Hubble (climbing route)

Hubble
Location	Derbyshire, Peak District, England
Coordinates	53°15′20″N 1°46′33″W / 53.25556°N 1.77583°W / 53.25556; -1.77583Coordinates: 53°15′20″N 1°46′33″W / 53.25556°N 1.77583°W / 53.25556; -1.77583
Climbing Area	Raven Tor[1]
Route Type	sport climbing
Vertical Gain	10 metres (33 ft)[2]
Pitches	1
Rating	8c+ (5.14c)[3] E9 7b (english)[4]
First free ascent	Ben Moon, on 14 June 1990

Hubble is a short 10-metre (33 ft) sport climb at the limestone Raven Tor crag in Derbyshire, England. When it was first climbed by English climber Ben Moon on 14 June 1990, it became the first climb in the world to have a consensus 8c+ (5.14c) grade;^[3][5] and the highest grade in the English system at E9 7b.^[4]

History[]

Hubble had been an old aid climbing practice route that used skyhooks to overcome the first two bolts, which English climbers Ben Moon and Jerry Moffatt started working on in 1989.^[4] Moon and Moffatt had returned from a summer in France establishing some of the hardest sport climbing routes (e.g. climbs that had insufficient cracks for traditional climbing protection, and therefore had to be bolted), in the world on the limestone walls of Buoux, such as Agincourt and Maginot Line (both at 8c (5.14b)), and wanted to set new standards at home.^[4] Moon rebuilt the individual moves of Hubble in his basement and practised them with Moffatt, and in particular using a new device called a "Moon Board", which was not dissimilar to Wolfgang Gullich's new campus board training device.^[4]

Moon spent eight straight days to complete the first redpoint of the route which he did on 14 June 1990, one of the rare occasions when the route was completely dry. Moon later said, "The year before, I had already redpointed a couple of 8c's in France. I already knew that “Hubble” was more difficult than all my hardest lines like Agincourt or Maginot Line. That’s why I rated it E9/7b. It was the first route in Great Britain that was given a 7b as technical difficulty".^[4] Moon also said that Moffatt had come close to redpointing it earlier, but lost interest when Moon completed it.^[4] Hubble is widely regarded as the world's first 8c+ (5.14c).^[6][7]

Climbers have speculated whether Hubble was actually the world's first climb at 9a (5.14d), instead of Wolfgang Güllich's 1991 acsent of Action Directe, which is considered the first – and is still the "benchmark" – for the 9a (5.14d) grade.^[5][8][9] German climber Alex Megos is one of the few who have climbed both Hubble and Action Directe, and felt that Hubble was very short, but probably an 8c+ (5.14c) in the right conditions (i.e. completely dry),^[10] although Megos caveated himself by noting that grading is not an exact science, and is subject to the climber's own style and preferences.^[11] Czech climber Adam Ondra had a brief attempt at Hubble when conditions were not perfect (the route is usually damp) and said: "Personally, I would like to see the impressive Action Directe as the first 9a, nevertheless, when I consider it objectively, the first one is in fact Hubble, that’s a pity because it’s quite short and slimy".^[6]

The short nature of the route had led some, including Moon himself, to describe Hubble as "bouldering on a rope",^[4][11][12] and speculated that the short 4-move crux makes Hubble really a bouldering problem with a circa 8B/8B+  bouldering grade.^[11][4][13] Ondra himself said, "Maybe it would be more accurate to label the route as an 8B+ (V14) bouldering problem; that would make it the first 8B+ in the world – 10 years before the one that we consider to be the first today [Ondra is referring to Dreamtime by Fred Nicole in 2000]".^[6][14] The more recent use of a kneebar at the crux is considered to have also likely softened the grade to a more conventional 8c+ (5.14c).^[3][13]

Route[]

Hubble is described as starting from a big flake, after which most climbers reach for a large pinch hold.^[9] Shorter climbers can use an intermediate hold and a foothold to get the pinch.^[9] From the pinch, the climber reaches right to an undercut, moves their feet above a lip in a high step while bringing the left hand into a two-finger pocket undercut.^[9] Then comes the circa 8B/8B+  bouldering crux move,^[11] for which the climber slaps right for a slopey crimp, then to a large pinch, and then an undercut crimp. There is another high step to bring the feet above another lip and slap for a rough crimp. This is the 4-move bouldering crux section of the route, after which is a 7c (5.12d) section to finish.^[15] More recent ascents of Hubble (e.g Matthew Wright and Buster Martin in 2020), have seen some climbers use a kneebar short rest – a modern sport climbing technique – at the crux section that can soften the difficulty slightly, although still maintaining the route at a consensus 8c+ (5.14c) level.^[3][13]

Ascents[]

Hubble has been ascended by:^[5]

• 1st. Ben Moon, 14 June 1990^[4]
• 2nd. Malcolm Smith, 1992
• 3rd. John Gaskins, 1994
• 4th. Richard Simpson (disputed), 2005^[5]
• 5th. Steve Dunning, 2009
• 6th. Steve McClure, 2009
• 7th. Alexander Megos, 31 May 2016^[11]
• 8th. William Bosi, 2016^[16]
• 9th. Pete Dawson, 2019^[15][16]
• 10th. Mathew Wright, 2 October 2020^[3]
• 11th. Buster Martin, 13 October 2020^[5][13]
• 12th. Toby Roberts, 28 October 2021^[16][12]

Filmography[]

• Sean McColl's 2014 inspection: Falquet, Nicolas (director) (2014). Rock Climbing Classics: Episode 6 – Hubble 8c+ (Motion picture). Mammut. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
• Alex Megos's 2016 ascent: Kretschmann, Frank (director) (2016). Alex Megos Formula: Episode 3 – Gravity (Motion picture). Red Bull. Retrieved 31 December 2021.

See also[]

• History of rock climbing
• List of first ascents (sport climbing)
• Silence, first climb in the world with a potential grade of 9c (5.15d)
• La Dura Dura, first/second climb in the world with a consensus grade of 9b+ (5.15c)
• Realization/Biographie, first climb in the world with a consensus grade of 9a+ (5.15a)
• Action Directe, first climb in the world with a consensus grade of 9a (5.14d)

References[]

Further reading[]

• Grimes, Niall. Peak Limestone North. British Mountaineering Council. ISBN 9780903908382. Retrieved 31 December 2021.

External links[]

• Alex Megos Formula: Gravity (featuring Alex on Hubble, 8c+), (2016, episode 3), Red Bull