The upper right wall of Number Three Gully on Ben Nevis. The Secret is the prominent crack running up vertically in the centre of the photo. To Those Who Wait, the new IX,9 by Greg Boswell and Will Sim, climbs the impending crack (not visible in the photo) up the left-facing wall to the left of the arete left of the upper half of The Secret. (Photo Greg Boswell)
Greg Boswell and Will Sim solved a last great problem on Ben Nevis yesterday (December 31), when they climbed the thin overhanging crack to the left of The Secret. This crack had seen at least one previous attempt and had been talked about as a futuristic objective by a number of strong teams. The route was called To Those Who Wait and graded IX,9.
The crack was led by Greg. “The route starts up a shallow corner and then goes right into a wide chimney,” he told me. “It then follows a very steep crack straight up the wall to an overhanging finish. It was climbed on-sight and consists of some very, very strenuous crack and wall climbing.”
Congratulations to Greg and Will for making a significant technical addition to Ben Nevis.
