Dave MacLeod Gets Second Ascent of V14
Dave MacLeod has made the second ascent of Malcolm Smith’s Gutbuster V14 at Dumby, a problem first climbed in 2010.
Did you know that MacLeod made the first free-solo of a 5.14b with his climb of Darwin Dixit in Maraglef in 2008?
MacLeod first tried Gutbuster a decade ago and wrote in his blog, “Oh man, thinking about it, it’s actually eleven years.
“In 2007 I was 29 and was climbing really well. In that period I did my first E11, my first 9a and was doing a lot of high standard climbing across the disciplines.
“I was living in Dumbarton and doing a ton of climbing there, but in May 2007 we made a plan to move to the highlands and so I did a bit of a mad rush for a few weeks to finish various remaining projects on the boulders.”
In April 2006, MacLeod established Rhapsody on Dumbarton Rock which, at a grade of E11 7a, is one of the hardest trad climbs in the U.K.
He finished his story about Gutbuster, “Gutbuster finishes up Imposter arete, a straightforward 5a but really a solo with a horrendous fall if you did decide to come off it. Normally I’d just walk up it, but now most of the footholds were wet and holds were full of snow.
“It felt more like E4 5c, crimping the hell out of the damp snowy crimps. Getting off the boulder was even more of a gripper! The descent climb faced directly into the snow and was snow covered slippery death.” Read here.
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