RicochetRoute Grade Votings
Total votes cast 42
Adjacent Routes
30m. A superb climb which leads you on with a lazy lower groove and then smacks you with a savage finishing crack. Start below the open groove and stroll up this to the left-hand of three cracks which sprout from its end. Arrange plenty of gear then attack the crack with everything you’ve got. Traverse right and finish easily above. USER COMMENTS
I'm not a big fan of taking into account accidents too much (re. caption in St Govans Inn) but anyway: it's not a bad idea to more cautiously "stitch, then attack the crack with everything you've got".
The crack IS pretty desperate (for a hypothetical "standard" E1/2 leader anyway) but the gear below is not going anywhere. So you might get hurt, but you're not going to die and for me that made the difference between topping out and backing off.
A good line with some nice climbing, but rather strange in terms of difficulty - the crux is all about cramming enough gear into the otherwise easy top crack to avoid the potentially ankle-mashing ledge.
For grit climbers, think of it as Chequers Crack on top of a 60 foot VS and you're just about there. The gear is solid and you can place as much as you like all the way up the crack, as long as you've strength to hold on...
It's actually the middle of the three cracks and not the left-hand one; it's correct in the guide diagram. A better description might be, "Start below the open groove and follow this to a sloping ledge. Arrange some good gear then attack the steep crack above." |