Crag X (Pseudonym)

United Kingdom / England / Buxton

So called because the crag is in an ecologically sensitive area and publicising details about its location is not allowed under the access agreement.

The crag was first discovered by Tom Proctor and Martin Boysen [1]. In the late '80s it became a forging ground for brick-hard moves, with some of the hardest problems in the world at the time established by Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon.

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/hardcore-bouldering-photos.35/page-3#post-1125

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Climbs

10 recorded climbs.

Year Climb Grade Climber Style Date
First ascent.

References

[1] On The Edge issue 114, page 44

[2] https://youtu.be/RnGf69g6Igc?t=2181

First ascent.

The FA year is listed as 1988 in ‘Peak Rock’, the 1994 film 'One Summer' and in the chronology in Jerry's autobiography 'Revelations'. However, the text lists the FA year as 1989.

Peak Rock:

It was definitely the hardest boulder problem I had ever done T that point

Revelations:

Closer to Sheffield, some climbers had started exploring a crag called Cressbrook and added some problems. The first time I saw it, I fell in love with the place. It was a limestone dale with a long wall of smooth limestone, about fifteen feet high. Over a summer, some friends and I developed the crag a lot further adding problems like Jericho Road, Moffatrocity and the Hulk, all pretty hard.

That was in 1988, and the following year, Ben Moon started going there a lot. He started trying a sit-down start to my problem, the Hulk. … Ben was doing well on this. It looked like a fantastic, hard piece of climbing. However, I was injured. A tendon problem in my finger meant I couldn't push it too hard, so I couldn't join in. I was jealous.

As it happened, by the next year, 1989, Ben still hadn't done it. I had recovered, and now he was injured. I managed to do the problem and called it Superman. This was probably the hardest problem in Britain, but at the time, nobody was that interested, apart from those of us who climbed there. Bouldering just wasn't news.(1)

On possible changes in difficulty, Jerry stated:

Firstly on Superman, the foothold that broke wasn't used on the first and second ascent and really doesn't make a difference to the grade. It does feel more greasy than it used to. [3]

References

[1] Jerry Moffatt, Niall Grimes, 'Revelations', 2009, Vertebrate Publishing

[2] On The Edge issue 114, page 44

[3] Letter to On The Edge, issue 104, page 8

1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994 Superman SDS 8B+ Ben Moon Boulder | worked 1994
First ascent.
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
First ascent.

References

[1] On The Edge issue 114, page 46

2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
First ascent.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
First ascent. 2 sessions.
Big Bad John 8A+ Adam Wheeler Boulder | worked 6th Apr 2026
First ascent.
Climb Grade # Recorded Ascents Ascents Recorded Between
Superman SDS 8B+ 13 1st January 1994 – 14th June 2026
John’s Problem 8B+ 3 26th March 2026 – 4th June 2026
Superman 8B 26 1st January 1988 – 29th April 2026
Big Bad John 8A+ 2 6th April 2026 – 7th April 2026
The Thing Sit Start 8A+ 1 1st January 2001 – 1st January 2002
Bizzare Ride 8A 2 1st January 2009 – 27th March 2026
The Thing 8A 1 1st January 1988 – 1st January 1989
Hulk 7C+ 1 10th April 2021
The Pinch 7C 0
Sean’s Problem 7C 1 23rd July 2026