Twenty-three years after Steve McClure’s first ascent, ‘Mutation’ at Raven Tor finally sees its first repeat.
Cut to 1998, the height of British climbing superhero Steve McClure’s power. The camera rolls at Sheffield’s Raven Tor as the trippy Europop cues up.
McClure’s partner, Rupert Davies, yards up to the first hold on “Evolution,” 8c+ (5.14c), a sloppy, slopey sidepull with minimal actual surface. He paws at it and exclaims, “Oh, that is rubbish!”
Minutes later, McClure nails the first ascent of the climb’s punishing extension. The route, aptly called “Mutation” and graded 9a (5.14d), wouldn’t see another ascent until 2021.
After 4 years of prospecting at Raven Tor and over 40 days of concentrated effort, 22-year-old William Bosi finally ticked the first repeat on Halloween.
It was the Scotsman’s most extended project and among his hardest. If his 9a+ (5.15a) upgrade stands, it will be his third of the grade.
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