4th April 2025 @ Blackstone Edge, 6A+ (estimated)

No beta. Climbed around a week before, but I came back to tidy up some beta. The video shows probably my 2nd or 3rd send of the problem. I have since seen an Instagram post from a number of years ago of a young lad using these holds to send, so I’m certainly not the first person to do it like this. I offer the grade as an honest description of the difficulty I encountered, and not to take anything away from the young lad, for whom it was probably 6C.

The proper Deft Cleft goes direct to the cleft from the jugs and comes in at 6C. I’ve not done it, it seems like a massive move! However, I did find this other way of getting to the cleft which was fun. I estimated around 6A+/6A would be fair, but who knows?

Across the lip there are a few slopey holds leading to the cleft, and I found that if I had my heel taking a good deal of my weight, I could make them work.

This clip nearly got dropped from the video due to the severe camera shake, but in the end it was about the right length and I felt it was novel enough to include. The rock’s a bit crumbly around the jugs, but the holds on top are good. I really enjoyed it, which is often the case when I feel like I’m figuring out my own moves rather than working out someone else’s.

One which did get cut was an ascent of Obstinate Bactrian opposite this. The reason for that was camera shake, the fact it the camera was pointing into the sun, and the fact I’d already shared a reel of me doing it in 2024. At the time it was quite a struggle, but it was pretty easy for me nearly a year later, and I think I climbed it a few times in a row without trouble. Progress!