Too

beautiful

to

be

worried

Climbing has always been a bit more than just a physical element for me. I was raised by my parents, who did a lot of alpine climbing in the past, and their stories of climbing up in the mountains with very little gear, were always fascinating. Additionally, our crags are also pretty runout, so if I wanted to lead climb at our home crags, I simply had to start embracing runouts and reasonable fear.

The UK is a special country because, besides offering a lot of sport climbing and bouldering, the amount of trad climbing is vast. It is a culture that is deeply embedded in the British DNA of climbing, and it is very interesting to learn about it. I was always quite hesitant to go and try some of the harder trad routes in the UK, because they often look objectively very dangerous. Gear placements are often very precarious, and I still feel pretty much like a beginner when it comes to placing and trusting the gear.

When my friend Neil Gresham made the first ascent of Lexicon in 2021, I knew it was a route that looked too good to miss. It is in a beautiful landscape of the Lake District, high in the mountains, blending trad climbing skills, cool head, and sport climbing physique in a perfect way.

The shade comes in the afternoon, so we could hike in the morning and enjoy some sun and talk in the sun, while I was watching the wall from the side. It looked daunting for sure, but the day was too beautiful to be actually worried. It was cool to share the day with Neil and Craig Matheson, another local climber who has put up numerous first ascents in the Lakes.

There is a lovely simplicity in being surrounded by climbers who share the same passion and vision of life, and it doesn't really matter if it is the first or 100th time you meet. As the shade was getting closer, we went to the top of the crag and Neil rappelled down the line to clean it, put some chalk, and showed me the gear placements, as I was hanging approximately 8 meters to the right of it to get a good view. I was also using videos available on my phone to visualize the beta in the best possible way.

Neil and Craig were doing a great job of distracting me, keeping it light, but just before I set off, I took a minute to compose and be conscious about what was about to happen. I felt relaxed, but already the very first meters were a bit surprising. Climbing was not too difficult, but quite bold, and I was not really sure if the edges were solid. It was mostly me not being used to climbing on this specific rock, but it was not going as perfectly as I had hoped. When I arrived 15 meters above the ground, where you can place good cams, I did so quickly and precisely. On the ledge I left my kneepad and relaxed. Just as if this was another sport climb.

The hard thing about Lexicon is that the most demanding part is long and relentless all the way. Every hold is quite special, and knowledge of every spike and crystal is very important. As I was going for a flash and hadn’t practiced the moves, I got surprised sometimes. The first 5 moves were perfect, but then I started improvising, holds were a bit different from what I had expected, and I was about to lose my flow. I was not getting too tired, but I had hoped to have a bit more margin. As I was getting higher and higher, I struggled to keep my focus. Then I got to the last two hard moves.

Getting the tiny left-hand crimp, right-hand two-finger pocket, and last hard move, a dynamic move into a slot. The problem is that you can't really do it in a controlled manner, especially when you're tired. I improvised, changed a foothold, changed it yet again, but the last change felt good. So I just went for it, without thinking. I got the slot, still mostly without emotions, because there were two more moves to go. Getting to the final lip was amazing, but all of a sudden, I started realizing what had just happened. Despite feeling total joy, I was also shaking a bit. I was really glad I did not have to test that fall.

Thank you, Neil, for establishing this route, and thank you for the belay! Flashing Lexicon means a lot to me, and it means even more to me that you were on the other side of the rope!