Watch Three Ground Falls on Hold Fast, Hold True E10
To capture a ground-fall on video is scary and it rarely happens with three different climbers all on the same route over a number of year. Dave MacLeod made the first ascent of Holdfast in 2002, a route that requires a bouldering pad and tied-off skyhook for protection.
After the first ascent, MacLeod said on ScottishClimbs.com, “The meat of the route has no protection, climbing a blank, off-vertical wall on micro edges. It has a bouldery and very technical 7a crux at 18ft, possibly protected by a poor skyhook at 8 feet?!” In 2006, it was repeated by Dave Birkett who broke a key hold. Then in 2013, Jules Lines soloed the route and added a direct finish, he called it Hold Fast, Hold True E10 7a. He took a big ground-fall before finally freeing it.
Lines told ukclimbing.com after, “It’s a world class solo for sure. Grade wise I thought it to be around 8a/8a+ with the direct finish though do not do an awful lot of sport climbing, the top section is a grade easier than the lower section but obviously way higher and so puts at least half an E-grade on top of the lower E9 section. And last year, Charlie Woodburn took a 40-footer and decked. On Instagram he posted the following:
High ball, free solo or trad climb? You decide.
Jules Lines
Before making the first ascent of Hold Fast, Hold True, Lines took a ground-fall from high on the route.
Dave MacLeod
Dave MacLeod returned to repeat the direct finish and took a big fall while moving for a shallow edge.
Charlie Woodburn
Charlie Woodburn is a trad climbing master with repeats of some of the hardest in the country. In 2000, he made the first ascent of Harder, Faster E9 6c at Black Rocks in England. Almost 20 years later, it remains one of the most dangerous trad climbs in the U.K. Watch as he hits the deck from 40 feet up.
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