James McHaffie adds stunning highball in Ogwen Valley

• Thursday 13th August 2020 at 9.20am

Sept 26; 2016

Reported on the DMM website is news of a stunning looking new highball arete in the Ogwen Valley added by James McHaffie. Named the Devil’s Blade, it's graded at Font 8a/+.

James McHaffie on Devil's Blade. Photo: Ray Wood/DMM

James told DMM: “The climbing is varied and great quality. It feels intimidating because of the height and ideally you want more than a couple of pads to feel happy. I’m not sure of the grade, it feels like 8A, and Dan McManus who has been on it agreed. It could be harder but we’ll have to wait for the consensus after it has had a few ascents. It’s surprisingly skin friendly for this level of problem but the footholds are poor”

“Starting on the arete, the holds lead you left to an obvious large undercut and a couple of pockets above. From here you attack the arete. It’s a three star 7B+ to the undercut and the hard climbing involves getting to and leaving the pockets, with thankfully a much easier finish.”

You can read more at dmmclimbing.com