Mathew Wright sends a ascent of „Hubble“, the world’s first 8c+ route. The climbing route in the Peak District was probably the most difficult route worldwide at the time of the first ascent in 1990. The route is located in the Raven Tor (Rabenfels) climbing area just off the Buxton-Tideswell road in County Derbyshire. The short bouldery route consists of nine heavy trains and was previously climbed in technical climbing before Ben Moon on 13 June 1990, the freed the route sucsessful. In the opinion of Adam Ondras, Route could have been the first 9a in the world. Alexander Megos, who climbs both routes, classified Hubble as easier. In the UK itself is now usually graded with 9a.

So far, only Malcolm Smith (1992), John Gaskins (1994), Steve Dunning, Steve McClure (2009), Alexander Megos, William Bosi (2016) and Pete Dawson (2019) sends a ascent.

Photo: (c) Georgie Lane