Rhapsody (climb)

''Rhapsody'' is a long traditional climbing route up a thin crack on a slightly overhanging vertical basalt rock face on Dumbarton Rock, in Scotland. When Scottish climber Dave MacLeod made the first free ascent in 2006, it became Britain's first-ever E11-graded route, and at the grade of , ''Rhapsody'' was the world's hardest traditional route. It set a grade milestone in traditional climbing that stood for over a decade until the ascent of ''Tribe'' at grade E11-12 in 2019 and of ''Bon Voyage'' at grade E12 in 2024.

''Rhapsody'' shares the same central crack-line as another notable traditional climbing route called ''Requiem'' (the two routes deviate for the last 10 metres near the top as the crack-line peters out). Scottish climber Dave Cuthbertson made the first free ascent of ''Requiem'' in 1983, creating Britain's first-ever E8-graded route. With subsequent ascents, the consensus grade settled at E8 6b or , and ''Requiem'' is now recognized as being one of the world's hardest rock climbing routes—of any format (i.e. traditional or sport climbing)—at the time it was first ascended in 1983.

History

In 1983, Scottish climber Dave "Cubby" Cuthbertson free climbed the central crack on the northwest face of Dumbarton Rock and called it ''Requiem''. It was speculated at the time that the technical grade could be British 7a—that is international —and which would have been a new grade milestone in rock climbing after Tony Yaniro's 1979 ascent of ''Grand Illusion'' at . With subsequent repeats, the consensus grade of ''Requiem'' settled at E8 6b, or circa , making it the first-ever British E8-graded route. It means that at the time of Cuthbertson's ascent, ''Requiem'' was one of the hardest climbing routes in the world of any type, as it was only in 1983 that Jerry Moffatt set a new grade milestone with ''The Face'' , and in 1984 that Wolfgang Gullich set another milestone with ''Kanal im Rücken'' .

In 2006, Scottish climber Dave MacLeod completed a 2-year project to continue ''Requiems thinning central crack to the top, creating ''Rhapsody''. MacLeod's route featured a large runout, and he took several 'bone crushing' falls from its crux at the top onto tiny wire nuts for protection. ''Rhapsody'' was the first-ever British E11-graded climbing route, and at the international grades of , was a new grade milestone in traditional climbing making it the " world's hardest 'traditional' climb". In 2008, Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter made the first repeat of ''Rhapsody'' and added a variation between it and ''Requiem'' called ''Direqium'' that he graded . A few weeks after Trotter, British climber Steve McClure made the third repeat.

In 2014, British climber James Pearson made the fourth ascent of ''Rhapsody''. Pearson had caused controversy in 2008 when he dismissed MacLeod's proposed grading despite not being able to complete the route. MacLeod had in turn repeated Pearson's ''Walk of Life'', which he had proposed at E12 7a, but which MacLeod downgraded to E9 6c. After the controversy, Pearson left for France, but his wife, French climber , urged Pearson to return to ''Rhapsody''. Pearson said of his ascent: "I couldn't take it back, but perhaps I could do something to make up for it? A gesture of goodwill, or perhaps even a peace offering to the UK climbing community?". Just after his ascent, Ciavaldini made the first female free ascent of ''Requiem''.

In 2016, Italian traditional climber Jacopo Larcher made the fifth repeat of ''Rhapsody'', while his partner Barbara Zangerl made the second female ascent of ''Requiem'', and the first repeat—and first female ascent—of Dave MacLeod's 2001 Dumbarton route, ''Achemine'' at E9 6c.

While in the years after MacLeod's first ascent, other traditional climbing routes were established at ''Rhapsody's'' climbing grade milestone of (e.g. Beth Rodden's ''Meltdown'' in Yosemite), ''Rhapsody's'' grade milestone in traditional climbing was only surpassed with the 2019 ascent of ''Tribe'' by Jacopo Larcher, which is considered to be at , and at the British E-grade of E11 to E12, and also with the 2024 ascent of ''Bon Voyage'' by James Pearson, which was also considered to be at , and most likely at the British E-grade of E12.

Route

File : Klemmkeil im Fels.JPG, The runout on section 3, is typically secured by a tiny Black Diamond Equipment, Black Diamond nut (climbing), No #3 nut inserted near the top of section 2.
''Rhapsody'' and ''Requiem'' are essentially crack climbing, crack climbs with bouldering crux (climbing), cruxes close to their very tops; they both break into three parts, the first two of which they share. The first section is an easier circa graded (depending on the specific route taken up the slab) slab that gets to a ledge that is shared by several routes on the face. The second part is a narrow left-leaning diagonal graded crack up the centre of the face that both ''Requiem'' and ''Rhapsody'' follow. The climbing protection is considered to be thin (e.g. the crack will only take the smallest wire nuts, with BD #3 wires recommended) but with solid placements, which is important given the potential falls to come.

The final section starts from a resting jug from the top where the crack starts to peter out. From here, ''Requiem'' moves directly right to another crack system that leads directly to the top. ''Rhapsody'' moves directly left on delicate holds before following the diminishing line of the original crack via a 14-move bouldering problem near the top. There is no additional climbing protection available in the third section, and with the hardest moves at the very top, any fall will be a 'swinging fall' (i.e. because the climber has moved horizontally from the second section) of up to in length. Several climbers reported falls from the top where they bounced off the slab of the first section.

Sonnie Trotter wrote that ''Rhapsody'' felt like an eliminate, and that there was a more direct line between ''Rhapsody'' and ''Requiem'' that he called ''Direquiem'' that he graded at , and which he felt was a more natural finish to the crack. Trotter noted that a climber on the final stages of ''Rhapsody'' had to deliberately keep themselves from reaching out to grab the arete that was on their left side, which Trotter dubbed ''The Cop Out'', and even graded it at 5.13b/c (or 8a/a+). Trotter also avoided anchoring his belayer to the ground (i.e. when Trotter fell, it lifted his belayer into the air), which reduced the 'swing' on his falls and stopped him from crashing into the rock face as MacLeod had painfully endured.

Legacy

''Rhapsody'' retains an intimidating reputation, that started with MacLeod's 2006 announcement of his ascent where he said that he had taken nine falls from the crux that was only held by "RP nuts", and that: "I injured myself badly on some of my failed attempts. As far as I know, there aren't other traditional routes around with this combination of danger and high difficulty". In April 2024, Norwegian climber Magnus Midtbo visited Dumbarton for his social media channel to try ''Rhapsody'' on a top rope, belayed by Dave MacLeod, and called it "possibly the most dangerous route in the world", noting the distance of the falls from the crux that needed to be held by tiny protective wire nuts.

''Requiem'' and ''Rhapsody'' put Dunbarton Rock into rock climbing history, with two routes that at the time of their first free ascent, were the hardest traditional climbs in the world. MacLeod's ascent of ''Rhapsody'' received media attention outside of the world of traditional climbing and was part of a resurgence in interest in traditional climbing as new "trad grade milestones" were being established such as Trotter's '' Cobra Crack''. When Jacopo Larcher made the 5th ascent he said of seeing ''E11'', the film of MacLeod making the first ascent: "I remember at that time it seemed completely crazy, absolutely incomprehensible... For me it was something unimaginable. I never thought that one day I’d go an try it. Let alone repeat it!".

Ascents

Notable ascents of ''Rhapsody'':

* 1st. Dave MacLeod on 9 April 2006.

* 2nd. Sonnie Trotter in June 2008.

* 3rd. Steve McClure in June 2008.

* 4th. James Pearson in September 2014.

* 5th. Jacopo Larcher in May 2016.

* 6th. in September 2018.

* 7th. Mathew Wright in April 2024.

Notable ascents of ''Requiem'':

* 1st. Dave Cuthbertson on 6 July 1983.

* 1st female ascent. on 27 September 2014.

Filmography

* Documentary on MacLeod's 2006 ascent:

* Documentary on Pearsons's 2014 return:

See also

* '' Indian Face'', British E9-graded traditional climbing route from 1986
* '' Separate Reality'', American 5.12a-graded traditional climbing route from 1978
* '' Prinzip Hoffnung'', Austrian 8b/+ graded traditional climbing route from 2009

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Rhapsody
''theCrag'' (May 2024}

The World's Hardest Trad Climbs
''HardClimbs'' (March 2024)

VIDEO: Now That's What I Call a First Ascent
Dave MacLeod's FA of ''Rhapsody'' (9 April 2006)

VIDEO: Massively Runout on "Rhapsody" 5.14 Trad
''Climbing'' (2022)

VIDEO: Is Rhapsody (E11) the most dangerous route in the world?
''LaCrux Magazine'' and Magnus Midtbø (April 2024)

Traditional climbing routes
Climbing in Scotland
Dumbarton