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The Eternity - 17???????

wombby

3-Jan-2006
1:04:59 PM

I notice in Simon's new book he lists The Eternity as a 17. This classic Ewbank climb was always a standard 18.

Is this a typo?

Onsight

3-Jan-2006
1:40:26 PM

Fair call. I was working from memory on that one. For some reason I've always thought the first pitch was 17 and that the whole route was 18 (or 20 as it used to get) for the second pitch (which is rarely climbed). Others can maybe confirm the grade of the pitches.

To be really precise I probably should have also pointed out that he was soloing the first pitch only. I guess I don't think it too important and for those in the know they'd figure that out from the grade I'd given it (that is, assuming it is 17 for the first pitch anyway).

In atonement for my sins (if proven wrong) I promise to climb the pitch sometime in the next few weeks…

Goodvibes

3-Jan-2006
2:04:25 PM

In full afternoon sun too I hope Simon.


dan

3-Jan-2006
3:28:34 PM

It's a 17 for anyone who knows how to jam. For some reason it is a disputed 19 on thecrag.com. This would be true if you only used the thin face holds rather than the beautiful and sustained foot and hand jams/laybacks.

armstp

3-Jan-2006
10:23:47 PM

The first pitch was graded 18/19 in the very old [1974] guide book. It is graded 19 in Mike Law’s selected Blue Mts guide, with the second pitch graded 21.

As someone happier to jam than face climb at the best of times I think the first pitch is a good 18. Not for the jam crack section, but for the face moves when the crack thins down!!


cruze

4-Jan-2006
9:54:52 AM

I'd be comfortable giving it 18 but I face climbed the thin crack bit - would do it lower and jam it next time. Although for some reason I found the top of Flake Crack (17) harder than any one bit of Eternity - but I was a little pumped for some reason doing FC as one pitch.

wombby

5-Jan-2006
12:46:45 AM

This is a bit scarey when we start messing around with the grades the man himself assigned.

Simon - does this mean I can get my money back? (joke)

Gave my brother a copy for Xmas and he was sufficiently blown away by it (he's a non climber).


kuu

5-Jan-2006
9:04:53 AM

On 5/01/2006 wombby wrote:
>This is a bit scarey when we start messing around with the grades the man
>himself assigned.

We should remember incidentally that 'the man himself' did not claim the FA of Pitch 1. This had been led previously and named "Yorkshire Crack". John (Ewbank) subsequently added Pitch 2, renamed the route "The Eternity", and graded the whole climb on the basis of the upper pitch. This action perhaps cemented his dominance of the crag, as generations of climbers since then have (sadly) only known the route by its 'second' name.

Onsight

5-Jan-2006
9:57:20 AM

The plot thickens. Sounds like he retro-named that first pitch...
Hey Kevin, do you know if he gave the second pitch 18 or 20?

On 5/01/2006 wombby wrote:
>Simon - does this mean I can get my money back? (joke)
Can't ya just get a texta or some white-out and change the "7" to an "8"?????????

Doesn't sound like we have consensus of the (pitch 1) grade yet. Most unusual...


kuu

5-Jan-2006
10:10:10 AM

On 5/01/2006 Onsight wrote:
>The plot thickens. Sounds like he retro-named that first pitch...
>Hey Kevin, do you know if he gave the second pitch 18 or 20?

Hi Simon,
I'll check the original Ewbank Guide Book when I get home tonight, just to be absolutely certain, and hopefully provide a 'definitive' answer.

5-Jan-2006
12:36:59 PM

Beat ya kuu ;-)

The Eternity 19, M1 190'

One of the most impressive and aesthetic lines on the cliff, Sustained climbing on good rock. The first pitch was originally and foolishly top roped. The 1st pitch had to abseiled down and cleaned.

(1) 90' (crux) Straight up to bolt anchor. Two unnecessary bolts are passed en route. Excellent jamb protection.
(2) 80' Use the bolt anchor for aid to get another bolt 3' higher for aid. A very hard move follows, then up wall to a ledge. Bolt runner. Straight up above this to top.

Top roped 1st February 1965.
(1st pitch). John Ewbank.
First led 'On sight', John Moore, February, 1967
2nd pitch added added 12th February
1967 - J. Ewbank, Second unwilling to follow.

So we get back to if a tope rope ascent is considered valid. This has been discussed elsewhere on Chockstone and doesn't warrant further discussion. Ewbank describes the first pitch as the crux which means he must have thought that it was 19. All that's needed now is a consensus on how hard the first pitch is!


ampedandwired

5-Jan-2006
12:37:51 PM

FWIW, I've always felt that Eternity P1 is slightly harder than some of the classic splitter 17's like Flake Crack, Interstate 31 and Psychopath. I'd give it 18, even with solid jamming technique.


kuu

5-Jan-2006
12:59:05 PM

On 5/01/2006 BA wrote:
>Beat ya kuu ;-)

Thanks Bill, I expected that if any other Chockstoner had access to an original Ewbank Guide to Piddington you would be a likely 'culprit'. "Sedgie" probably has one too.

I've heard people suggesting the 2nd pitch is more like 22, and of a completely different character. I believe it is not frequently climbed, most parties being satisfied to do only the 'plum' pitch.


adski

5-Jan-2006
1:31:09 PM

All those people who have face-climbed the Eternity: there's always the opportunity to RETRO-JAM the route. Admittedly it doesn't have the prestige of the ONSIGHT-JAM but without the stigma of the RETRO-BOLT.

A worthwhile pursuit would be the TOUR DE RETRO-JAM where a climber head out to jam all the crack lines they'd previously face climbed. ha!


kuu

5-Jan-2006
2:10:55 PM

On 5/01/2006 adski wrote:
>All those people who have face-climbed the Eternity: there's always the
>opportunity to RETRO-JAM the route.

And equally, for those who have only ever jam-climbed the first half of the route there is now an opportunity to RETRO FACE-CLIMB a pitch that hase been RETRO NAMED and RETRO DE-BOLTED.

Life continues to present us with new opportunities!

Onsight

5-Jan-2006
4:27:55 PM

>and RETRO DE-BOLTED
I guess there's also the opportunity to retro-re-bolt the first pitch too, now that we know etc etc...

;-P


gordoste

6-Jan-2006
11:10:13 AM

but then someone would re-retro-de-bolt it.


JamesMc

6-Jan-2006
7:46:03 PM

As I understand, some of the cracks at Piddo became easier over the years. This is because they were originally full of dirt, so you couldn't get your hands right in. So 19 for the first pitch of The Eternity may have been right. I've always thought it was a bit soft at 18. Psycopath is also graded 19 in the Ewbank guide, and it's been 17 for years.

James Mc

wombby

7-Jan-2006
11:36:57 PM

"Top roped 1st February 1965.
"(1st pitch). John Ewbank.
"First led 'On sight', John Moore, February, 1967
"2nd pitch added added 12th February
"1967 - J. Ewbank, Second unwilling to follow."

I find this 'CV' rather confusing. Is it just me or what?
1.2.1965 Ewbank TR'd it. (Route not named? I think he would have surely?)
Sometime in Feb. 1967, but before the 12th, John Moore frees it. (Presumeably he names/renames it "Yorkshire Crack"?)
12.2.1967 Ewbank comes back to it, adds P2 and either reverts it back to his original 1965 name (if there was one?), or renames it in '67?

8-Jan-2006
12:49:38 PM

On 7/01/2006 wombby wrote:

>I find this 'CV' rather confusing. Is it just me or what?

Just as climbing doesn't have to be safe, it doesn't have to make sense.

As James Mc says above there has been lots of excavation on those Piddo jam cracks over the years. Cans of petrol to assist in clearing the vegetation (environmental vandalism is NOT new), pruning saws etc. My understanding is that originally only "holes/pockets" were dug out and that was the only place to put your hands. Now that the crack is clean it will take more different sized hands in more placements. I've had a quick look at some old copies of Thrutch, I half remember them having an advertisement of somebody of The Eternity, it might show how much earth was still in the climb. I seem to remeber that seepage was a problem as well, the water combing with the dirt to make slippery, slimy, sludge - mmmm - ideal conditions for jamming.

There are 51 messages in this topic.