Ryan Pasquill has got the grit season off in style by bagging the first flash of Knockin' on Heaven's Door at Curbar.
After a two month trip to the Frankenjura where his attempts on Action Directe (F9a) were hampered by rain and 'not being able to get any weight on me feet,' Ryan was eager to get back on the gritstone slabs. And arriving at Curbar on Saturday, he was in no mood to ease back into it gently...
The flash is presumably not an onsight. Some routes soloed onsight could be given an 'effective grade' for the added risk compared to a geared onsight if the protection makes a difference. This was a very impressive ascent in any terms IMHO, well done Ryan
> (In reply to Mark Collins)
>
> How can the solo grade be any different to the lead grade?
I believe it was due to the different starts (Born Slippy) and the hand placed peg being originally placed with a hammer. The original line didn't traverse left to the low bomber gear.
It's worth pointing out that although this news report suggests all the gear can be placed on lead, Nige said the hand placed peg would be impossible to place for anyone under 5'9".
Ryan - why o why didn't you claim the onsight flash. We could have had a thread on UKC over 5000 posts long watching the pedants wet themselves for weeks.
If it was me I'd be claiming the OS - I don't give a toss about watching a mate do it first or getting beta from others. Awesome effort.
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