Osian Parry is definitely on a roll at the moment; following quickly on from his ascent of Echoes (8A) in Chwarel Gideon he has completed another testing grade 8. This time the action occurred at Tan y Grisiau, above Blaenau Ffestiniog.

The Way Of The Hippo (8A) tackles the obvious gap above the crux section of Hippocampus (a fierce line first climbed by Adam Hocking in 2007 which has become even harder recently, probably 8B, since a good hold broke and increased the number of hard moves from two to four). Start standing, right hand on a big flat gaston and left hand on a crimp, and climb directly up the steep face with some hard presses leading into a snatchy finish.

”Hopefully the strong crowd will get on The Way Of The Hippo! It’s almost as good as Echoes.”

Said Osian, before commenting on the obvious Hippocampus sds - The Way Of The Hippo link:

“This will be so nails, especially as Way Of The Hippo starts right after the main difficulties of Hippocampus are over!”

Relevant links:
      FA video on instagram