Ben Read has made a rare ascent of The Second Generation at High Rocks on the 20th September 2020. Graded at French 8a UK 6c, the climb has always been regarded as a significant test piece which has inspired many climbers but managed to evade ascents.
Originally an aid climb put up by Terry Tullis in the 1970's, it was then freed by sandstone prodigy Jasper Sharp in 1990. It was Dave Turner who repeated the line, and shortly after Ben Moon took the third ascent. Holds became worn on the climb and at some point some crucial holds unfortunately broke. It is believed that there has only been one ascent approximately 10 years ago in its modified state. Ben's ascent is significant as a repeat of which he proposes the grade of a potential 8a+. It is also believed to be potentially harder than its neighbouring climb, Chimaera which is also 8a+ though this is yet to be confirmed.
Ben Noted: "It now involves a very hard sequence, holding a very small mono to get to another mono instead of the old figure of four move."
The break down is probably: UK 6b to the first set of good holds, then 2 UK 6c moves in a row, then a technical section of UK 6b to the top, giving an overall grade of French 8a / 8a+
Additional news also comes in the the form of an onsight of Kraite Arête by Ben Preston. This was his first trip to High Rocks and it is believed that Kraite Arete has only seen one onsight in its history by Tim Emmet.
Please remember that if visiting High Rocks, specific access agreement are in place.