Throughout the rather dank winter season that we have been having the Ormes have remained a reliable source of dry rock. So, for all you Ormes fans out there, here’s a few snippets of info.

First up is the obvious highball finish to either Slim or the eliminate line The Argument in Split Infinity. The upper groove was climbed years ago by Leo Houlding, but never really caught on. It is actually a worthwhile extension to the aforementioned problems, not really adding any significant difficulty (say half a grade), but a bit of spice and continuity. If you are too short for The Argument, or can’t do Slim, you can still reach the upper groove by climbing up just left of The Argument then traversing across.

A small edge has come off Slim increasing the difficulty slightly. Mind you it was probably overgraded at V8/7b in the first place. The same hold affects The Argument too, which is now even harder for shorter climbers.

On the re-grading tip, it is worth mentioning that Norman Direct is certainly worth at least V7/7a+ (and is best started from a matched hand position in or around the traverse break line) and similarly that Aardvark Start (the direct start to Paul Pritchard’s E6 route, Confuse the Aardvark) is worth V6/7a. Both are excellent and well worth seeking out (see page 187 in NWB guide).

Another grading anomaly seems to be The Heeling Process on Manor Crag. Given V5/6c/+ by first ascensionist Danny Cattell it is almost certainly V6/7a, or perhaps even V7/7a+ in its current state. Nonetheless, a brilliant problem, and much better than it looks.

Up on top of Little Orme, Cheech Marin has suffered some minor hold breakage which seems likely to bump the grade. The small diagonal hold on the crux is now smaller, after Sam Cattell crushed it with his steel fingers. It was considered to be V10/7c+ from a sitting start, and V8+/7b+ from standing, but is most probably a grade harder for each now. If anybody repeats either the stand up or the sitting start do get in touch.

Relevant links:
      Cheech Marin news item
      Gaskins repeats Cheech Marin