Tom Last has continued his campaign of new routing in South East Cornwall with his most recent achievement being the impressive first ascent of an overhanging wide crack on Luxulyan’s rough granite. The Singularity weights in at around E4/5 6a and is located on a natural tor on the rim of Luxulyan Quarry proper – i.e. the massive semi-dormant quarry north of the village.
Tom said: “I first tried this ground up a couple of years ago and got completely shut down after the initial hands section. I came back a few weeks ago and decided to give it a top-rope, not really expecting to get anywhere, but after a couple of tries, I managed to link it. The difficulty of the climb though is in keeping it together for the duration, so I started trying to lead it – climbing it, I think, on my 6th or 7th lead attempt over three sessions.
“The crack goes from hands, through the grim off-width to a wild move that hopefully gets you into the final mad squeeze chimney. The route overhangs for about 25-30 degrees for its full length. It is absolutely brutally hard,” says Tom, “Honestly though, you couldn’t get a better line, or more ridiculous experience.”
The route is well protected with #6 cams and surely must be one of the most challenging wide cracks in Cornwall. The photo below shows Tom’s lower legs and feet struggling with the top-out during the first ascent while belayer Hernan Cardenas Ibanez tries to think of a few excuses not to follow. The picture above is not of the first ascent but gives a better impression of the route.
Full details of this route can be found here on the Cheesewring Climbing New Routes page.
Elsewhere in the Luxulyan area Tom has also contributed Aces High, essentially a highball direct finish to his route Sheela-Na-Gig at Carmears Rocks. There is a video of this route here on Facebook. While on the South Coast he has also discovered a new cliff with climbing potential just west of Dodman Point called Greeb Point. So far the only route here is a fine-looking Diff. From the Delta to the DMZ.
Full details for all Tom’s recent routes can be found on the New Routes page of the Cheesewring Climbing website. Many thanks to Tom for supplying the information and for the use of his photos.
If anyone has new route descriptions or any other news for the area please do send it in.
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