The Black Pearl

Years ago Dave Redpath stuck some bolts in one of the obvious main lines on The Diamond. The line followed a hanging corner in the middle of the steepness which had plenty of holds but the first couple of metres off the beach to gain the corner was totally desperate. It made sense for someone to climb the route from the first jug as it is such an excellent line and the desperate start was so unbalanced. I remember when i first went to Ceuse this was a common practice on several routes. It seemed silly on those routes as starting from the ground was only usually a grade harder. I recall people hanging on the first bolt of Blanche Fesses 7c at Cascade. The one move off the deck was a v3 dynamic move but all the stamina jug pullers couldn't handle this savage piece of bouldering so they bypassed it. On the Diamond route it was an obvious way forward and Pete Robins did the deed a few days ago at 8a (name The Black Pearl). Now all it needs is a new lower off, maybe an extension and of course the route needs to be climbed from the deck. Hopefully this will go down this season. Its brilliant watching the crag coming to maturity with the obvious new routes getting done and the old routes getting re-equipped.

I was looking in my diary this morning and i noticed a list of 14 new routes that i made back in May that i wanted to complete this year. The Hole Truth was the last one on the list but a few extras have been added. Forgot to post this pic of my lucky belayer: