Madeleine Cope and Emma Twyford climb E9 in England and Wales
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E9 represents pretty much the upper echelon of British trad climbing, it’s a grade that extremely few have mastered and which sits just below what, currently, is deemed physically and psychologically possible.
Despite the fact that Britain’s first E9 was established way back in 1986, by an inspired Johnny Dawes on his Indian Face at Cloggy in Wales, such is the demanding nature of the difficulties that even today E9 repeats are still a rare commodity. Indeed, the grade has not been onsighted yet and in many respects this feat is considered the Holy Grail of British trad climbing.
In 2011 Hazel Findlay became the first British woman to climb E9, followed by Emma Twyford in 2013, Eve Lancashire in 2016 and Madeleine Cope in 2018, and although some visiting climbers have followed suit - notably Barbara Zangerl and Caroline Ciavaldini - female E9 ascents are understandably few and far between.
Which is precisely what makes the recent achievements of Cope and Twyford all the more important. While the former opted to repeat The Final Round at Illam Rock in the Peak District's picturesque Dovedale, the latter tested her mettle on Chupacabra in the atmospheric Huntsman's Leap at Pembroke in Wales. Both climbers, who now have multiple E9 ascents to their names, opted to work the routes toprope first prior to their successful headpoint ascents.
