Ground-Up Round-Up, Action..Action..Action..

by Jack Geldard – Editor – UKC James McHaffie – around 30 E7 onsights The ground-up scene in the UK is still buzzing, with the main players hacking their way up everything, from the loose horror-shows of the sea cliffs to the bullet hard gritstone test pieces. Adding fuel to the on-sight fire is the forthcoming new film On Sight by Alastair Lee.We at UKC have seen a few clips of this and it is looking like a real pant filler! Various people have been storming the gritstone cracks – Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall on Ray´s Roof E7 6c, Pete Whittaker and Andi Turner on National Acrobat E6 6c and probably much more besides. Over on the Peak limestone Ben Bransby had a look at Tequila Mockingbird E6/7 6c ground-up, not quite making it, but still a fine effort. Pete Robins has been firing esoterica in the Llanberis Pass, always ground-up, usually with a good lob to test the gear for other interested parties. His recent ascents have included Beginners Mind E7 and Gram-ve E7. Also down in Wales, James McHaffie has been working toward his long-term goal of 50 E7 onsights. Recent onsight highlights have been Demons of Bosch E7, Raped by Affection E7 (UKC News Item) and Isis is Angry; a four pitch Gogarth horror at E7 6c (partnered with mad-man Nick Bullock).James is now on a total of around 30 E7 onsights. Karin Magog has been racking up more hard ascents in the Scottish Islands, flashing The Bonxie E6 6b, I suppose a cormorant´s out of the question then? E56b and Perfectly Normal Paranoia E6 6b taking her tick list of onsight/flashed routes of E5 and above to over 100. Dave Birkett also nipped up north to the Scottish Islands, climbing Every Cormorant is a Potential Shag E7 6b as an on sight first ascent – good effort! Lots of ground-up ascents slip under the radar, and this is by no means a comprehensive list.If you hear of an interesting ground-up ascent, we´d love to hear about it.We will be running an end of year trad round-up with a full Ground-Up section.Want to read the last one? It´s here: Trad 2007

QuelleUKClimbing