Lexicon E11 7a (8b+ R) by Neil Gresham (50)

Neil Gresham, who previously has done two E10' has done the FA of Lexicon E11 7a at Pavey Park, which is equivalent with an 8b+ R trad. If you fall at the final 7C boulder crux at the top you face a 25-meter fall with a risk of slamming into the wall. UKC has the full length interview and actually it seems the 50-year-old's approach can be compared to how dedicated Adam Ondra was projecting Silence 9c.

We are talking about several different coaches like mental, trad, ballet, physiotherapist, nutrition etc. Neil also did also practice falling. "I made it to the fourth-from-last move and bailed out. I looked down to see the rope flapping and looping downwards in a huge arc and there was plenty of time to take things in as the air rushed across my face. It was the biggest whipper I've ever taken..."

It should be noted that the British E-grade, is supposed to estimate how hard and dangerous a trad route is to onsight. On the upper scale, it is very hard to make such an evaluation and that is why we have also added the other trad grading system, where an R added, stands for Risk for injury.