Pete Whittaker does the FA of Crown Royale (9a) trad

Pete Whittaker reports on Instagram that he has done the 100m trad line, Crown Royale (9a) in Jøssingfjord. Pete untied and free soloed the final 20m to reach the summit without movement-hindering rope drag. In 2019, Pete sent Recovery drink (8c+) at the same crag. (c) Andrew Burr

When did you start projecting it?
I worked on the bottom section back in 2018, then did it in 2019. The top section I started working this year, and then I finally linked the two sections together this year as well.

How many sessions did it take and how was the process?
I don’t know how many sessions overall, maybe a bit over 30 if you count the sessions from back in 2018. I also had some sessions just abseiling the line brushing and checking the holds in trainers, but not really climbing that much.

Describe what went through your mind once you realized you had to untie?
Relief, because the rope drag was so bad. Where I untied is a big ledge and incredibly easy climbing to the top. I knew I would have to untie or come off belay at some point, as the wall is 100m but I only had an 80m rope, so it wasn’t unexpected.

How long did the ascent take and how many kilos of gear did you start with?
The ascent maybe took an hour? Not entirely sure, that's a bit of a guess. I placed 17 pieces overall. I started with 8 pieces and tagged up the remaining 9 from the halfway rest. I've no idea about the weight of the rack, I tried to select small pieces in general.