Jordan Buys has climbed John Dunne´s Carmen Picasso at Gorple in the best style yet. John originally graded the route E9 6c when he climbed it in 1997. In October 2000 Ben Bransby made a flashed ascent of the route on pre-placed gear after watching Dave MacLeod climb it first. MacLeod thought it to be E7, Bransby E7 / E8 having found gear on the lip the Dunne had not. Bransby promptly re-lead it placing the gear on lead. In February 2003 Dave Sutcliffe climbed the same route, but without placing the top wire, grading it solid E8.We asked Jordan about the ascent and what he thought to the grade.His wife Naomi first abseiled the line and pre-placed most of the gear, leaving some of the lower stuff for Jordan to place himself. He then climbed it. As for the grade, well he´s climbed 6 E8´s (all with pre practice) and 20 E7´s (some onsight, the rest with pre practice) so feels fairly confident in saying that it felt harder than the E7´s and similar to the E8´s. He abseiled the line after his ascent, to strip the route and checked the top wire, an uninspiring DMM Peenut 2, albeit one which held a fall by MacLeod. He also took advice from Naomi who belayed him, figuring that a belayer can, to a degree, tell how hard a route is by watching the climber closely – they obviously know each other well as husband and wife! Lastly he waited a while before reporting it, choosing to attend the British Team training session at the Climbing Works to see how he performed. Doing well at the session, and confirming that he is strong at the moment and climbing well, he concluded that it was E8.
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