Pete Whittaker makes second ascent of Pure Now (E9 6c)

• Sunday 28th January 2024

Pete Whittaker has made the second ascent of Pure Now (E9 6c) at Millstone Edge in the Peak District.

Almost a decade ago – on March 16th, 2014 to be precise – Tom Randall added Pure Now at E9 6c up the wall right of the uber classic Grit test piece, The Master’s Edge at Millstone Edge. Leaving the security of Master’s Edge, Pure Now headed up and right of the shot holes on Master’s into a sea of delicate and yet crimpy climbing on poor edges and technical undercuts with, of course, the near obligatory gnarly run-out.

The route has stood ignored until last Friday when fellow Wideboyz Pete Whittaker took advantage of the conditions and got the second ascent. Writing online, Pete said, “This was a really fun lead from last Friday, 2nd ascent of @tompaulrandall ‘s route Pure Now E9 6c, at Millstone.”

Although no stranger to bold and technical grit climbing, Pete has been concentrating on other things of late. Wintering in Sheffield however, Pete returned to his native rock for the second ascent.

Adding more detail about his ascent Pete said, “It’s a long time since I’ve done any runout headpoints on the grit, so it’s good to get the mind back in gear. Wasn’t sure how I’d feel tbh, but after 3 headpoints last week, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe that’s it for another 7 years, or maybe I’ll get psyched again 🤷‍♂️😅”