep you quiet. You might even learn to pray; and not prey.

Though in a later interview he repented:

I erred and was willing to err. If you are creating something, to a degree you have a right to define the way in which to create and I was willing to chip holds… I was different, in that I was wilful and was prepared to change the rock to suit me because I was at the cutting edge and had a right to blunt it a little. I was wrong.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/ed_drummond_1945-2019_-_a_retrospective-11940

[2] Mountain 28 (1973), page 15 /library/9632/mountain-28

[3] Mountain 31 (1974), page 39 /library/11050/mountain-31

With only one nut runner

Climbed by a teenage Allen during an intensely productive period after his parents had moved to New Zealand.

Did you lose interest?

I didn't really lose interest but I burnt out a bit. I was really intense about it. It was a traumatic time for me developing as a teenager into the warm wonderful human being that I am now. My parents had left and I was on my own and I wanted to see them again. I'd chosen climbing instead of my family and it went a bit empty on me after a while. I'd done a lot of the routes I'd dreamt of doing, like Prophet of Doom [sic]. I remember distinctly on that particular route feeling nothing when I reached the top. I live a lot on my feelings and generally it went a bit dead on me. [2]

References

[1] Crags Issue 1, page 2

[2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/30814373@N02/50743982482/

With a side runner in The Peapod

A very hard piece of climbing for the time.

First ascent without side runner

With a high side runner in Avalanche Wall

With side runners.

With a preplaced wire with long sling, having taken several ground falls whilst attempting to ground-up the route.

After repeated falls from the crux at 7m

References

[1] Mountain Issue 104, page 11 /library/11125/mountain-104

approx date

References

[1] Mountain Issue 104, page 11 /library/11125/mountain-104

approx date

References

[1] Mountain Issue 107, page 10 /library/11129/mountain-107

[2] https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122114554959064984&set=pcb.122114556345064984

[3] https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122114555319064984&set=pcb.122114556345064984

Johnny initially graded it E7 7a because he thought the groove looked like two 7s.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/dbpage.php?id=391050

Johnny attempted the route ground up in 1984 taking two sketchy falls from high on the route – saved from injury by one of his two belayers jumping off a small cliff below the route to take in slack. After a restorative beer, he set off for another go.

In 1986, sensing that someone else might do it first, he top roped the line before leading it on a sweaty late summer evening.

E5 7a!

Climbed in mistake for Pockets and Pebbles, up the left side of the face using undercut pockets.

A sudden attack of new route paranoia whilst driving to The Roaches compelled me to turn around, head for Curbar and pluck up the courage for this line I'd inspected some 12 years ago! I was convinced Fawcett was going to do it at any moment

Pollitt had a ‘mare on the first ascent when his foot slipped on some lichen on the exit ramps, far above the peg. He rated it as harder and bolder than his South Stack routes. [1]

Climbed from the right with a pre-placed peg. The peg was seated within the slot using the butt of a hammer, which proved controversial, as did the extensive top rope practice. Pollitt repeated the route four times for photos.

References

[1] ‘Peak Rock’, Vertebrate Publishing, 2013.

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3416013038464847

First climbed by Robin Barker in 1994, the direct start up the arete had been obvious for some time, and was even mentioned in the last guidebook. Robin named the route Slackers and graded it top-end E6 6b. Since then a couple of repeats occured, Neil Bentley fell off it and persuaded Robin to grade it E7, and Sam Whittaker beta-flashed it in 1998, where-upon the route gained the dubious honour of featuring on the front cover of On The Edge magazine.

Now the floodgates have opened, and the route has seen at least another four ascents by April 1999. The grade will probably settle out now at E6 6b. But it's the route that counts not the grade, afterall!

References

[1] https://mail.oocities.org/yosemite/4755/climbing/slackers/index.html

References

[1] ‘Peak Rock’, Vertebrate Publishing, 2013

"The Zone" is a term used in Sports Psychology to describe a rarely-achieved heightened state of awareness experienced by some athletes during major events. This sensation is often accompanied by an extraordinary level of personal performance.

References

[1] http://www.thefreeclimber.com/articles/tfcDiaryZone.htm

Without side runners.

The H[9 grade] was an attempt to grade the difficulty of the headpoint experience rather than guessing at what an onsight would feel like. Aid-climbers don't guess at free grades so why should headpointers guess at onsight grades? The gear and moves of Dr. Dolittle (note one 'o') are so unobvious that a true onsight would be much harder than for other comparably-physical and comparably protectable routes. [1]

The route required some advance shoe tactics:

When I was working Dr Dolittle I could only do the crux in a pair of band new prototype Boreals 3 1/2 sizes below street shoe size and even then with a couple of old credit cards fitted as extra insole support. I needed a karabiner through the heel loop to get them on or risk tweaking tendons by pulling too hard on a single finger. [2]

References

[1] Westlake, D. (2010). Froggatt to Black Rocks.

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/gear/when_do_you_know_if_your_rock_shoes_are_too_small-518555?v=1#x7002988

Steve used 3 ropes on the first ascent. This turned out to be a very wise choice in light o Michele Caminati'a horrendous fall while repeating the line for photos.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDTAKVUE_g4

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWsXBwA1KGo

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/12/ty_landman_on_smiling_buttress-68545

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/77JwJnqUF6/

[4] https://www.penninelines.com/emails/smilingbuttress

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CjJB5X8jbgx/%3D

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CX1svrnoIcA/

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJI5dyCGt1Y

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2W73x0MFuW/

[2] https://youtu.be/G7DWi8E0S-8?t=752