Masterplan

Ever since i was a young rock jock i have always wanted to do a cool new route, something impressive and hard for me. In this day and age however do-able good new routes are hard to come by. My generation missed the boat in this respect. I remember scouring the Orme guide looking for blank sections. One day i went down Crinkle Crag and squeezed what i hoped was a newbie in, i gave it E3. I've done a few new routes in recent times, mainly at my old mans crag Penmaenhead. It was cool to do them but what i really longed for was a stellar line in the 8's something memorable. About 5 years ago Tony Schelmerdine tipped me off about an unclimbed line left of Moffatts classic Masterclass on Mayfair wall. It had originally been equipped by Tony and Mel Griffiths but it was a bit hard for them. Patch checked it out as did Adam Wrainwright. Perry Hawkins however gave it the most effort. I was intrigued. It certainly ticked all the right boxes, impressive and hard! I dogged up Masterclass in order to check it out and get a rope on it. It was pretty cool and there were certainly grips. After a crash course in resin bolting i abbed down one evening and placed 8 resin bolts. Soon after i came to try it. I encountered a problem straight away, i couldn't do most of the moves. Hmm i hadn't bargained on this. I tried it a few more times but was soon resigned to the fact that it was too hard. As my climbing style evolved and i became even less good on fingery climbing i started to forget about the project. It was hard and to be honest a bit of an epic, the hard moves being so high up the crag! I almost gave the route away, Caff and Mawsons expressed an interest and i was no longer that bothered, i had since found other projects to fulfil my FA dream. This year i was feeling pretty good so thought i'd get back on it. It instantly felt a lot more do-able and i quickly did the moves. Because the route is not a fitness route, (its basically a two bolt slab to a 5 move boulder problem followed by some good holds followed by another tricky move to jugs) i was soon on redpoint. I was feeling the pressure however and although it wasn't physically at my limit the stress of the first ascent was proving very real. I had to build confidence up on the route, i also had to skip a clip because it was so bouldery. Anyway i was making progress but my hand strain was holding me back so i had a break from it. Today i warmed up in the Cave and went for it. I got to one of the last moves feeling good when my foot popped. Next go i planted my feet better and did the cross through move off the pinch, this was it. I tried to relax. The decent holds i was on were not proving a good rest because the feet were so small and my left arm was severly powered out. I was getting worried. The last tricky move was a long stretch off my left arm with high feet. Not a powerful move luckily, more akin to a slate rockover. I stretched as if my life depended on it,i got the small crimp and battled to get my left foot up into the dimple. This was a 50/50 moment i udged my foot up but was almost off. As i grabbed the jug i was out of strength in my left arm. I utilised my 12 years of climbing experience to keep it together. A few worrying moves up the jugs and i was home. I let out a shriek of delight, i'd done it. The hardest route on the historic Mayfair wall was born. I've called it Masterplan and its either hard 8a or easy 8a+. I've gone for tentative 8a+ though because it probably is and if your any shorter than me (most people are) it will be 8a+. I thought it could be 8b all those years ago! Hopefully it will get some attention, its a 2 star route, really good. I decided to climb the route from the ledge as opposed to starting up Harry the Clamp as this is the tradition of the wall. Masterclass and the Screw Machine top pitches were both climbed as 2nd pitches starting from the massive ledges. So essentially this route is a 2nd pitch to Harry the Clamp. Climbing it from the deck would be an improvement in style but it was not something i was bothered about, if its good enough for Jerry....