Today I was up in the Cairngorms, t’Sneachda, for the first time this season, to hold Greg’s ropes whilst he tried to get a ground up ascent of The Hurting; weighing in at al almighty XI,11 this is one of the hardest traditionally protected (as in no bolts so you place the protection yourself) mixed climbs in the World. It was massively inspiring to see Greg working through the sequence of incredibly difficult moves and after two falls from his previous high point he finally pulled through and with some helpful power screams (from both climber and belayer!) he made it up the remainder the of wall to the top. An absolutely incredible effort given the wind and conditions on the route, not to mention the technicality and boldness of the climbing, it was truly amazing to watch. The route weighs in at E4,6a in summer which hints at the steepness and sustained nature of the route! Greg is now the third person to climb this route since it was first put up by Dave MacLeod six years ago, and I felt lucky to be able to hold his ropes on a genuinely historic ascent. Go Bozza go!
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