Gaskins climbs 5.15
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Briton John Gaskins has climbed a short, powerful route on northern England limestone and rated it 9a+ (5.15a). Violent New Breed, a 20-foot, two-bolt climb, tackles a short overhanging wall leading to a large, blank-looking bulge at the G-Spot cave at Giggleswick, “the smallest crag in Yorkshire,” according to the guidebook. Gaskins is considered one of the two strongest climbers active in Britain at the moment (the other being Steve McClure). He has done several V15 boulder problems, and a decade ago he made an early repeat of Hubble (5.14c). According to www.planetfear.com, Gaskins was close to climbing Violent New Breed years ago at 5.14d, but one day found a key hold missing and the words “Tut, Tut” written in chalk nearby, a reference to the re-gluing of this hold after it broke off earlier. He gave up on the route and turned to bouldering, but recently found he could now do the crux move without the missing hold and began to work on the climb in earnest. For a guidebook photo of the route, see www.ukclimbing.com.