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The Thrill of the Race
Today was an example of precisely why the Tour de France is the greatest annual sporting event on the planet. We had a real bike race. While we couldn't seem to have a day go without at least one significant crash (Andreas Klöden), the real thrust of the day was the racing not some tangential drama.
The biggest surprise of the day was being reminded that this was Samuel Sanchez' first Tour stage win. He's a rider of such colossal talent that a Tour stage missing from his palmares felt a bit like an oversight. Yet his ride was hardly the best of the day.
I've secretly had my money on Frank Schleck for this year's race. I think he has the maturity his brother lacks and this year his form seems at least equal to his brothers, maybe even better. To watch him ride up the road and see the weak response reminded me of the sort of glee I feel when the bad guy gets killed in a horror movie, not that I think Cadel Evans or any of the other GC favorites are bad guys, mind you.
Which naturally brings me to Alberto Contador. It is my sincere hope that his performance today wasn't hampered by his knee. I respect that a rider beaten is a rider beaten, but my personal belief is that whoever wins the Tour—should it turn out not to be him—deserves to know he beat him straight up.
I've suspected that Ivan Basso's near-anonymous performance up until now was the result of him saving himself. Today's late-race surge supports that. Seeing him work with Evans to try to pull back time on Schleck with Contador struggling to maintain contact and Schleck the younger dutifully playing the scavenger and just sitting on Contador's wheel was, pardon me, a thrilling bit of racing.
Nearly as great a surprise as today's win being Sanchez' first Tour stage was how little time Thomas Voeckler gave up to Schleck and Evans. It was a stunning piece of racing and gave rise to my favorite performance of the day:
Pierre Rolland.
Long after every other team's last domestique had Roman Candled their legs earlier on the mountain, Rolland not only stuck by his charge, but helped pace him back into the lead group following accelerations that were more than Voeckler could handle. It doesn't hurt, either, that his service was such that the casual viewer of the Tour wouldn't appreciate the work he put in, the difficulty of the task he accomplished. The finish line hug between the two was one of those private moments between teammates, not meant for our eyes, even if it did happen on the world stage.
As for the mighty RadioShack, they have two riders in the top 20 on GC. It's not the sort of performance anyone expected from Johan Bruyneel's team and probably not the sort of performance that would cause RadioShack to renew their contract at the end of this year.
And what would a day at the Tour without a little more love for Johnny Hoogerland? That he took off on the unknown Horquette d'Ancizan (a climb whose difficulty I can attest to) and attempted to build a gap to gain more points in the king of the mountains competition was the best. I don't mind that he lost the jersey today; that was inevitable. However, I am bummed he didn't manage to pick up a single point. I'd have loved the statement that would have made. His attempt was more than enough, though.
When Monty Python and the Holy Grail is finally re-made, Hoogerland will play the knight who says, "It's only a flesh wound."
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
Listening to Tyler
By the time 60 Minutes aired Sunday night, I had digested every element of the show I could in advance. I'd parsed quote upon quote and laughed at Lance Armstrong's attempts to discredit the single most storied broadcast news magazine on the planet.
As the fader brought up the iconic sound of the stopwatch ticking, I leaned forward in my chair and waited. While I knew what I would see in broad strokes, I hoped for two things. First, I wanted to see Tyler Hamilton's demeanor. Was he contrite? Was he conflicted? Was he vengeful? Second, I wondered if I might hear anything that would surprise me.
Different people saw different things as they watched Hamilton unfold the events of his past. What I saw was a guy who was uncomfortable in front of the camera, uncomfortable telling what he knew. And while I perceived remorse, I saw a man in depression, a man in pain over all he had lost.
I was uncomfortable watching him.
Part of my discomfort stemmed from old anger. Hamilton had represented the best cycling had to offer. He was educated, decent and—we all thought—clean. When he went down he took a number of people with him. People placed faith in him and had all but mortgaged the farm to help him succeed and track that success. He was the anti-Lance and in 2003 we thought we had found in him a story of extraordinary courage and determination. His was a story to rival Lance's, in part, because he was so polite, so self-effacing.
Most of my discomfort stemmed from wondering just how much punishment is enough. He's lost everything he built in his career, but he wasn't doped for the whole of his career. Is that just? And the interview barely glanced at his career-ending positive test for DHEA. I have to ask, Do we really know the full story about him taking DHEA? How could he be so stupid as to take a banned substance as his sole recourse to depression? I struggle with that explanation, but that's a minor point. The larger question is how much punishment is enough? After stripping a rider of success, should he also be stripped of a future?
Back to that interview: I've heard people assess it as a tired re-hash of the accusations we've heard against Armstrong for years. It wasn't. Hamilton made two surprising statements. His first was that he actually saw Armstrong use performance-enhancing drugs. No one has made that claim previously. He second was that his team management worked with the UCI to cover up a positive drug test at the 2001 Tour de Suisse. Armstrong made "donations" to the UCI and the cycling public never heard a word.
For those of you who doubt Hamilton's ability to tell the truth—any truth—remember, this nugget has been corroborated by the anonymous source 60 Minutes spoke with for the story. The source revealed that the FBI took a sworn deposition from the director of the lab that tested Armstrong's sample. The lab director said he met with Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel and was informed by the UCI the positive result was to be reported nowhere.
These weren't garden-variety accusations.
Forgiving riders who doped has nothing to do with justifying their behavior and everything to do with finding out what they took, what they know, the methods they used. We must learn the best doping techniques out there if we are to defeat them in the future. And if unemployment is guaranteed, a rider, coach or whoever has zero incentive to reveal what they know. We shouldn't tolerate repeated infractions (Riccardo Ricco, anyone?) but the silence of the offenders does us no good.
I used to think of doped riders as broken people, whether the deficit is narcissism, insecurity or sociopathy, they were people who need help. After watching one doping case after another unfold, I have come to believe that most of the athletes who turn to performance enhancing drugs do so out of a sense of coercion. Even though they may be incorrect, they believe the rest of the peloton is on the stuff, so they enter the practice.
My personal life has been punctuated with relationships too torn to rescue. Forgiveness has, at times, been an act of kindness too great for me to summon. But I struggle with that. I know that every religion on the planet and nearly every constitution regards forgiveness and redemption as a central tenet. Hell, half of the reality shows are built around people recovering their humanity after some fall from grace. We obviously love to forgive people.
It's easy to condemn Hamilton. Too easy. Let's listen to him. And let's not abandon him; down that road lay the fallen. Their graves bear names like Pantani, Jimenez.
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
Friday Group Ride #34
Great movement is afoot. The tides of change rise with the moon and deposit treasures of all sorts on the shore of our cycling beach. Holy Moses! That's a horrible metaphor.
Anyway, so far we've seen: Contador to Sungard – SaxoBank, Greipel to Omega Pharma-Lotto, Fränk and Ändy Schleck to Luxembourg – TBD, Jurgen Van de Walle to Omega Pharma – Lotto, and many more strong support riders shifting allegiances and lining up behind new leaders.
The one that sticks out for me is Team Radio Shack. This is a sponsor that got into the sport based on the ability of Lance Armstrong to draw eyeballs to their brand at the world's biggest sporting event, the Tour de France. Now that Armstrong has ridden his last Tour (not to mention the questionable attention he's attracting while under federal investigation), the Shack has a very large hole to fill.
Wanted: Tour de France winner not named Contador.
Johan Bruyneel and his seemingly deep-pocketed backers have to do something big, and they need to do it now. Star of the future Taylor Phinney is not going to win the 2011 Tour de France. We could talk about when the young American star WILL be ready to vie for the French podium, but we know it's not going to be next year, so that leaves the transfer market.
With Contador estranged from Bruyneel, the next, obvious choice is Ändy Schleck, who looks like the only rider with a shot at besting the Spaniard. Schleck has left Bjarne Riis' Saxo Bank team, but the Luxembourg-based squad he's rumored to be leading has yet to coalesce. Though the overwhelming odds are that that team will in fact form, is there the outside possibility that Schleck could be coming to America?
The shadow player here could be Trek. With Armstrong's exit, the American bicycle maker is losing its best representative in the pro ranks. Of course, Contador and Schleck both rode Specialized bicycles to Paris this year, and that can't sit well with the big wigs at Trek. They too have a stake in placing a big winner at the Shack, if only to peg back Specialized who seem to have taken over as the top US brand.
As unlikely as it seems, a case could be made that Radio Shack and Trek need to make a hard run at Schleck or suffer the financial consequences. It's no secret that the young Luxembourger has maintained an almost obsequious attitude toward Armstrong over the past year. Is that simple respect or business savvy?
If this odd scenario doesn't play out, who will lead the Shack next year? Will they really bet their season on the aging legs of Leipheimer and Kloeden? Or is there another possible answer that we're just not seeing? Does Janesz Brackovic become the new kid on the block? How salable is he as a marketing asset?
What do you think?
Photo: Jake Schoellkopf/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Retirement Party
The 2010 Tour de France came down to just two riders and one mountain.
So Alberto Contador won the Tour de France by a margin slimmer than many said was possible, a margin equal to what he clawed out with the aid of Dennis Menchov and Sammy Sanchez on stage 15. We can argue about all the places each rider gained or lost time, but really, the race comes down to two fateful events: Schleck's mis-shift on 15 and his later 39-second gap in the final time trial. The symmetry of the two events is more difficult to ignore than the economy.
And just to be ultra-clear about this, yes, I'm saying that without help from both Menchov and Sanchez, Contador wouldn't have won the Tour.
I should also point out that even though he twice went for stage wins for himself, Alexander Vinokourov proved to be both valuable and loyal to Contador in the mountain stages. Vinokourov sat on Schleck on stage 15 and never rode for himself by taking a pull at the front of the group. He'll always be an unpredictable element in my mind, but he demonstrated his value to the Astana team repeatedly. He deserves to be recognized.
But individual performances aside, if we back up and look at the 2010 Tour de France as an elaborate chess game involving 22 players, some interesting questions emerge.
First, what the hell has Johan Bruyneel been thinking? He fielded the most experienced team in the Tour de France, sure, but it was also the oldest team by an Egyptian pharaoh. The most youthful element of the team was the management company's formation documents. Even if we accept the possibility that the fight went out of Armstrong following his daily crashes so that by the time the time trial came around, he really wasn't trying—which is why we didn't see the form necessary to win the race overall anywhere in the same time zone as him—we should still ask the question: Why did no one else other than Chris Horner ride like his career was at stake?
Speaking of recognition, let's hope that Horner feels some satisfaction and vindication at his stellar ride. It's one of the best performances by a rider over the age of 35 ever at the Tour, and is his single best performance there. It was his misfortune to sign for a French team when he first went to Europe and his worse fortune to have his career coincide with Armstrong's. Had he hit Europe five years earlier than he did, he could have led Motorola in its quest to do something significant in a Grand Tour. Or not. There have long been reports that Jim Ochowicz (director of Motorola and now one of the powers that be at BMC) had issues with the formerly feisty San Diegan.
Back to Bruyneel. His reputation as a kingmaker able to deliver a worthy rider to a Grand Tour victory has suffered its first setback. Even with the triple-barrel shotgun of Armstrong, Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer he was unable to deliver any one of them to the top 10. Horner's performance was the sort of showing that the French teams generally hope to luck into but can plan no better than a chimp considering retirement.
With that much talent and so little to show for it, the brass at The Shack might be understandably perturbed.
This time last year many of us were beginning to rethink what might be possible age-wise in a Grand Tour. Now, the near complete waterlogging of Radio Shack has most cycling fans thinking that, yes, age really does slow you down. Too much to deliver a win on the world's biggest stage.
And cast in the light of failure, Armstrong seems less ambitious, less hungry, less focused on highlighting the cause of cancer than just gluttonous, a corpulent ego.
But that's how we play it isn't it? When our heroes fall, we pounce.
But even if the Radio Shack board is less than thrilled, imagine what's going on in the boardroom at Sky. Isn't the question there whose head rolls first?
Seemingly a world away, Bjarne Riis has proven that he knows how to bring the race to anyone he wants. He's delivered Tyler Hamilton, Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso and Andy Schleck all to podium finishes at Grand Tours, though his record of wins (just two) is rather slim despite the obvious strength of his team.
Yvon Sanquer, a name you may not be very familiar with even after his team's success, is the director of Team Astana and has kept a profile nearly as high as that of newly mown grass. His previous best result as a team director was after being brought in to rescue Team Festina (not unlike what he was asked to do with Astana) and his riders (mostly Marcel Wüst) were able to take a stage of the Tour de France along with four stages of the Vuelta plus some stages at lesser stage races. Before 2010, his riders' closest association to the winner of a Grand Tour was if they had chatted with him.
And yet, somehow Sanquer brought together what seemed to be an underpowered team and saw to it that Contador was rarely without help in the mountains.
Despite the Astana team performing as if it were still run by Johan Bruyneel—admit it, it was an impressive performance that very few thought could truly deliver the goods as a cohesive unit this past January—I am surprised by the number of people I hear from who just plain don't like Alberto Contador. To the degree that maybe many cycling fans were less than enthusiastic about him, it seems that even if his counter attack on stage 15 didn't rile people, the fact that he lied about not knowing what was going on with Andy Schleck seems to have sent some fans around the bend. I've not been a fan of some of his tactics, and have thought some of his interviews with the Spanish media were whiny and meant to play the pity card, which strikes me as unseemly—like the Super Bowl winning team sniffling about playing hurt, but it struck me as insulting to fans everywhere for him to claim he couldn't tell there was anything wrong with Schleck.
Which brings me to Jonathan Vaughters. Of the teams bidding for Contador's services last year, Vaughters' Garmin-Transitions formation was one of the teams in the running to sign the diminutive Spaniard. There are reports that after all of his efforts to leave Astana he is now considering a new contract and staying.
Contador would do well to leave, so long as he left for Vaughters. Of the many team directors at the Tour de France, Vaughters is the one that seems to have an uncanny ability to help riders achieve greatness in the GC that he never could reach on his own. In three years of competing in the Tour de France Vaughters has delivered three different riders to top-10 finishes, first with Christian Vande Velde's fourth place, then Bradley Wiggins fourth and now Ryder Hesjedal's seventh place. In each case the riders were uniformly believed to be talented, but no one—other than Vaughters—considered them real GC vehicles on which to pin a team's hopes.
Sanquer's success with Contador suggests competence, nothing more. After all, if you can't guide a previous Tour de France winning to yet another victory, what kind of team director are you?
Bjarne Riis has consistently put together one of the strongest, most cohesive teams on the planet. That he hasn't won more may be a question of formula more than anything else. The question seems to be, 'Why didn't he win?' rather than, 'What's it going to take to secure another win?'
Bruyneel is the great curiosity this year. He's ripe for criticism. How should he deflect the charge that he went with Armstrong less for career than paycheck? If he didn't go to Radio Shack for the paycheck, then why? It's hard for Bruyneel to charge that Vinokourov is a more tarnished rider than some he has worked with. Contador clearly has a greater future than Armstrong does. Maybe the question is just how loyal a guy is Bruyneel. Some folks are loyal to a fault. Could it be so with him?
Even if he didn't go to Radio Shack just for a bigger paycheck that is virtually guaranteed not to dry up mid-way through the season, where does he rank his ambitions as a director? Twelve of the team's 26 riders have had their 30th birthday. Six of them are older than 32. The only rider on the team who is showing talent and is early in his career is Janez Brajkovič. Taylor Phinney doesn't count because he's only a staigiaire.
How else do you wind up with that many riders in need of a retirement party than by selecting a crew that can be depended on being utterly devoted to Armstrong? Now, there's nothing wrong with being committed to supporting your team leader, but it is fair to ask how smart it is to construct a team for a single year's performance. Even if Leipheimer, Klöden, Horner and Rubiera plan to ride Grand Tours next year, how capable will any of them be? Horner is the only guy I'd bet on as a good support rider for the simple reason that he is obviously still proving his value and talent long after most guys have quit.
You want to make the 2011 Tour de France really interesting? Get Vaughters to sign Horner.
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
Defending the Throne
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. When Lance Armstrong announced he was coming out of retirement in September of 2008, many presumed he would take up his career where he left off—winning the Tour de France.
Popular speculation was that Johan Bruyneel's protege, Alberto Contador, by dint of his young age could conceivably rack up a longer streak of wins at the Tour de France than Armstrong. And if there's anyone who hates to be beaten, it's Mellow Johnny.
Some took a more cynical view. At the point of Armstrong's retirement, Team Tailwinds, the company behind the US Postal and Discovery Channel Team was facing a fair amount of investigation related to doping. Dissolving the formation took the heat off all involved. And with the investigations into the various scandals sufficiently exhausted, Armstrong returned to the sport with a seemingly fresh start.
But 2009 wasn't 2005. Armstrong was accustomed to being boss, getting his way—and was willing to use whatever tricks it took such as intimidation or outright firing to get his way. The peloton has more than a few riders who got crossed up with Armstrong and saw their careers suffer for it. Anyone remember Chad Gerlach?
But Alberto Contador didn't step aside. With three Grand Tour victories under his belt, it's not surprising. By any reasonable standard, Contador had come of age and was within his right to believe that Armstrong had had his time and should stay retired.
History is full of examples of wars in which one side fought by conventional means while the other battled back by guerilla tactics. It's what the American colonists did during the Revolutionary War, what the Vietnamese did during the Vietnam War and what the insurgents are doing in Irag and Afghanistan. Guerilla tactics are the object lesson of the story of David and Goliath.
Armstrong always liked to portray himself as David in his matchups against Jan Ullrich, but with Alberto Contador, he was the proverbial Goliath: slow to adapt and inadequately defended. While Armstrong appreciated Contador's physical strength, he underestimated the Spaniard's force of will. Contador is certainly not the first rider to go rogue within a team in a bid to win the Tour, but he is arguably the rider who had to fight the hardest to do so and succeed.
Of course, Armstrong fans reacted to his third place with a "not bad" and waited for the 2010 Tour like a bunch of fanboys waiting for the next Spiderman film. The Lance would be back and he would whoop some 'Murkin-style ass.
What he didn't count on was that his return to the pro peloton would coincide with Floyd Landis' snub by same. The crazy math going on inside of Landis' brain believes light speed travel is totally doable and that the U.S. government was behind the fall of Troy. Most of us learned long ago not to mess with crazy. What Armstrong didn't know was that Landis was at the breaking point. How could he? And while he didn't go looking to lock horns with Landis, his return to the ProTour seems to have been read by Landis as insult to injury. It's fair to wonder if Landis' e-mail screed would have taken place if Big Tex was still banging one of the Olsen twins and surfing with Matthew McConaughey; after all, what else could have squarely placed a bullseye on Armstrong than his resumption of the very thing Landis wanted most and was being denied.
And while Landis may seem to be crazier than Amy Winehouse, bat-shit crazy doesn't preclude what he says from being true.
Running high is media speculation that Armstrong's crash-filled spring and summer is as a result of distracted riding. Conventional wisdom is that he's so preoccupied with Landis' allegations and defending himself that his mind just isn't in the game. No matter what the cause, at this Tour de France, we seem to have seen an old Armstrong, not the old Armstrong.
The latest twist in this unfolding saga is Armstrong's retention of Brian D. Daly as his defense attorney. Daly, a former federal prosecutor is an ideal choice for a vigorous defense. He is intimately familiar with the techniques and strategies used by prosecutors, and while that is certainly useful, the long list of ex-teammates who have been subpoenaed and are alleged to have agreed to cooperate with the investigation could be … well, let's just say that throwing one very good attorney at this problem could be like trying to hold back flood waters with a stop sign.
Complicating matters is Greg LeMond, who seems eager to step from the wings. What LeMond can contribute to these proceedings beyond a he said/he said mudslinging with Armstrong is unknown at best and even somewhat doubtful at worst. But it is LeMond's participation that has brought about what is one of the ugliest statements Armstrong has made.
He told France 2, "We will have the opportunity to tell the truth to the authorities, and Greg LeMond will tell the truth about 1989 I hope."
So far as I can find, this is the closest Lance Armstrong has ever come to calling another rider out as a doper. For a guy who has been notoriously mum on the activities of other riders, even those convicted of doping, it seems oddly incongruous that he would suggest that LeMond has a hidden doping past.
The moment we choose to believe a rider is clean we make a leap of faith. However, unlike the irrational leap necessary to believe in God, the demise of Greg LeMond's career coincides neatly with the rise of EPO.
LeMond's attitude toward doping has always seemed so Boy Scout, in part because his career has been marked by betrayals perpetrated due to his naivete, that considering whether or not he doped smacks of thinking Pete Townshend took up guitar just to get chicks.
LeMond's victory in the 1989 Tour de France was very likely the next-to-last Tour de France won by a clean athlete.
It's ironic that the one cyclist Armstrong would seem to suggest doped is one who could easily be accepted as clean.
Stranger still is the fact that Armstrong's comeback may ultimately do more to damage his legacy than strengthen it.
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
FGR Wrap #30
End of an era—one sight we're not likely to see again: Armstrong leading Contador.
Well this is one time the FGR won't be settled immediately. We've got nearly two weeks to see how this will shake out, but they are, after all, two weeks we've been waiting for since last August.
Interestingly, in your comments, There's really only consensus on two classifications. With two exceptions each, everyone thinks that Thor Hushovd will take the green jersey, just as he did last year, and Andy Schleck will double up on the white jersey as well.
Alberto Contador was the only rider to come up with more than one vote for the yellow jersey, so it seems we must acknowledge that he remains the favorite. Interestingly, Andy Schleck was the only rider to get votes in three classifications: overall, mountains and best young rider. An inobservant reader might believe that to be an indication of his completeness as a rider, but it really doesn't back us into a larger belief that he has the potential to wear yellow in Paris.
Eight stages in, a new question is worth asking: With Lance Armstrong's GC hopes dashed, Christian Vande Velde out of the race, Bradley Wiggins unable to deliver as he did last year in the blue, white and orange of Garmin, if we assume that Contador, Evans and Schleck are the likely podium, who do you think will round out the top five or six?
Armstrong's demise also spells out a very surprising development: Levi Leipheimer is finally the GC leader for a Johan Bruyneel-led team at the Tour de France. I don't think anyone ever thought those three details would line up. It's as if a one-armed bandit came up Bar-Bar-Bar for Santa Rosa's favorite athlete. Go figure.
And as a corollary to my previous question, do you think Ryder Hesjedal can pull off what Wiggins did last year? Sky doesn't seem to have figured out Wiggo the way Vaughters and White did. Rather an interesting development, given the way he badmouthed Garmin on his way out.
Unipublic Snubs Radio Shack
Johan Bruyneel in the media scrum following Unipublic's announcement.
A little over a week ago I wondered aloud in a Tweet if the Amaury Sport Organization might make a preemptive move against Radio Shack and withdraw the team's invitation to the Tour de France. It would be an incredible blow to the team, but in the wake of Floyd Landis' accusations against Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, Levi Leipheimer and others, were the organizers to take Landis' accusations as credible, history suggests they might just take such action.
Responses all ran the vein of 'dead wrong.' And yet now we have Team Radio Shack being denied a spot in the Vuelta a Espana. Like Garmin-Transitions, Radio Shack joined the ProTour since the 2008 agreement forged between the UCI and the organizers of the Grand Tours in which the UCI and the ProTour teams acknowledged the autonomy of the organizers to select only those teams they see fit.
Selections are not made in a vacuum. To help the organizers gauge a team's potential competitive power, each team is asked to submit a roster of riders likely to ride the event. After all, if you're Unipublic and you learn a team will send the same nine riders who rode both the Giro and Tour (not that that has ever happened), you'd be within your rights to conclude that team would be too tired to be truly competitive. Bruyneel's short list of riders he submitted was an all-star squad: Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden, Chris Horner and Janez Brajkovic. Radio Shack also skipped the Giro d'Italia this year with an eye toward riding the Tour of California and just two Grand Tours.
Bruyneel says he was "speechless" when he learned of the exclusion. Representatives for Unipublic, the organizers of the Vuelta said they left Radio Shack because the team would not be competitive.
It's true that Radio Shack has been criticized for not being more competitive this year, but let's take a moment to measure them against the six teams that were invited to the Vuelta by wildcard and their ranking in the world according to the UCI:
Team Katusha: second
Cervelo Test Team: ninth
Garmin-Transitions: 15th
Sky Professional Cycling Team: 17th
Andalucia-Cajasur: unranked
Xacobeo Galicia: unranked
Radio Shack, following Brajkovic's victory at the Criterium du Dauphiné, is ranked eighth in the world. Prior to that they were ranked 14th.
In his The History of the Tour de France, Volume I, Bill McGann writes that one of the key features that makes the Tour a better race than the other two Grand Tours is that its organizers have largely avoided petty, nationalistic spats that have hurt the other races.
I'd have to say that's at work once again. In 2006, the ASO refused to allow nine riders to start the race due to their alleged involvement in Operacion Puerto. Because five of those riders were members of the Astana-Wurth team it fell below the minimum number to start the race, so some thirteen riders didn't start the Tour.
It's no secret that since the 2009 Tour Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel have been portrayed in the media as public enemy nos. 1 and 2. Whether most Spanish cycling fans feel that way is harder to say, but Marca and As have done much to foster the conflict between Contador and Bruyneel/Armstrong.
It's impossible to say what Unipublic's motivations are for the exclusion. No one would be surprised if the snub were as a result of the Landis allegations. It seems that most of Europe will concede both that he's crazy and telling the truth about his drug use and the drugs he alleges Lance Armstrong took as well. However, Unipublic took a different approach saying that Radio Shack wouldn't be competitive. I'm sorry, but you could send Chris Horner to almost any race in Europe aboard a Schwinn Varsity and he would still be competitive.
Of the six teams invited by wild card, only Team Katusha was more highly ranked in the world standings. We can objectively refute the organizer's claims that Radio Shack would not be competitive. Put another way, as good a year as Garmin-Transitions seems to be having (Tyler Farrar is having a truly breakout season), in winning both the Tour of the Basque Country and the Criterium du Dauphiné (not to mention third at the Amgen Tour of California), Radio Shack is having a better season; at least, that's what the UCI's numbers say.
Had Unipublic declared that they believe Floyd Landis and harbor too many suspicions about Armstrong, Bruyneel and the rest to allow their race to be besmirched by the presence of a team under such strong suspicion, some racers, officials and many fans would have cried foul. However, such a decision is not without precedent—think 2007 Astana—and given the number of inquiries opened up into the pasts of so many former US Postal riders, many people wouldn't have flinched at the announcement. More importantly, the decision, while presumptuous, wouldn't have smacked of the irrational.
But Unipublic didn't do that. They claimed that Radio Shack wasn't competitive enough. That's like saying Los Angeles doesn't have enough roads. Everyone knows that's crazy talk, and unfortunately the damage it does is three-fold. Radio Shack loses an opportunity to try to win a second Grand Tour in a season. Racing fans lose an opportunity to see racing influenced by what would be almost surely a dominant team, and Unipublic loses some of the respect we reserve for events whose integrity we believe helps to elevate sport beyond mere entertainment.
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
Floyd Landis Confesses
What a difference four years makes. Had Floyd Landis woken up on July 28, 2006, and called a press conference to announce to the world all the things he detailed in his e-mail to USA Cycling's Steve Johnson, we might have hailed him as a sort of fallen hero.
An Icarus of the pedals.
As fate would have it, Landis' non-negative result for was synthetic testosterone, essentially the one drug he claims, now, not to have taken in 2006. So he believed what almost anyone else would have believed—that he could beat the rap.
He didn't count on a few details. First, he didn't count on the Machiavellian nature of USADA, which pursued the case with a 'win at all cost' mentality. As I wrote in my BKW post "At All Cost," had this case been tried in the American judicial system, Landis would have won the case because the lab performing the work did such a lousy job. However, USADA's zero-tolerance policy toward doping also happens to be a zero-loss policy as well, and clearly Landis didn't understand that actual innocence didn't matter.
He also didn't count on the details of a phone conversation he had with Greg LeMond would become public. LeMond's recounting of the conversation will seem entirely more believable for anyone who previously doubted his testimony. Four years hence, one wonders if Landis comes up with a different answer to the rhetorical question he put to LeMond when urged to confess. He asked, "What would it matter?"
While we don't know the exact details of what Landis confessed to Johnson and the UCI, we have the substance in broad strokes.
1) He did drugs, lots of them, beginning in 2002.
2) Lance Armstrong did more drugs and told him who to work with.
3) George Hincapie did all the same drugs.
4) Former roommate David Zabriskie did drugs.
5) Levi Leipheimer did drugs.
6) He has no proof.
7) Those closest to him didn't know what he was up to.
8) He confessed to his mom.
We should note that Landis has only implicated American riders. One wonders why he has implicated only Americans. Could his full and complete confession be leaving something out?
After four years of his strenuous denial and seven-figure defense that was, in part, paid for by fans who believed his innocent plea, for him to come out now and say, 'Okay, now I'm telling the truth,' credulity strains. UCI President Pat McQuaid said Landis' statements were "scandalous and mischievous."
Even if we believe everything his says lock-stock-and-barrel, in this case, his truth-telling comes a little late. As a means to restore respect and reputation, his confession is a failure. Still, that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen. On this point, McQuaid has it wrong.
"These guys coming out now with things like this from the past is only damaging the sport," McQuaid told The Associated Press. "If they've any love for the sport they wouldn't do it."
Come again? We don't want dopers to confess? Please tell us you're kidding.
I've heard from several sources that Landis has been drinking heavily, heavily enough to affect his fitness and relationships. It's a tragic turn of events given what he has already experienced. It's easy to connect the drinking with the events he says he is now confessing, the truth he needs to get off his chest. In 12-Step programs, you are directed to confess your wrongs, but there follows quickly one caveat: except when to do so would hurt others.
Which brings us to the meat of his confession. Most of what he has confessed involves others. To clear his conscience, he need only to confess his own deeds. Whatever motivation he has to tell what he says Armstrong, Hincapie, Leipheimer and Zabriskie have done, it isn't his conscience; it sounds more like retribution—'If my ship is going down, I'm taking yours with me.'
Backing this up is the fact that Landis pointed out the eight-year statute of limitations, which is due to run out on some of the alleged acts, as a motivating factor to come forward.
"Now we've come to the point where the statute of limitations on the things I know is going to run out or start to run out next month," Landis said. "If I don't say something now, then it's pointless to ever say it."
He wants cases opened into the acts of Armstrong, Hincapie, Leipheimer and Zabriskie while there's still time, which means his confession is less about his acts than the acts of others. He wants to see others punished.
But he says he has no proof. Naturally, Armstrong, Hincapie, Leipheimer and Zabriskie will have to defend themselves and because Landis detailed them in e-mails, meaning they were written, not spoken, they rise from slander to libel. Because these are public figures, the odds are against any of them meeting with success in a court room following a civil suit.
Landis may have a tougher time defending himself than they do.
Federal investigator Jeff Novitzky, the man who headed the investigation into Victory Conte and the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) is one of the investigators involved in checking out Landis' claims.
One of the first questions Novitzky and other investigators will have for Lanids will be who his sources were. Where did he buy his stuff? His suppliers may have sales records. If they have sales records that can substantiate his claim that he was a customer, then it is also possible they would have sales records detailing their relationship with other clients, and it's a safe bet that if it is true Landis was taking his cues from others, then he was probably shopping at the same market, so-to-speak.
Armstrong has pulled out of the Tour of California following what sounds like a minor crash. Cynics will probably surmise that it was a strategic decision to avoid media scrutiny.
And what of Landis' actual confession? That is, what of what he claims he did? These would be new infractions worthy of their own case. While I have advocated a truth and reconciliation commission to encourage athletes to come forward and tell what they know, this case is ugly and really perverts the way you hope justice will work.
Should Landis get a slap on the wrist in exchange for his cooperation? Or should he get the proverbial book thrown at him yet again? It may be that he has already come to the conclusion that his return to the pro ranks won't be what he had hoped and that he is ready to depart.
If that's the case, then his confession is 200-proof revenge.
This case may well make it to a grand jury, which will be much more likely to result in actual justice than any action USADA takes. Getting at the real truth should be the goal, rather than just handing out punishment.
But what of Landis' original case? He was within his right to defend himself and we should never forget that. However, his defense built a sham identity that wasn't enough to escape conviction. Hopefully, that will be a sobering thought to the new generation of dopers, a la Bernard Kohl and Riccardo Ricco. However, Landis' defense turned into the most costly prosecution ever for USADA. In mounting such an expansive defense he cheated not just those who contributed to the Floyd Fairness Fund, but all those of us who follow cycling and depend on the anti-doping authorities to uncover and prosecute doping. One wonders who escaped prosecution because USADA was mired in a more than year-long case with Landis.
I have often thought that there will come a day where we look back on the EPO era with different eyes. We should never condone doping, but there may come a point when we understand that during the time when EPO use was rampant, there were no heroes and very, very few villains, that these men were flawed, like all of us, and a product of their time.
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International
Contador, Cheated?
The 2009 Tour de France is still being contested in Alberto Contador's head. At least, if you follow the Spanish newspaper Marca, or most any other news outlet in Spain, it would seem that while Contador won the war, there is yet a PR battle to fight. Not a week has gone by without the paper running some story on the turmoil within Astana as reported by Contador or a teammate.
Lately, Contador's target has been as much Bruyneel as Armstrong. He's been quick to talk about the team's politics and what he saw as Bruyneel's attempts to isolate him within the team. It's hard to say what the truth is and gossip has the value of sand at the beach, but one previous skirmish recently resurfaced that makes the situation a bit more curious.
At the end of the tour, everyone was abuzz about Contador having to catch a ride with his brother because all the team cars were shuttling Armstrong's cadre. The first occasion was from atop Mont Ventoux, the second on the way to the final time trial. Bruyneel and Armstrong said Contador's claims were completely false; we'll never know.
What didn't get the same level of attention was Contador's claim that he didn't get top quality equipment. The claim has been translated a few different ways, but the insinuation was that Armstrong had better equipment than Contador did. Until this week, there was really no way to know just what he meant.
As he said/he saids go, this gets a bit confusing. It begins with Contador statement he didn't get top quality wheels and had to go buy wheels for the prologue in Monaco. Armstrong shot back and said Contador had exactly the same wheels as his teammates. This week, in a blog entry on Marca, writer Josu Garai wrote that Contador told him and members of Contador's entourage "confirmed" that Contador purchased a set of Lightweight wheels. Yes, the ungodly expensive, handmade carbon fiber wheels that hail from the land of der Jan.
Well purchase them he may have, but race them he never did. I've gone back through the archives of John Pierce, Yuzuru Sunada and Roberto Bettini and viewed profile shots of Contador in each of the mountain stages and the time trials. In each of the shots you can see Bontrager logos on the wheels.
Now disc wheels are all pretty similar, right? So Contador could have been running a Lightweight disc in the rear and a deep-profile-rim wheel in the front, both with Bontrager decals, right? Not so fast. The Lightweight disc has a transparent finish to it, so that you can see the carbon fiber internal spoke pattern. It looks nothing like anyone else's disc. Similarly, the Bontrager-branded, HED-designed H3 front wheel and Jet disc rear wheel look nothing like any Lightweight. Neither the H3 nor the Jet disc are offered at retail by Bontrager, but because Bontrager licenses HED technology, the re-branded wheels are done with both companies' full knowledge and consent.
So that leaves the wheels that Contador used on the climbing stages. The high-flange appearance of the Lightweights really can't be confused with the utter flanglessness of the Bontrager Race XXX Lite tubulars. The white spokes, the beveled rim profile, it's a distinct look.
A quick e-mail to a source at Trek also confirmed what is standard practice with sponsors: Each Astana rider at the Tour had exactly the same equipment, right down to the slowest of the domestiques.
Is it possible that Bruyneel told the mechanics to withhold wheels from Contador? In theory, maybe, but again a quick check of the photos shows he's on the same wheels as Armstrong and the rest, so that variety of crazy didn't take place. It's true that Armstrong's bikes and wheels had unique decaling, but unique equipment wasn't limited to Armstrong as evidenced by the all-white Madone Contador rode for most of the Tour and the personalized black and yellow bike he rode on stage 21 into Paris.
It's not hard to understand the Spanish media's dislike of Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel. Alberto Contador is a national hero and the media has largely portrayed the conflict between Contador and Armstrong as a Hatfield/McCoy blood feud.
That Contador is happy to be free of Armstrong should go without saying, but until Armstrong's return to the sport, it seemed that Contador and Bruyneel had a good relationship. Since parting ways, Contador has been spare in his praise of his former director and Bruyneel has spoken openly of how he believed success went to the Tour champion's head, making him harder to work with.
And what of Trek? Insiders there are mum on the point, but having the Tour de France champion claim he was shortchanged on equipment must smart.
No matter whether you take a side or not or whose side you take if you do, the claim by Contador that he didn't get the same equipment as his teammates and had to go buy his own is absurd. It begs the question why he would say such a thing. Seemingly, being wronged by teammates, staff and sponsor make him an even greater champion in the eyes of his countrymen. But with the truth being as weird as it was, one can wonder why that story isn't enough.
Images: John Pierce, Photosport International
Taking Shape
In one of the bigger surprises of the week, the UCI announced that it had approved the extension of Astana's ProTour license. The announcement puts to rest any speculation about whether Alberto Contador would remain with the Kazakh-registered formation for 2010.
On the heels of the announcement, 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro revealed that he will finish his career riding in support of Alberto Contador. He signed a one-year contract contingent upon Astana being approved for the ProTour.
But the news doesn't end there. Haimar Zubeldia pulled the ripcord and announced he will join Johan Bruyneel at Radio Shack. As one of the pivotal riders caught in the Armstrong/Contador pachinko, Zubeldia sidestepped the controversy when he spoke to l'Equipe.
"When I moved from Euskaltel to Astana, I signed for the team of Johan Bruyneel. Now everyone in this group has joined a new team; that's why Radio Shack has been my priority."
Of his choice to follow Bruyneel he said the choice was an entirely personal one based on his needs as a rider. "After a year of working with him, I can confirm the image I had of him. He is a great leader with such a very good view of the race…. I had to choose the best for me."
The loss of Zubeldia and the gain of Pereiro essentially sums zero. Contador needed to bolster his Tour team by keeping Zubeldia and adding someone of Pereiro's talent—or better. The only other recent signee the team has announced recently is Mirko Selvaggi.
Astana management complained that the UCI had given the team more stringent requirements than other ProTour teams when it required additional bank guarantees. And while requested bank guarantee was unusual, it was made it response to the team's financial woes this spring. Interestingly, despite Astana's complaints, it seems the team has received special treatment. The team still has only 21 riders and shouldn't, technically, be eligible for the ProTour.
It will be especially difficult for the team to recruit riders in December, and there is a cutoff date for transfers that is rapidly approaching. If they enter the season with only 21 riders, each rider will have to race more frequently to fulfill the squad requirements for ProTour events and this will increase fatigue and the possibility of injury as the Tour approaches. For the sake of fireworks at le Grand Boucle, let's hope they find some more strong riders.
The Astana Roster to date:
Assan Bazayev
Alberto Contador
David De la Fuente
Valeriy Dmitriyev
Alexsandre Diachenko
Enrico Gasparotto
Andriy Grivko
Jesus Hernandez
Maxim Iglinskiy
Roman Kireyev
Berik Kupeshov
Daniel Navarro
Benjamin Noval
Oscar Pereiro
Bolat Raimbekov
Sergey Renev
Mirko Selvaggi
Gorazd Stangelj
Paolo Tiralongo
Alexandre Vinokourov
Andrey Zeits
Image: John Pierce, Photosport International


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Your search for TORRE, JOE in Selena Roberts returned 7 articles
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Ticklists: Classic Rock, North Wales 100 Classic Climbs, ROCKFAX - Top 50 North Wales Climbs.
Photo: Leading the "4b" yellow slab © mikenewman View all 3 photos or Submit a new photo of this climb.
Nick Biven - 2014
muppett - 2014
Felt a lot harder than Rowan Route. Snow didn't help. Bailed on Yellow slab.freemanTom (Guildford MC) - Solo O/S - 29/Dec/13
Started in sunshine, finished in snow.Monkey_Alan - AltLd O/S - 29/Dec/13 with Max Streeton
tom - AltLd O/S - 07/Dec/13
Phil and Nige in big boots, me in trainers. First pitch soaking wet, very cold. Reached summit at dusk.JamieAyres - AltLd rpt - 16/Nov/13 with Phil Windall, Nigel Evans
In rain in big boots!Samuel Wainwright - Lead O/S - 14/Nov/13
Too late to do final pitch.magsb - 2nd - 10/Nov/13 with John Heap
albt - AltLd O/S - 21/Sep/13
In wet with bootsdmetcalfe - AltLd - 07/Sep/13 with ollyleggg
Wet & slippy. In B1s.ollylegg - AltLd - 07/Sep/13 with Danny Metcalfe
Hidden - Lead O/S - 05/Sep/13
BradleyWhite - Lead - 31/Aug/13
Top pitch had a couple of loose very big blocksvix - Lead O/S - 31/Aug/13 with Lorna, Billz
cactus111 - AltLd O/S - 28/Aug/13 with robin harris
hotfeet - Lead - 25/Aug/13
jason smeeth - AltLd - 25/Aug/13
Sam lead 1, 3 and 5, I lead 2, 4 and the S grade Thompson's Chimney at the top AlexFletcher - AltLd - 23/Aug/13 with Sam Hinson
sam26051 - AltLd - 23/Aug/13 with AlexFletcher
matt1024 - AltLd - 20/Aug/13 with Brother
late for teadapperdan - 2nd O/S - 20/Aug/13
Hidden - Lead O/S - 12/Aug/13
Shaw Brown - AltLd - 02/Aug/13 with Judith Neaves
I led P2 and P4, then finished up Thomson's chimneydobby 200 - AltLd O/S - 02/Aug/13
TeamAcrophobia - AltLd rpt - Aug/13
Clay C - Lead O/S - 28/Jul/13 with Guy
Guy Conlon - 2nd O/S - 28/Jul/13 with Clay Conlon
Harri777 - AltLd - 27/Jul/13 with Chris Colebrook, Mel P
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 27/Jul/13
Melanie Parkin - 2nd O/S - 27/Jul/13 with Harriet Kirk, ChrisRGX
jwa - Lead - 20/Jul/13 with Barney Anderson
mdosullivan1981 - 2nd dog - 20/Jul/13 with Stuart Aylott
Hidden - Lead O/S - 20/Jul/13
marcduhig - AltLd O/S - 14/Jul/13 with Adrian
Might have got some pitches mixed up. Finished up Thomson's Chimney Ade7 - AltLd O/S - 14/Jul/13 with Marc
BradleyWhite - Solo - 13/Jul/13
...and ElliotGlyn Davidson - AltLd O/S - 13/Jul/13 with Dan, Callumn
dannyevos - 13/Jul/13 with Steve Swanborough, Rick Clapham
Steve Swanborough - 2nd O/S - 13/Jul/13 with Danny Evans, Rick Clapham
Jon Walker - AltLd - 11/Jul/13
First long mountain multipitch. Good choice as nice climbing but with great big ledges for belaying. Really enjoyable in fantastic weather.stev1e.wilso - Lead - 07/Jul/13 with Rosie
Julie - 2nd O/S - 07/Jul/13 with Richard, Jason
Rozzlarr1992 - 2nd - 07/Jul/13 with Dad
Hidden - Lead O/S - 06/Jul/13
Ray Sparks - AltLd O/S - 06/Jul/13 with paul
beds74 - AltLd - 06/Jul/13 with Ray Sparks
Climbed with instructor Ash sleight, Full gortex and gortex shoes, weather was poor and rock very slippery. Dogged climb to summit, happy to get thereFoxy1984 - 2nd dog - 03/Jul/13
Hidden - 2nd dog - 03/Jul/13
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 03/Jul/13
Led 2 students up on wet slippery rock. Would have been nice to enjoy the view but at least I got a free cam out of itashsleight - Lead O/S - 03/Jul/13 with Lee foxhall
Great climb in nice weather. Led P1,2 and Thomson's Chimney. First step up from the plateau in Thomson's Chimney was hard, fell on the hex #3 that is now stuck there...Sietse - AltLd RP - 29/Jun/13
carl_123 - Lead rpt - 17/Jun/13
ali macphee - Lead O/S - 17/Jun/13
PeteMc - AltLd - 08/Jun/13 with Tom French
tom0french - AltLd O/S - 08/Jun/13 with Pete McNamee
joscott - 2nd O/S - 08/Jun/13 with Dan Longster
Dan818 - AltLd O/S - 08/Jun/13 with Joanne scott
Hidden - Lead O/S - 01/Jun/13
mutly - AltLd O/S - Jun/13 with Richard Rafma
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 29/May/13
superb - one great pitch after the otherJasonV - AltLd - 25/May/13 with Dale
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 19/May/13
JezH - AltLd O/S - 05/May/13 with Ellie
Great route in Big boots. led P1,3,5. stratandrew - AltLd O/S - 05/May/13 with Colin Maddison
What a contrast to climbing Slanting Buttress on Lliwedd the day before in the soaking wet - even got to break out the rock shoes :) Nice route but ran into traffic so opted for a detour up a nice ar�te then a tricky pitch up a crack and narrow chimney between two roofs. Also opted for the nice steep face to the left of Thomson's Chimney.sebbo - AltLd O/S - 05/May/13 with Grant Brown
Awesome day. 1step2far - 04/May/13
Led P1, 2Julian Prieto - AltLd O/S - 04/May/13 with Lawrence Dudley, Nick Mortley
annastudholme - 04/May/13
Leigh_M - 2nd - 04/May/13 with James, Sarah
Beautiful day and all to ourselves too. ExcellentCheese Monkey - AltLd O/S - 02/May/13 with Chay
Harder than rated grade here. Fantastic weather and great routeguy.paton - 2nd O/S - 01/May/13 with Stuart
Yeknom - AltLd O/S - May/13
Hidden - AltLd - May/13
Traversed left a bit too early to gain the pinnacledavid morse - Lead O/S - 30/Apr/13 with KT
Easy climb, but a grand day out...in the sun!peachos - AltLd O/S - 20/Apr/13 with Graeme
Lead yellow slab directBarrez - AltLd - 19/Apr/13 with Robboj
Robboj - AltLd - 19/Apr/13 with Lee Barr
Valentino - AltLd O/S - 06/Mar/13
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 01/Mar/13
Simul climbed the whole route apart from the last severe pitch, patches of ice and snow around. Climbed in 2 hours, reached the top by half 12. JonnySchofield - Lead O/S - 02/Feb/13 with Tom Adams
Simul climbed it, then pitched the Severe chimneyJay C - AltLd O/S - 02/Feb/13 with Nick E
fuzzysheep01 - Lead O/S - 02/Feb/13 with James O'Sullivan
Hidden - Lead dnf - 02/Feb/13
Hidden - AltLd O/S - Feb/13
Very wintry (snowing). Lots of snow on top few pitches made the climbing implausible. Doubt = adventure.Neil D - AltLd O/S - 13/Jan/13 with Nadeem Rahim
chris ginge - Lead - 2013
Hidden - 2013
TheAndyBarker - 2013
Richard Kinsman - Lead O/S - 2013
dannyevos - 2013 with Steve Swanborough, Rick Clapham
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 24/Nov/12
joem - AltLd O/S - 17/Nov/12
Lead one pitchZara_92 - 2nd - 17/Nov/12 with Joe
Hidden - AltLd dnf - 10/Nov/12
Lead to pitch 4. Had to bail because of conditionsJ.Atkins - Lead dnf - 03/Nov/12
A fab day out. Very cold feet so changed from climbing shoes to walking boots for the second half, which added some spice to the leads. lazzaw - AltLd O/S - 27/Oct/12 with Jason Wilber, Andrew Porter
Climbed with 2 novices in the wet. Bailed out midway through the third pitch. Graded VDiff in the Ground Up guide - felt way harder in the wet.Malpractise - Lead - 20/Oct/12 with Student
razzorbuzz - Lead dnf - 20/Oct/12 with Dougal
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 12/Oct/12
SteveM - Solo - 06/Oct/12
Did in 6 pitches, alt leads with Cormac. Missed out thompsons chimney, not enough time as started the route late. Greasy in places, made for the odd interesting move. Felt harder than diff to me.chrissy - AltLd - 06/Oct/12 with chris, Cormac
Pete_Frost - AltLd O/S - 06/Oct/12 with Dave Pearce
Missed the last chimney due to crowds and wanting to get over to Belle Vue Bastion.Zoomer - AltLd O/S - 22/Sep/12 with George Best
Danhan - Lead O/S - 22/Sep/12 with Johnny, Matt
matthew_soanes - 2nd O/S - 22/Sep/12 with Jonny Wilson, Dan Hancock
Hidden - Lead O/S - 22/Sep/12
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 08/Sep/12
Hidden - 08/Sep/12
Hidden - Lead - 08/Sep/12
reece.robinson - AltLd O/S - 01/Sep/12 with Will Izod, Phil Wallam
helios - AltLd - 01/Sep/12 with Katy Coutts
illwizod - AltLd O/S - 01/Sep/12 with Phil Wallam, Reece Robinson
First long route thanks to Simon and Alex. Avoided Thompsons. Definitely a V. Diff.Epimetheus - 2nd - 26/Aug/12 with Alex RMC, Simon
Dunx - AltLd O/S - 24/Aug/12 with Charlotte Milner, Jezz
With KrishDaveB61 - AltLd - 21/Aug/12 with Krish Dev
Hidden - Lead O/S - 20/Aug/12
Dave led Yellow Slab pitch. Thin, especially as he went up the RHS! I scuttled into the groove ASAP.rohai545 - AltLd - 20/Aug/12 with David Bankart
Simul climbedOlli-C - AltLd O/S - 14/Aug/12 with Rachel Slater
Rachel Slater - AltLd O/S - 14/Aug/12 with Olli Crudge
Missed the Thomson finish so need to go back for the full tickmr_drains - AltLd O/S - 12/Aug/12 with Gareth K, The Defecator
1st multi pitch, 2nd and 5th pitches, nice all the way.pbuggy91 - AltLd O/S - 11/Aug/12
Fragmod - Lead - 11/Aug/12
Led pitches 1 and 4.tsl42 - AltLd O/S - 11/Aug/12 with Pete MUMC, Gaz Hooson
Matt250 - Lead O/S - 11/Aug/12
Hidden - 11/Aug/12
Big boots :)Jams Crwca - Lead O/S - 11/Aug/12 with Aedon, themadbrown
pie_eater_pete - Solo O/S - 09/Aug/12
GDS - 2nd - 06/Aug/12 with simon, maggie
Hidden - Lead O/S - 31/Jul/12
A few bits of the route here- http://youtu.be/gqvDwz16zI8caradoc - AltLd - 29/Jul/12 with john b
Alor_lab - AltLd O/S - 28/Jul/12 with Justina
What a lovely route, clean rock all the way! Thomson's chimney bit slippery tho.MikeB1 - AltLd O/S - 27/Jul/12
Led all pitches, big boots. Thompson's Chimney finishollyroberts - Lead O/S - 24/Jul/12 with Phil Jackson
VDiff in Rockfax. Lead all Pitches, including yellow slab. Too tired for Thomsons chimney.Nick Ashwood - Lead - 21/Jul/12 with Phil Kingston
Hidden - AltLd - 21/Jul/12
Hidden - Lead O/S - 15/Jul/12
First multi-pitch climb. Lead the last pitch, approx 30m. Not a Diff in my opinion. More like a VDiff as per the rockfax guide.Dave McKechnie - AltLd O/S - 15/Jul/12 with Stuart Coupe
Hidden - AltLd rpt - 15/Jul/12
sweet route, bit damp but avoided the rain. last 2 pitches very good value for the grade!Neil Mackenzie - AltLd O/S - 01/Jul/12 with jamsey
Graham Westbrook - AltLd O/S - 30/Jun/12
Big Boots and Big Packs! No stickiesalboy - AltLd O/S - 27/Jun/12 with Jacob Coleman
Chappy - AltLd O/S - 04/Jun/12
seconded entire 6 pitches as my 1st taste of multipitch climbingkell_boy - 2nd O/S - 03/Jun/12
Danny Crump - Lead - 02/Jun/12 with Sarah Pentelow
lukerathmell - Lead - 01/Jun/12 with Rachel Bennett
carl_123 - Lead O/S - 01/Jun/12
philmcf - AltLd O/S - Jun/12
nepsoi999 - AltLd O/S - 26/May/12 with james ware
Great days climbing in perfect weather sunshine, but windyArkel - AltLd O/S - 26/May/12 with Steve Robinson
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 25/May/12
gseywald - AltLd - 21/May/12 with Dave
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 19/May/12
O'sum! Had to do the pinnacle before yellow slab. :)Jams Crwca - AltLd O/S - 13/May/12 with Nia
tcn_2002 - AltLd - 12/May/12
tough day with the lads very coldPaul Troon - Lead - 05/May/12 with Reuben Troon
Darrell Read - Lead O/S - 05/May/12 with Emma Whittaker
Emma Whittaker - 2nd - 05/May/12 with Darrell Read
willieash - May/12 with Rob Sutemire
tomparrott - AltLd - 14/Apr/12 with Len
Hidden - AltLd dnf - 14/Apr/12
P1. Icy hail stopped play.Dr Rorlasaurus - 2nd - 11/Apr/12 with Luke Wolsey
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 28/Mar/12
Great big boot route in the sun, yellow slab was ace & chimney very traditional!monkeyboyraw - Lead O/S - 25/Mar/12
edordead - AltLd dnf - 24/Mar/12
Started in the mist climbed out to a brilliant cloud inversionMayaculpa - AltLd - 13/Mar/12 with Chester
Hidden - AltLd - 09/Mar/12
scott.burf - AltLd O/S - Mar/12
lxg613 - AltLd - Mar/12 with bryony weathers
Hidden - 2nd - Mar/12
gw3285 - Lead - 25/Feb/12
Hidden - 2nd - 25/Feb/12
Ben0591 - AltLd O/S - 23/Feb/12 with Oliver Grant
ojgrant - Lead O/S - 23/Feb/12 with Nick Watt
Hidden - Lead dnf - 20/Feb/12
Hidden - 16/Jan/12
Hidden - 2012
Darron - 2012
mike kann - 2012
TheAndyBarker - 2012
goadventure1 - 2012
matt perks - 2012
Stone Idol - 2012
petecox84 - 2012
Hidden - Lead - 2012
In 6 pitches, I led the even ones. A bit chilly in the wind, but great fun anyway, consistently good climbing throughout. Seemed as hard as the VDiff classics.Simon Caldwell - AltLd O/S - 20/Nov/11 with Carmen
Lead to fourth pitch before retreating due to lightDelroyb - Lead dnf - 20/Nov/11
Climbing as two simultaneous groups of a 2 and a 3. Got to top of pitch 3 before retreating due to cold.Matt Smith - Lead O/S - 20/Nov/11 with Lawrence Butcher, Martin Scott, Jen Jones, Emily Lambourne
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 20/Nov/11
missxandrabee - 2nd O/S - 05/Nov/11 with TimCul
Hidden - AltLd - 30/Oct/11
Got one pitch off top but abseiled down due to torrential rain and deteriorating light conditions. Ross.Cooper - AltLd dnf - 29/Oct/11 with Harry Thorpe
jamestaylor92 - AltLd O/S - 22/Oct/11 with tom morgan
Skipped TC finish as running out of time. Tricky scramble back down to the bottom in the dark with head torches.Boran - AltLd O/S - 16/Oct/11 with Neil
4 pitchescjb1992 - Lead O/S - Oct/11 with Elena
callum brown - AltLd O/S - Oct/11 with Jack Reed
Lots of rain and complete white out after pitch 3melmyo - 2nd O/S - 09/Sep/11
Complete white outMilesHickey - Lead O/S - 08/Sep/11 with melmyo
0ddba11 - AltLd - Sep/11
bede.west - AltLd O/S - Sep/11
shavec - AltLd O/S - 29/Aug/11
SOPPING wet, made it 2.5 pitches in the pouring rain, and abbed off :(Trosie1 - AltLd - 28/Aug/11
Soloed P1, Bird P3&5, Me 2,4,6. Too much of the route felt like scrambling. Think we must have gone a bit off track as P4 didn't have anything S4a about it. The Chimney at the top posed the biggest challenge (aside from the walk-in). treg - AltLd O/S - 23/Aug/11 with Bird
Extraordinarily wet! Went a little off route at one point but recovered it. Would have been an amazing route if it wasn't for the rain.marcb - Lead O/S - 21/Aug/11 with Zoë Ross
zhross - 2nd O/S - 21/Aug/11 with Marc Baldwin
Climbed in classic welsh downpoarGrahamHP - Lead - 20/Aug/11 with Michael Loughran
Continuos rain and very gust top but very enjoyable!Mick Loughran - 2nd - 20/Aug/11
chubbyclimber - AltLd - 20/Aug/11 with Gavin
Missed off the Chimney pitch as the weather turned.Alex Thompson - AltLd O/S - 18/Aug/11 with Jon Thompson
Draper - Lead O/S - 14/Aug/11
Big Bad Bob - AltLd - 08/Aug/11
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 05/Aug/11
Hidden - AltLd - 30/Jul/11
Nexonen - AltLd O/S - 30/Jul/11 with Jenny, Huw
robhorton - AltLd - 30/Jul/11 with Katrina Trew
jonleighton - AltLd - 23/Jul/11
ebastock - 2nd - 10/Jul/11 with John Beddard
(1&4)Very enjoyable, climbed with daysacks, went straight up rather than traversing over yellow slab, last 30m easy going so soloed it to avoid the midges.paulerussell - AltLd O/S - 09/Jul/11 with Matia Mallia, Oliver
matiamallia - AltLd - 09/Jul/11 with paulerussell
led 1,3,6AndyMcCoy - AltLd - 09/Jul/11 with Bobby
Bobbyonrock - AltLd - 09/Jul/11 with AndyMcCoy
with Ben. More consistent than Grooved Arete. found booty on the climbSimonfarfaraway - AltLd - 02/Jul/11 with Ben
Little B - AltLd rpt - 02/Jul/11 with Simon
magik_bob - Lead - Jul/11
A good multipitch but be aware of the VS move!STWright - AltLd O/S - Jul/11
Dan Geh - AltLd O/S - 28/Jun/11 with Thomas Geh
tgeh - AltLd O/S - 28/Jun/11 with dan geh
Including the 'Thomson's Chimney (severe)' finish.Matt Poole - Lead O/S - 26/Jun/11
jack.williams1 - 2nd - 26/Jun/11
5 pitch steady climbing. Wet and greasy unfortunately but with a nice Severe twist on yellow slab. Mark won't let me live it down that he took my daysack while I led this pitch. Dan led up the stinking chimney as did mark. We reluctantly followed. Good mountain route.wishicud climbHVS - AltLd O/S - 25/Jun/11 with Ash Crazy fool Green, Emmit the boss Andrews, Mark glass back Hawkins, Big Fat Dan
did yellow slab and the chimney finish. had to drag my mates bag up yellow slab as he would have REALLY struggled up otherwise, plus this might have made him too weak to do the very wet and slippery chimny finish. great route.hawkins321 - AltLd O/S - 25/Jun/11 with ash, tosh/chalky
pretty average the only cheeky bit being the slimy chimney crack at the top (S)bigdan050 - AltLd - 25/Jun/11 with emmit
An amazing day, done in 5 pitches. Great weather.frankcp87 - AltLd O/S - 11/Jun/11 with James Clarke
jjclarke70 - AltLd O/S - 11/Jun/11 with Frank
jon59 - Lead - 05/Jun/11
stevev - 2nd - 04/Jun/11
Burty21 - AltLd O/S - 03/Jun/11 with Tom parkin
TRFrost - Solo O/S - 03/Jun/11 with N. Price, N. Howett
Hidden - Solo rpt - 03/Jun/11
np134 - Solo O/S - 03/Jun/11 with T. Frost, N. Howett
Will have to come back for Thomson's chimney, pretty tired by thenAndysomething - AltLd O/S - 19/May/11 with Bruce Perry
Hidden - Lead rpt - 18/May/11
Weather came in and looked ominous so finished after 3rd pitch...lizzyb - Solo dnf - 16/May/11 with Dan Broughton
With Thompson's Chimney (S) as finish. Straightfwd route, easy route finding, and good rock.... TC on the other hand was 'interesting'....richardadventurecafe - Lead - 06/May/11 with Nick Gray
yellow slab is excellent fun - the rest is diff at most, apart from the chimney which i thought quite tough for Slithos - AltLd - 02/May/11
nick ferro - Lead - 02/May/11
Moved togetherPete Rigby - 01/May/11 with Jim Tan
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 01/May/11
hairy51 - AltLd β - May/11 with Ben Axford
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 30/Apr/11
jossjones - Lead dnf - 29/Apr/11
1st route of the day. V good! did GC and GA after.JonHarvey - AltLd O/S - 27/Apr/11 with Michael Maben
did the 4a/b picth tooal123 - Solo O/S - 25/Apr/11
Traversed across to do Yellow Slab and finished up Thompson's Chimney. Great day out, mysteriously quiet for a bank holiday - had the route to ourselves bar one soloist.stemill - Lead - 25/Apr/11 with Matt
rustaldo - Lead O/S - 24/Apr/11 with Clement, Jack
Pitches, 2, 4, 6. Need to learn to start earlier. Decent with head torches :/ Good fun climbing.jack89 - AltLd O/S - 24/Apr/11 with gaz_jones
jandyd05 - Lead O/S - 24/Apr/11 with Julie Anglesea
Kevster - AltLd O/S - 23/Apr/11
georgenvk - Lead O/S - 16/Apr/11 with martina
with Ed and Andy as second pair. dry, misty start, cleared to sunny pm. me P 1&3 + Thomson's Chimney, Nick 2&4 superb, TC was highlight. wilf - AltLd O/S - 16/Apr/11 with nick f
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 14/Apr/11
Moving togethorlrandall - AltLd - 14/Apr/11 with Rob Liley
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 12/Apr/11
Hidden - Lead O/S - 12/Apr/11
Dafydd Llywelyn - Lead O/S - 09/Apr/11 with Clive Stevens
Clivest - 2nd - 09/Apr/11 with Dafydd Llywelyn
mark_jc - Apr/11
davidjreynolds2009 - Apr/11
Hidden - Lead dnf - 26/Mar/11
Moving together, nice route, great day. Noodles - 23/Mar/11 with Alan "HW" Campton, Ben Cook
Hidden - AltLd - 23/Mar/11
sthame - AltLd O/S - 14/Mar/11 with Oliver Porter
gseywald - AltLd - 08/Mar/11 with Dave
Hidden - AltLd - 05/Mar/11
moved togethercoombs - AltLd O/S - 05/Mar/11
Sarah Harri - 2nd O/S - 05/Mar/11 with Will Gann, Sarah Rixham
Little AndyH - Lead O/S - 05/Mar/11
Gerallt Owain - AltLd O/S - 04/Mar/11 with Steve Chapman
stevechaps1 - AltLd - 04/Mar/11 with Gerallt Owain
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 12/Feb/11
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 12/Feb/11
mountainpunk - 2nd - 12/Feb/11 with Joe, Rich
31770 - 2011
Hidden - 2011
Rory Shaw - 2011
birdie num num - 2011
Swirly - 2011
rurp - Lead - 2011
bullybones - 2011
Tobias at Home - 2011
Hidden - Solo - 2011
Bobbyonrock - 2011
Neil the monkey - 2011
j.buckley87 - Lead O/S - 2011
djromberg - 2011
blakey - Lead - 2011
very greasy. moved together most of the time. climbed bare handed, got hotachesjcook1980 - 2nd O/S - 30/Dec/10 with Dan Walker
Chris Redding - 2nd - 14/Nov/10 with Neil Howett
Hidden - Lead O/S - 13/Nov/10
Hidden - Lead dnf - 30/Oct/10
Hidden - Solo O/S - 30/Oct/10
Hidden - Lead O/S - 25/Oct/10
Chimneys - ughh!Hexman - Lead O/S - 20/Oct/10
Lead pitches 1, 3 and 5tomprestwich - AltLd - 16/Oct/10
Really enjoyed this climb, did it in excellent sunny conditions. Possibly got a little lost because we seemed to end up below thompson chimney without traversing to the top of yellow slab!!flapjack_franky - Lead O/S - 13/Oct/10 with Dave Franklin
Great climb, knackered by the top!Dave Franklin - 2nd rpt - 13/Oct/10 with richard franklin
Darrell Read - 10/Oct/10 with Simon Hall
Hidden - 10/Oct/10
funkyvin1 - Lead O/S - Oct/10
Hidden - AltLd - 26/Sep/10
bullethead - AltLd O/S - 25/Sep/10 with Richard Yorke, Matt Howe
frost - Solo - 22/Sep/10 with D Almond
frost - AltLd - 16/Sep/10 with D Almond
malstewart - Lead - 09/Sep/10
frost - Solo - 06/Sep/10
Straightforward day out in the mountains. Only bit I wouldn't solo is Thompson's Chimney at Severe.clipskipper - AltLd O/S - 03/Sep/10 with Dan Harris
dansmonkeytroubles - AltLd β - 03/Sep/10 with clipskipper
vertically_challenged - AltLd O/S - 03/Sep/10
Pete led. Had rest at bottom of Yellow Slab which felt harder than Severe but gets easier once you reach the crack.jogwen - 2nd dog - 22/Aug/10 with p walker, Stephen Paulger
Hidden - Lead β - 22/Aug/10
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 22/Aug/10
The better of the two Pinnacle Ribs, but the yellow slab is the best of both. Considered the ' Severe arete continuation from the ledge to the right of the pinnacle' as described in latest guide, but hollow looking and sounding rock made up my mind to follow the standard route as described.D Berry - Solo O/S - 21/Aug/10
Good multi pitch, climbed in walking shoes, alpine style, only used about 5 bits of gear on the entire climb, met some good lads from the Midlands on Yellow slab, we had a good laugh on this climb.gd303uk - AltLd O/S - 21/Aug/10 with Erwin Neudorfer
texuspete - AltLd - 21/Aug/10 with Charles Clay, Rob Pontefract
qJoeq - 2nd - 16/Aug/10
tubby Tez - 2nd O/S - 16/Aug/10 with daddybear2004
Hidden - Lead - 15/Aug/10
Good day out, our 2 teams overtook a very slow party of 3. Easy to do as the terrain makes it possible to vary the route. A the top of Yellow slab ledge, dropped down to retrieve a piece of dropped gear and found a nice crack at about Severe grade above a grassy ledge. Topped out to full sun. Great day with great company!Joss - Lead - 15/Aug/10 with Neil Finch, Colin Anderson, Rod Lloyd Jones
nice long mountain route ,nothing too difficult .the slab pitch, by far the best pitch with a nice hand jam move at the top,scrambled up to the summit emerging between adam and eve on wales' best mountain .climbed with nice guy rod.,teamed up with the A-TEAM,joss and neil.Super climb on a beautiful day ....do it !colina - AltLd - 15/Aug/10 with rod
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 09/Aug/10
big boots, rucksack, little protection needed. Charlotte got the 'Cadbury Flake' pitchedmitchell - AltLd β - 08/Aug/10 with charlotte goedvolk, kate henderson
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 08/Aug/10
superdiamondgeezer - Lead O/S - 07/Aug/10
igneouscarl - AltLd O/S - 01/Aug/10
Hidden - AltLd - 01/Aug/10
hevloz - AltLd - 31/Jul/10 with joe
method - AltLd O/S - 17/Jul/10 with graham
Hidden - Lead O/S - 10/Jul/10
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 03/Jul/10
Awesome Mtn route for a VDiff - grunt tactics up the chimney. Climbed Yellow Slab direct at Saged_ape - Lead O/S - 03/Jul/10 with James Tish
callumd - Lead O/S - 03/Jul/10 with Gemma
midnitegem - 2nd O/S - 03/Jul/10 with Callum
Luke Brooks - Jul/10
Went off route on the towards the end to try and avoid queuing. DaveWarren - AltLd O/S - 26/Jun/10 with Jamie
1st ever multi pitch for Hayles and I ..... awesome. Another party member had a near miss with a massive loose boulder thoughSparrowmonkey - AltLd - 26/Jun/10 with Hayle snail trail
First multi-pitch lead!Hayles - AltLd - 26/Jun/10 with Jo Wheatley
Ander - AltLd - 26/Jun/10 with Jimb0
Jimb0 - AltLd - 26/Jun/10 with Ander
Hidden - AltLd - 19/Jun/10
HIGHTOWER - AltLd O/S - 14/Jun/10 with Graham Kelshore, Andy Woolston
Peter Holder - AltLd O/S - 02/Jun/10 with James Dunn
peter myers - AltLd - Jun/10
BennoC - Lead O/S - 30/May/10 with Bruno
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 30/May/10
the rec - Lead rpt - 22/May/10 with Jules
Really fabulous climbing :) Soloed whilst supporting Claire & Noelle as they swung leads. We didn't take nearly enough water for a long route on a baking hot day! In rock boots, carrying rucksack. Took 10 hrs car-to-carNick Smith - UKC - Solo O/S - 21/May/10
Hidden - AltLd - 17/May/10
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 16/May/10
idbarr - 09/May/10
tallan9 - Lead - 08/May/10
Hidden - Lead O/S - 03/May/10
Hidden - Solo O/S - 02/May/10
Hidden - 2nd β - 01/May/10
Hidden - 2nd - May/10
tradguy - AltLd O/S - 27/Apr/10 with Ed Lamb
ed_1973 - AltLd - 27/Apr/10 with paul highams
Hidden - 26/Apr/10
got the slab and chimney this time... Awesome weather - great day!andy dunn - AltLd rpt - 24/Apr/10 with Alan
MikaelW - AltLd O/S - 18/Apr/10 with gareth, Jo, Dan
Hidden - AltLd rpt - 17/Apr/10
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 17/Apr/10
First big mountain route. Me P1, P3 & P5. Last two were scrambles, placed 3 bits of gear on each. Danny P2, P4 (Yellow Slab) & P6 (Thompsons Chimney). Disappointed that it finished about 10m short of Adam and Eve.hellboundblr - AltLd - 17/Apr/10 with Danny Smudge
PhilR - AltLd - 17/Apr/10 with Kylie
kylieo - AltLd - 17/Apr/10 with Phil
A wicked day led to an epic view Law22 - Lead O/S - 16/Apr/10
Perfect conditions (sunny and dry). Climbed as a three with Hannah. Nice trad style, finished with Thomsons Chimney (really glad we decided to go for it) which has some classic moves. A bit dauting as a last pitch of the day but a lot of fun in good conditions.BB1 - 2nd - 11/Apr/10 with Ken Applegate
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 11/Apr/10
Doug Hughes - AltLd O/S - 11/Apr/10 with Paul
Intro to multi-pitch climbing with Bridgette & Hannah.Ken Applegate - Lead - 11/Apr/10 with Hannah, Bridgette
Also took in Thompson's Chimney at top of route - graded severe but lived up to the struggle referred to in the guide book!Briwi - Lead O/S - 10/Apr/10
LRB - 2nd - 10/Apr/10 with Mike Gray
simonward - Lead O/S - 10/Apr/10
MontyH - Lead O/S - 09/Apr/10 with Paul Milton
hamishjfk - AltLd - 09/Apr/10
liam 22 - Lead O/S - Apr/10
Hidden - AltLd - Apr/10
MontyH - AltLd - Apr/10 with Paul Milton
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 28/Mar/10
theycallmefrodo - AltLd - 28/Mar/10 with Craig Garfield
Ice & snow on route getting worse the higher we climbed. Whole route wet and slippy. Decided to abseiled out just before yellow slab. Martyn - Lead O/S - Mar/10 with Mark Albutt
alancash100 - AltLd - 2010
Hidden - 2010
edpd1b - 2010 with Kelly Hillyer
kyle - Lead O/S - 2010
crag_monster - 2010 with murphydave
hmngarh - AltLd - 2010
philw - 2010
Hidden - Lead - 2010
Rob Evans - Lead O/S - 2010
Hidden - Lead O/S - 2010
cpt_crunch - 2010
deejmonkey - AltLd O/S - 22/Oct/09
Hidden - AltLd - 17/Oct/09
Simonj - AltLd O/S - 17/Oct/09 with james
henbot - AltLd - 12/Oct/09 with Duncan
crag_monster - AltLd - Oct/09 with murphydave
mol - Lead - 26/Sep/09 with Nadine Smith
Did yellow wall, making this a severee.thecurlyone - Lead O/S - 21/Sep/09 with Mike
Led pitches 1,2 and 3climbing_wiggy - AltLd O/S - 21/Sep/09 with Matty, Sig
Jess Christley - AltLd - 20/Sep/09 with Lucy Rouse
not much more than a scramble, but more fun can be had aroung the route tackling harder lines, made more challenging by carying a day sack.Webster - AltLd O/S - 13/Sep/09
Flash29 - AltLd O/S - 13/Sep/09
alek - AltLd O/S - 12/Sep/09 with Julia Robson
Led P1,3,4. Very nice route, weather closed in on last pitch, skipped the chimneyWhatlarks - AltLd O/S - 06/Sep/09
First five pitches, getting dark and the final chimney looked hard and like it would take time. Its on the list for when we do first pinnicle rib. Done the chimney 18/10/10 family honour restored!emlynroberts - AltLd - 05/Sep/09 with S A Jones
lucy rouse - AltLd - Sep/09 with Jess Christley
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 22/Aug/09
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 09/Aug/09
Simul climbed Alpine style in 1hrbridget143 - 2nd O/S - 08/Aug/09 with Sion
Avoided the traverse across to Yellow Sab- kept going straight up rib/ridge which gave a good logical way up the face.Tom refused to do Thompsons Chimney finish !bobpilgrem - Lead O/S - 07/Aug/09 with Bob/Tom
tompilgrem - 2nd O/S - 07/Aug/09 with Dad
Alt leads with RC and I got the Chimney finishChrisJD - AltLd - 07/Aug/09 with Jackson, rc
wheelo - AltLd - 02/Aug/09 with Jo
Hidden - Lead - 15/Jul/09
Hidden - Lead O/S - Jul/09
Thoroughly enjoyable day out in the sunshine, climbed with big boots and backpacks. hairy51 - AltLd O/S - Jul/09
very nice day, very hot,Lead both Yellow slab and Thomson's Chimney. a lovely climb.katie75 - AltLd O/S - 28/Jun/09 with dan
Hidden - 2nd - 23/Jun/09
Templeton Adams - Lead - 23/Jun/09 with Darren H
leon - Lead - 21/Jun/09 with Tim Roberts
lead all but one pitch did Thomson's chimney finishGraeme Hammond - AltLd - 23/May/09 with Jools
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 06/May/09
Bit wet but hey, it beats revision!!smallerrich - AltLd O/S - 05/May/09 with will n
amstel - Lead - May/09 with Anna
Christian Beck - Solo O/S - May/09
stevemcg - AltLd - 26/Apr/09 with James
Led 2nd & 4th pitches. Climbed Thomson's Chimney (severe) at the end.James_L88 - AltLd O/S - 26/Apr/09 with Steve McGill
wheelo - AltLd - 18/Apr/09 with cas
only led first pitch Renegade_Pony - AltLd - 13/Apr/09 with Ewan Brown
benchwarmer - AltLd - 13/Apr/09 with Justina
My first mountain route. I lead the 3rd and last chimney pitch in glorious sunshine. An unforgetable daySouljah - AltLd - 12/Apr/09 with Chris and Shaun
Hidden - Lead - 12/Apr/09
Led Yellow slabs and Thomsons Chimney Warren Earle - AltLd O/S - 12/Apr/09 with Nev
Hidden - Lead O/S - 04/Apr/09
Lizard - AltLd O/S - Apr/09 with Tim Roberts, Leon Skeldon
monkey1 - Lead O/S - 21/Mar/09
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 21/Mar/09
Excellent route. Crux pitch (Yellow slab) felt quite hard for the grade and I wouldn't want to try it in big boots, but perhaps I am soft. Very safe to climb though because if you fell off before getting any gear in, you would hit the pinnacle instead of falling to the bottom. Tip top!Jon Dittman - Solo - 14/Mar/09
Hidden - 2nd - 14/Mar/09
melonmike - AltLd - Mar/09 with Luke Hunt
Solid Mistedpd1b - AltLd - 24/Feb/09 with Andy Miller
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 21/Feb/09
Rob84 - Solo O/S - 20/Feb/09
Neil Metcalfe101 - 2nd - 03/Jan/09 with andy chapman & John (treeminkies).
treeminkies - 2nd - 03/Jan/09 with neil and andy
John30587 - 2009
keith leonard - 2009
Hidden - Lead O/S - 2009
wilkie14c - 2009
innesmac - 2009
TomWebber - AltLd - 29/Nov/08 with Tom Dudley
tdudley - AltLd - 29/Nov/08 with Tom Webber
Bit too brocken to be a classic. Nice route though.Hardonicus - Lead O/S - 16/Nov/08
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 26/Oct/08
treehugger42 - 2nd O/S - Oct/08
stooby - AltLd O/S - 27/Sep/08 with Mark & Ulla
andy16 - AltLd O/S - 26/Sep/08 with Steven
Thomson's chimney is a bit of a struggle at the end of the day. Also, Yellow slabs is a good change of pace. Decent afternoon out.jimorothy - AltLd - 21/Sep/08 with Rachel Crolla
Hidden - Lead O/S - 20/Sep/08
thompson1000 - AltLd - 20/Sep/08
Hidden - AltLd - Sep/08
Hidden - AltLd O/S - Sep/08
wildbill - AltLd O/S - Sep/08 with Little Jamie
vincentvega - AltLd - 23/Aug/08 with danny robb
Hidden - Lead O/S - 23/Aug/08
Hidden - AltLd - 23/Aug/08
Hidden - 2nd - 07/Aug/08
Ian_Whitfield - AltLd O/S - Aug/08 with Whitty2012
Hidden - Lead O/S - 27/Jul/08
Another James - AltLd O/S - 20/Jul/08 with Mandy T, Jon P
Hidden - Lead O/S - 20/Jul/08
Hidden - Lead O/S - 19/Jul/08
jason - AltLd - 19/Jul/08 with wigley
Hidden - 2nd - 19/Jul/08
Bex_M - AltLd O/S - 13/Jul/08 with Ewan Buckingham
Hidden - Jul/08
mariannekhoo - 2nd O/S - Jul/08 with Jack Delaney
Climb as a three with Col & Bob. Led all pitches.moose ridd - Lead - 28/Jun/08 with C.Steel
Hidden - 2nd - 28/Jun/08
Hidden - Lead O/S - 25/Jun/08
My first multipitch (I think?) SaraKaikk - 2nd - 25/Jun/08 with James Rushforth
danleyden - AltLd O/S - 16/Jun/08 with Jenny James
Jennyjames - AltLd - 16/Jun/08 with Dan
the rec - Lead O/S - 14/Jun/08 with Sarah
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 14/Jun/08
did yellow slab too...crackin!donkster - Lead O/S - 14/Jun/08 with DaveNW
Katie86 - AltLd O/S - 07/Jun/08 with Mark
Jacob Ram - Lead - 04/Jun/08 with Micheal Kemp
popov86 - AltLd - 01/Jun/08
CharlotteJelleyman - AltLd O/S - 20/May/08 with Jill Reinsch
awh18awh - AltLd O/S - 15/May/08 with Will
Led P2,4. Didn't do Thompson's Chimney, just after we put the rope away the heavens opened!mitch - AltLd - 11/May/08 with Deirdre Ninaber
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 11/May/08
Superb weatherdavefount - Lead O/S - 05/May/08 with Jenny and Andrea
Strange little creature - AltLd O/S - May/08 with David Little
Claire S-J - AltLd - May/08
givemetea - AltLd O/S - 03/Apr/08 with Ann Chong
Hidden - 2nd O/S - Apr/08
climbed in the wet.gareth scott borthwick - AltLd O/S - 24/Feb/08 with Heddwyn Fletcher
dougross - AltLd O/S - 01/Jan/08 with Paul
mr rob - 2008
guy stabler - 2008
lazydaizy24 - 2008
Hidden - 2008
Nick Rundall - AltLd O/S - 2008
Hawkscry - 2008
wupert - 2008
Wayne S - 2008 with Jon Croxford
Hidden - 30/Dec/07
A fantastic day brilliant sunshine, little wind. weather had been very cold over the previous two nights. Proposed to Cath at the bottom of yelow slab, said she should not answer until we were at Adam and Eve, she accepted between them. Was also mike's 40th birthday,John HW - AltLd - 21/Dec/07 with Cath
Calder - AltLd O/S - 23/Oct/07 with Dave
tom_1985 - AltLd - 20/Oct/07 with Martin Lane
leonjones - AltLd - 13/Oct/07 with Tim Bucknall
pepperpot - AltLd O/S - 07/Oct/07
Hidden - AltLd O/S - Oct/07
easy route, not too much 'real' climbing. topped out on the VS route which was a nice finish to the route.davesimpson - AltLd O/S - Oct/07 with Dean Russel
Hidden - AltLd - Oct/07
FrankW - Lead O/S - 26/Aug/07 with Laura
Trainered and linked pitches 1 and 2, and 3 and 4. Marked in North Wales Rock as Vdiff/S (using the S chimney at the top rather than aborting out to the scramble finish. Did an interesting severe variation for the final pitch by taking the rising flake line to the left of the chimney to avoid traffic - very enjoyable.ChalkBall - AltLd O/S - 25/Aug/07 with David Hunnisett
Bristoldave - Lead O/S - Aug/07 with Helen
First big multi pitch climb. Avoided Slab, didn't have enough mini nuts.blackpoolrock - Lead O/S - Aug/07
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 30/Jul/07
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 29/Jul/07
canis cibo - Lead O/S - 28/Jul/07
phil stubbs - AltLd - 27/Jul/07 with liz baldock
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 18/Jul/07
Lead S pitchdanjackson88 - AltLd O/S - Jul/07 with Stuart Jackson
Dave Searle - Solo - 17/Jun/07
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 05/Jun/07
ClassicHetley - Lead O/S - 05/Jun/07 with John-Jos Marris-Style
DOne in big boots with a harder variation up a sharp flaky arete. Good fun.Monk - Lead O/S - 02/Jun/07 with Simon
peter myers - AltLd O/S - Jun/07 with Tom Sylvester
flytzen - Lead - 27/May/07 with Jon Oakes
Had a delayed start as queing due to bank hols and another climber had fallen off so mountain rescue had to get him. Great climb, especially pitch 2 which feels exposed but plenty of pro all the way.flytzen - Lead O/S - 26/May/07 with Jon Oakes
Proper first pinnacle rib route this time!edmitchell - AltLd O/S - 19/May/07 with kai ren
daviesp2 - AltLd - 11/May/07
Hidden - Lead - 11/May/07
yellow wallEwan Russell - AltLd O/S - 05/May/07 with Mike(dad)+fraser
Hidden - 2nd O/S - May/07
monkeyjumper - Lead - May/07
Hidden - Lead - May/07
edmitchell - AltLd O/S - May/07 with kai ren
adi bryant - Solo - 19/Apr/07
tommo1664 - 2nd - 17/Apr/07 with Dan Jouan
Richie Rich - AltLd O/S - 14/Apr/07 with Pete Colley
Theeni - AltLd O/S - 14/Apr/07
tobydunford - Solo O/S - 13/Apr/07
Hidden - Solo O/S - 12/Apr/07
jl - Lead O/S - 07/Apr/07 with Penny
pennyb - 2nd O/S - 07/Apr/07 with Jon
mooseloose - AltLd O/S - 07/Apr/07 with Alan Rocky Roberts
edmitchell - AltLd O/S - 01/Apr/07 with kai ren
Hidden - AltLd O/S - Apr/07
Hidden - AltLd - 31/Mar/07
Skell - Lead O/S - Mar/07 with Sian
brighters - 2007
Brian Rodgers - AltLd O/S - 2007
fran04 - Lead - 2007
fran04 - AltLd - 2007
climber sim - 2007
Sean Kelly - 2007
timmy-ts - 2007
Lloyders - Lead O/S - 2007
gregoldridge - Lead O/S - 2007 with Steve Cadogan
tumbling wizard - Lead - 2007
John Roberts (JR) - Lead - 2007
innesmac - 2007
Ian Andrews - AltLd O/S - 2007 with Pete Williams, Martin Worthy, Fran Gowling
Undergraded struggle is pretty accurate for the final chimney pitch. Great route all told (and my first proper mountain one too!) Lead 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th pitches (we did it in 6)whiting.jp - AltLd O/S - 04/Nov/06 with Guillamie
Sheets of rain and hail up top. Templeton Adams - AltLd - Nov/06 with sherp
Hidden - AltLd - 28/Oct/06
Dave Searle - Lead O/S - 16/Oct/06 with soph
J R R Hartley - AltLd O/S - 14/Oct/06 with Pete Beasley
Keith Jones - AltLd - 28/Sep/06 with Martin, David
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 10/Sep/06
keith robo - AltLd O/S - 10/Sep/06 with James Gerrie/Gareth Pierce
A Crook - AltLd O/S - 10/Sep/06 with Dom Stockton
jonathannewth - AltLd O/S - 09/Sep/06 with Jon G
beegsyboy - AltLd O/S - 04/Sep/06 with Eccie + Lewis
Neil Mackenzie - AltLd O/S - 04/Sep/06 with Tim + Lewis
lewisl - AltLd O/S - 04/Sep/06 with Tim and Bell
davidjm - AltLd O/S - Sep/06 with Ian G
Jeremy Wilton - AltLd - 29/Aug/06 with Andreas Afseth, Neil Marklew
cat22 - AltLd O/S - Aug/06 with Mike
Phil Jennings - AltLd O/S - 03/Jun/06 with Pete Jennings
Dave Wearing - AltLd O/S - 02/Jun/06 with Julia Wilson, Mike Knight.
Hidden - AltLd rpt - Jun/06
aturner99 - AltLd - 29/May/06 with P Manuel
Joss - AltLd O/S - 07/May/06 with Wayne Hughes
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 06/May/06
broc - Lead O/S - 05/May/06 with Sarah
Hidden - AltLd O/S - May/06
Super weather and a good route. I led in my winter boots and struggled as it was the first time I'd climbed in them. Lots of scrabbling. Nicky bimbled up quite happily. We were on the climb for 5 hours ish. Topping out at Adam and Eve was great, as was the curving flakes pitch. Joyce - Lead O/S - 29/Apr/06 with Nicky P
Ian McNeill - 2006
mikelaing - 2006
Hidden - AltLd - 2006
Hidden - 2006
Allan Young - 2nd O/S - 23/Oct/05 with Paul Sambrooks, Jonathan Bode-Hey
Nicos - Solo O/S - 01/Sep/05 with solo
Hidden - Lead - Sep/05
With VS 4C finish.ritchierich - AltLd - 07/Aug/05 with Jim Williams
Hidden - AltLd O/S - May/05
cliffy - AltLd O/S - 2005 with Paul Ness
Rhian Wood - 2005
size9hex - AltLd O/S - 2005 with Ian Whitney
Hidden - Lead O/S - 2005
Hidden - AltLd - 2005
Steve Lenartowicz - 2005 with Clare
LakesWinter - 2nd - Aug/04 with Cake
Cake - Lead - Aug/04 with Matt
victim of mathematics - AltLd O/S - 10/May/04 with Cornish Merlin
Cornish Merlin - AltLd - 10/May/04 with Colin Angus
DerwentDiluted - Lead - May/04 with Nicola Pettit
orb - AltLd O/S - May/04 with Phil Worgan
BALD EAGLE - Lead - 07/Mar/04 with Steve Green
paul m hadley - 2004
lukewilliams - 2nd - 2004
Hidden - Lead O/S - Jul/03
unfit - AltLd - 29/Apr/03 with john N
SteveM - Lead - 06/Apr/03 with Bekhs
Nick Beckett - AltLd - 2003
danieljmarsh - 2003
donkster - AltLd O/S - 2003 with trigg
marcoleptic - Lead O/S - 2003 with Canadian Jeff
The Bad Cough - AltLd O/S - 13/Oct/02 with Paul Beacall
Whealiebob - AltLd O/S - 02/Aug/02 with Stee
BigToe - AltLd - 02/Aug/02 with Whealiebob
Moved together.Gman - AltLd O/S - Aug/02 with Ed
John HW - AltLd O/S - 17/Jun/02 with Cath
shaun walby - AltLd O/S - Jun/02
Martyn - Lead O/S - Jun/02 with Shaun Hodgkins
Paul-Michael - AltLd O/S - 19/Jan/02 with Diccon Proctor, Paul Nurse
Hidden - AltLd - 27/Oct/01
Led p1, 3, 5 of the pinnacle rib. Syd led the others and also thomson's chimney at the top (far harder)Alaric - AltLd O/S - 13/Oct/01 with Syd F
Snowing from half way up. Gregs first multipitcharose - Lead - Oct/01
gripped01 - Lead O/S - Sep/01 with Andy Davies
Marq - AltLd O/S - 05/Aug/01 with Alex Jefferies, Rich Cole
Sam and will - 2nd - 04/Aug/01 with Anthony Bennett
John Marsland - Solo - 30/Jul/01
big - 10/Jun/01
Hidden - 2001
Hidden - AltLd O/S - Nov/00
Hidden - Lead O/S - Oct/00
Hidden - AltLd - 23/Jul/00
Mike_T0501 - AltLd O/S - 23/Jul/00
Little B - Lead O/S - 21/May/00
Hidden - 2000
bullybones - 2000
runestone - 2000
petegunn - AltLd - 11/Aug/99 with Ross Cooper
timjones - Lead O/S - 01/Aug/99 with Warwick Hadley, Adeline Jones
Howard J - 2nd - 16/May/99 with John Waterhouse
Brazzer - 2nd O/S - May/99 with Ben Tufnell
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 20/Feb/99
aged_ape - AltLd O/S - 1999 with Matt O
Tarquin - 1999
Rog Wilko - Lead - Jun/98 with Debbie Wilkinson
Hidden - Lead O/S - May/98
Dave Toseland - Lead O/S - 1998 with Huw
Hidden - Lead dnf - 27/Oct/97
Climbed in big boots. Very wet day. Ate lunch as it snowed on the summit - midsummer's day.Bilbo - 2nd - 21/Jul/97 with Steve
Hidden - AltLd O/S - Jul/97
timreynolds - AltLd - 13/Jun/97 with Sean Corbett
andyfeds - AltLd - May/97 with Penny H, Mike H, Andy C
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 08/Feb/97
barney@helmshore - AltLd O/S - 09/Aug/96 with G Edwards
Hidden - Lead - 03/Aug/96
Good fun.Babika - AltLd - Nov/95 with Staurt Baggs
Hidden - AltLd - Aug/95
sixties - 25/May/95 with hrd
JiveWeasel - AltLd - 19/Mar/95 with Kristina S
Ian Robertson - AltLd - 1995 with Krystina Lotoczko
Budge - AltLd O/S - 1995 with Richard Teed
Have done this route many times, with many partners.Fiskavaig - AltLd - 1995 with Paul R
Ian Archer - Lead - 13/Aug/94 with James Leavy
stokienomad - 1994
Hidden - AltLd - 22/Sep/93
Hidden - Lead - 27/Apr/93
Hidden - AltLd - 30/Oct/92
kato'sdad - Solo - 01/Jul/92 with Bear Sports
WB - Solo O/S - 1992
Hidden - Solo - Aug/90
Hidden - AltLd O/S - 01/Jun/90
JamieAyres - Lead O/S - Jun/90 with Jude Ayres
scree - Oct/87
Yourlead - AltLd - Oct/87 with Harvey, John Sellers
Backinthegame - AltLd - Jun/86
Ian Archer - AltLd - 02/Mar/86 with Marcus Sierp
Climbed with many over the years, including big boots on the Yellow slab, Solo with Nora McIlroy, and an ascent alongside Derek Walker as he was soloing!Sean Kelly - Jun/85
Hidden - Solo O/S - 1985
sadams - 2nd - 13/Nov/82 with John from Aylesbury CC
nigehughes - AltLd - Jun/82 with Phil James
Iain Thow - Solo - 24/Apr/82 with Ian Burwood
Nigel Bond - Lead - 14/Feb/82 with Charlie Leverton
Ghastly Rubberfeet - AltLd - 1981
1980Chris Craggs - 1980 with Sherri Davy
first leadandy tetsill - Lead - Aug/79 with Whitehall Course
Bivouacced by Glyder lake after the climb. School trip in preparation for the alpsRichard Weller - AltLd - 20/May/79 with Tim Lole
JohnHutch - Lead - 19/May/79 with DT
Nigel Coe - AltLd - 05/Mar/78
mikej - AltLd - 12/Nov/77 with Geoff Williams
DescentBolt Phobia - Solo - 04/Mar/76
This was my first multi pitch route. I was 15. Alan Bradock was my Science Teacher at school. I still remember that warm dayPaulTanton - AltLd O/S - Jun/75 with Alan Bradock
"Snow, sleet" pencilled in Ron James guide.Falko - Solo - 01/Dec/74
Hidden - Apr/74
Steve Woollard - Lead - 1972 with Malcolm Parker
Gordon Stainforth - AltLd - 06/Apr/69 with Robert --?
David Smith - 1962
David Smith - Lead - May/61 with John Sargeant
fishinwater - AltLd - 0000 with Rob H
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