Ali Kennedy Repeats Burly Trad Test-piece in U.K.
Ali Kennedy has mad the sixth ascent of The Big Issue E9 6c (5.13R) at Bosherton Head in Pembroke, U.K.
Kennedy is only the second climber to lead the run-out route and place gear while leading, the other being Yuji Hirayama in 2014.
In an interview with UKclimbing.com, Kennedy said, “None of the placements are fiddly so there didn’t really seem to be an excuse to have anything left in.
“There were also two in-situ threads, which were easy to replace with natural gear so I thought I may as well chop them too, as you could never place them on lead. The peg is still in for now, but I didn’t clip it and that really should come out as well if people are happy for me to do so.”
The well-known test-piece was semi-bolted in 1996 by Pete Oxley and sent later that year by John Dunne placing gear with some in place.
It was repeated by Steve McClure in 2000 in the same style and in the same year by Adrian Berry with gear in place. Gaz Parry sent it in 2010 with gear in place before Hirayama’s send a few years later.
As UKclimbing points out, “The name of the climb alludes to the debolting of the line, as Pembroke was going through a time of controversial first ascents and bolts were used on some routes, which were subsequently removed.” Watch the first ascent by Dunne below.
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