05/07/2009'World's Softest Route' Repeated

A repeat of an E7 by James McHaffie and Nick Bullock may not seem like 'hold the front page' news by today's standards, but then Rubble is no ordinary route. A clue to the route's nature lies in its name.

It's one of those Gogarth routes with an aura about it. One that hasn't diminished since Paul Pritchard and Leigh McGinley first climbed it in 1991. And one of the most obvious lines you'll ever see!

Taking the conglomerate dyke that Concrete Chimney (HVS) avoids, it is described on the Gogarth Wiki as: "The softest route in the world". Rising from the foot of Wen Zawn at a grade of E7 6a, 6a, 5a Rubble is clearly a serious undertaking and a journey that has probably only seen one previous repeat [Ed. By Twid Turner - will confirm].

Exiting the cave at the start of the first pitch is steep, bold, technical and loose. James described it as: "Having plenty of holds but you have to try and avoid using the smaller ones as they are most likely to come-off. There is also lots of kit but it's all very poor apart from one wire."

Nick commented that: "It's one of those routes where anything could happen. Following Caff on the first pitch, I grabbed a chalked hold and it promptly broke-off. Finding myself on the sharp end under the ceiling on the second pitch, dubbed 'the hanging flange of death', I realised this was no exaggeration."

Rocks and gravel rained down around Caff as Nick fought his way out from under the roof using a head jam and wrapping his arms around rotten rock fangs. Nick felt it was the most 'out-there' route he'd ever done. "Forget about the crucial RP1 at the flange mentioned in the description, you need a really big cam but I didn't have one! When I recently told Paul Pritchard we were thinking of doing Rubble, he simply laughed and said 'It's only HVS apart from the E7 bits.' Hmmmm...can't argue with that, but there's a lot of E7."

Photos:

Rubble - Bullock and McHaffee from Bamboo Chicken Productions on Vimeo.