The Newies Keep on Coming

Significant new routes are showing no sign of drying up as yet in North Wales lime land. Ben Bransby returned to the Diamond to make use of his 'Beast fitness' and completed another mega line. This one also starts up The Brute but breaks out right before the Brute curves left. Hard moves lead to a ledge(8b+ to here) before a staminafest 7c+/8a to the top. The top section has lots of rests so apparently the sum total is still 8b+. It goes to the top of the crag- another 30 metre affair. Ben's provisional name is The Beauty but i don't think this is set in stone.

A bit further inland at Devil's Gorge near Mold a keen bunch have been joining in with the dedicated locals to continue the development of this impressive wall. Pete Harrison completed a superb old project - the immaculate cleancut wall to the left of the crag classic Grand Canyon. Underworld goes to a finishing point halfway up the crag at 7c but the extension was an obvious challenge and as an open project it was fair game. Owen Davies got involved and started putting the time in and together with Pete they worked out the top section which added another 7c on top of Underworld. Pete was held back with chronic back pain but Owen got his seige on and started to inch higher and higher up the wall. Yesterday he finished the line to give North Wales another 3 star classic which is comparable in quality to those big soaring wall climbs in Yorkshire. Owen said he hadn't done a route where it was so easy to fall off so many moves, it goes without saying he was relieved to finish it off. He's unsure as to whether is is 8a or 8a+. Ally Smith also got into the action linking the line into Canyon at 7c+. The link has some nice independent moves and is called Born Slippy.
Owen on the first section of his mega line Hades (photo - Luke Clarke):