Great effort Dave, especially the energy put into the gear placing and down climb👍 Nice point about the 'trying in poor conditions to improve sequence'. I often think the same and have usually found the small micro beta of routes either when conditions are bad or I'm tired at the end of a session (because I want it to feel as it previously did in good conditions or when I was fresher 😅)

Non/new climbers probably think this is trad climbing. No this is Scottish Dave MacLeod climbing. Big difference.

Congratulations, Dave! Top effort! Do 8b downclimbing with power-scream to climb an 8a - that's some trad climbing.

@climbermacleod

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Masa, been meaning to drop you a line to see how you are doing. We have not been climbing for ages.

beautiful footage, wonderful window into a world of climbing inaccessible to most. the gear placement narration was great

@AlexExplorer

2 жыл бұрын

I've been watching the weather on Ben Nevis for some time and I can say with absolute confidence that whether there is unpredictable!

Fantastic effort Dave! You've brilliantly captured your focused and studious approach to mitigating some of the risks involved with climbing these types of routes - its great to watch and learn from, thanks so much!

So nice to se a new video of you climbing hard. And with Robbie Phillips in it too, couldn't be more perfect!

Watching from my van, currently in the Austrian Alps. That was AMAZING!!!! Great work Dave 🙌

@AlexExplorer

2 жыл бұрын

Nice!

This was incredible! Well done Dave!!

It's great to have good enough sound quality to hear one of my heroes doing the "shaky breath" thing. We're all scaring ourselves on rock, just you're doing it on much harder routes than I am! Congrats on the ascent!

Great route, climbing and good to see robbie phillips.

Yes! A video from Dave Mac is always something to wait for. Gongratulations for another great first ascent!

@El_krux

2 жыл бұрын

Indeed! Best climbing channel by far imo.

We’ll done Dave! The epic battle on the down climb was awesome

Awesome video and great work! I was super stoked to see robbie philips in there too!

Well done, Dave, and thanks for sharing the send with us. It was really cool to see your process.

That is absolutely incredible video. This is my new favorite channel and I would never consider rock climbing. Much respect to all mountain climbers. I will just thank you for your 10 elbow recovery tips for bringing me here. Great content!

Awesome! Love that we don't need to bolt everything. This is why I subscribe.

Robbies helmet looks so comfortable. And congrats on the FA.

I've been watching the weather on Ben Nevis for some time and I can say with absolute confidence that whether there is unpredictable!

Brilliant content on all levels, from the climbing to the production value. Congratulations on a job extraordinarily well done.

Best in the biz! Great climb mac!

Awesome video. All nitty-gritty, uber-geekery, anyone could ever ask for!

The best-made climbing content on KZread. Such great and inspiring work.

Two of the best Scots!

Yes!! Being waiting patiently for one of your videos, thank you!

The Dave & Robbie combo is excellent

I've seen most or maybe all of your videos over the years, but this one had my throat the most dry. Great work, no plans to emulate!

Always awesome to see your videos, and SENDS! Keep going!

this was an absolute joy to watch, thank you Dave!!!

Taps-Aff! That was bloody awesome

Fabulous achievement Dave and what a crackin' route, so well filmed and great commentary. Subscribed and looking forward to more of your adventures!

Absolutely brilliant and inspiring Dave. Thankyou for taking the time and sharing this.

Absolutely fantastic video! A masterclass in how to climb hard and what a fantastic new line too.

Don't worry about the dry summers. Atlantic moving into it's cool phase so look forward to a return to traditional four season years instead of the mild damp winter and cool damp summers that have dominated Scottish weather during the warm phase. Love the film, fucking animal that doesn't look like slowing down any time soon. Can't wait to see more from THE Ben.

Brilliantly articulated project as usual 👍🏻

That downclimb was sick🤯👏👏👏👏

Absolutely incredible, well done Dave.

Wow! Exactly the inspiration needed for a low motivation Monday night training session. Great stuff!

So happy to see a 16 min video

Wow, great video Dave. Congrats on the route!

Amazing. Well worked out format respect ✊

I just wish there had been a top camera as you fiddled with those "runners"...it would've been spectacular! Great work Dave...

I really enjoyed watching your amazing video! Thanks for sharing!

trad climbing's kinna crazy

Well worth the wait. I'd rather have a video like that once every one - two months than something less inspiring, which seems to be the trend these days. Let me rewatch it now.

Quality yet again from DM 🤟🤟

Absolutely brilliant video. Well done on the send. That did not look easy.

congratulations with this awesome first ascend!

Congrats Dave!

Well in there ,Big Man. 110% You should repeat with a camera assistant...we want to watch the fiddling and footering involved in placing the crux gear...sounded amazing!

best video you've ever done, Dave.

Congratulations on the climb~!

Amazing stuff. Huge respect.

Amazing video Dave!

"Wee bit..": Scottish sandbagging.

Epic vid. Keep them coming

Bravo! Great solo camera work too!

Good job man! That’s awesome!!

You are a mad man.

Great movie as usual, Dave.

World class Dave

Unbelievable ascent! Still pushing at the limits of scary as feck Trad in the UK! Beyond impressive levels of iron will!

That was absolutely tremendous!

right on Dave! love the narration along with the action to fill us in. would you consider showing us more of you wizard's gear placements? thanks!

Nice one, the rock looks amazing!

Would be interested in knowing how confidant were you in the gear holding if you did fall at the crux? looks like a ton of placements but didn't sound like any single piece was that great but I imagine as a whole there was a good chance of it catching you?

@climbermacleod

2 жыл бұрын

It’s an unknown and definitely not confident any of it would hold. Obviously the number of runners increases it from a small probability to a less small probability. But still, the strategy is to lead when you will not fall off, and not before.

@tristanmayfield4851

2 жыл бұрын

@@climbermacleod Have you ever taken something like a sandbag and actually tested the fall on various climbs? Probably not often necessary but I've had others do it and say it's sometimes helpful and other times (when it confirms you will die) not so much.

@kyledrake9750

2 жыл бұрын

@@tristanmayfield4851 You can also take a whipper with a top rope backup. Just gotta cover your eyes in case you get tagged with Shrapnel.

Legend 🙌

great effort!

Taps aff for KZread

Top off for the power!

What a line! 💪🏻👊🏻

Brilliant good job 👏 👏👏👏🤩🤩

superb post Dave.....top banana

Just what was needed. If I had 1/8th your ability I'd be more than happy..

Yewweeww this was such a pleasure to experience.

Nice! Thanks for showing the process, love it. I'm curious, I would have assumed that leading, placing gear, and downclimbing for a rest, would be sort of frowned upon stylistically for the final "send"? Is this common in hard trad? I stick to sport climbing, so I'm sure I'm ignorant of many things here

@climbermacleod

2 жыл бұрын

There is nothing wrong with climbing down during a climb, including in sport climbing. The thing that is important is not falling/weighting the rope.

@michaeledwards7604

2 жыл бұрын

@@climbermacleod I'm recovering from major ankle surgery (left ankle fusion). Down climbing while bouldering is essential so I don't shock load the ankle. I've always found downclimbing difficult and I'm learning heaps now that have to do it often.

@GattMiffin

2 жыл бұрын

Not good stlye imo. Downclimbing a few feet to a ledge is one thing, but taking half an hour while your belayer climbs something else seems off.

@tomwalden961

2 жыл бұрын

@@climbermacleod Great video, I was going to ask the same question, Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on climbing ethics in general.

@kyledrake9750

2 жыл бұрын

@@GattMiffin Looking at it from a cragging point of view where gear might be bomber but slow to place, so you downclimb for a rest, I see your point. However, if you were on a dangerous pitch and had gear that you could not trust enough to hang off let along fall on then it is entirely appropriate. Whether you are aiding or free soloing, I think all is fine so long as you are honest about what you have done.

Top class

Dave huge fan of your content. Just sticking this on for some psyche before I head out for the day. At some point, I would love to see a video on flexibility in climbing performance. In your book, you seem to regard it as a fairly minor factor. I was wondering if that view had changed at all?

I feel like 'relying on sky hooks' is beyond what my head game will ever be capable of. What did you think with a cool head on how bomber that gear was?

@climbermacleod

2 жыл бұрын

Oh I was definitely not relying on them. I was relying on being prepared to climb with no falls.

as always your an amazing inspiration, whats the thinking behind the name? mnemosyne goddess of memory

@petestack

2 жыл бұрын

Sibling of the Titans.

Hey Dave, nice vid! You say you were "warmed up, relaxed and determined to finish the job". How do you deal with expectations that might get in the way of your climbing?

Stick a few bolts in and be done with it.

Hi Dave, well done, and then some. But I wanted to ask about the name: why her? Is it because you almost forgot (abandoned) the route?

so good, is that intermediate top rope anchor just rope threaded through two holes in the rock?

Hi Dave, that looks like a great route. However it's a bit of a faff going up and down with skyhook and long rests when you just want to do it in one. May I bring my makita sds and some resin and chuck a few bolts in?

When I have downclimbed after making a sketchy high placement, once I’m back on the ledge or ground I grip both sides of the rope and seriously bounce test my gear. Personally I find this tactic both reassuring and ethically sound. Your nest of gear seemed much less secure than my typical “questionable” placement and this may not have been practical, as if your’s were a one shot package deal of protection, also you may not be comfortable with the ethical questions bounce testing might raise. Any thoughts?

Would be very interested to hear your take on deciding what gear is and isn't worth placing. I'm currently looking at a rather more modest headpoint with dubious hard to place gear, which almost feels safer to ignore given the huge increase in difficulty for questionable pay off. Do you ever test placements prior to attempting a route or simply rely on experience and positive thinking?

@climbermacleod

2 жыл бұрын

Depends entirely on the route/ placement/ your probability of falling. You can only judge it placement by placement and use experience.

Dave, would this style of ascent count as a headpoint?

If leaving the gear in, downclimbing all the way to the ground, and doing the whole route again counts, how long can you go away for? Could you come back the next day to finish the route and still have it count? Climbing is already a very contrived sport but the rules here just seem bizarre.

I nearly stopped breathing. 1st class

Would leaving a fixed rope up to work the route not have been legal/acceptable there?

What's the significance of the route name, Mnemosyne?

@petestack

2 жыл бұрын

Greek goddess... seems to fit with general themes on that part of the Ben (specifically for being a sibling of the Titans).

nearly inaccesible wall brother...

12:02

what's an RPO?

Well done 💪💪 #yourafuckingbeast

I ask myself WWMD before making any important decisions in my life. What would Magnus do?

I am slightly confised... can a climb be claimed if climbed with the gear (and rope) already in? I thought for a tick to count you had to place your own gear as you climb... Are there rules I don't know?

@aspuzling

2 жыл бұрын

The original idea of ground-up onsight climbing is simply are you be able to go from the bottom to top without falling or using aid. That means placing gear and retreating to the ground to rest is fine. This climb was not done ground-up but still follows the other parts of the onsight ethic. I think this is a lot more common in trad but the same applies to sport climbing too.

@DaleTurrell

2 жыл бұрын

If you want to be technical the gear and rope weren't already in, he climbed up, placed and clipped the gear then downclimbed to a ledge to rest. I'm sure you've been in a position where you try a sequence on a route or boulder that didn't work, got pumped then downclimbed a few moves to a good hold or a rest to recover or shakeout. It's the same principle just taken to it's logical conclusion. From an aesthetical point of view I personally think it's better to place the gear and climb it in the same "push", but that doesn't mean not doing that isn't valid.

You didn’t mention the other option, just bolt it!

can anyone explain the ethics behind the placing gear on lead then resting on the ground for as long as you like?

@mw5360

2 жыл бұрын

Seems fine to me tbh.

@ThirdEyePried

2 жыл бұрын

It seems like, in this case, the ledge isn't technically the ground. I'm assuming that it's still part of the route therefore kind of like a no hands rest. But I'm just guessing. I'm just a pebble wrestler that has never been more than 1 pitch off of the ground so it's all a bit hazy to me.

@Thejohnster1012

2 жыл бұрын

similar sort of thing to the quick draws being in place before a sport climb maybe?

@saulsarry

2 жыл бұрын

Providing you place the gear under your own steam and don't weight it, it's acceptable

@baddingo4243

2 жыл бұрын

UK zones tactic, it seems. I am American and have been climbing all over the States for twenty years. Spent time in Continental Europe, Australia, China. Not an accepted practice in any of those places, in my experience. I got nothing against it, other than it seems like an absurd level of fuckery.

Is this clean? Not a yo-yo?

@ip2862

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, it's 'clean' - and no; a yo-yo involves lowering off the gear - which the down-climb avoids.