Climbing... No Limits! The Adventure Show

In the 150 or so years since the sport began,

climbers have been highly innovative at putting up bold new lines.

Today, Britain's great crags have been thoroughly explored

and littered with climbing routes.

This film follows two of Scotland's best rock athletes,

when they take that search for first ascents in a new direction.

We join them as they inch their way from darkness into light.

This is Climbing...No Limits!

This is the Peak District -

the centre of England and the heart of its modern climbing scene.

It's home to numerous cave systems.

One of the most famous is Peak Cavern.

Today, tourists can explore it,

along with the lives of the people who once lived and worked here.

But it has another attraction for climbers -

a potentially stunning new sport route that starts

at the back of the cave entrance and finishes with a sheer rock wall.

Many sport climbers have wanted to explore here,

but no-one has ever got permission...until now.

And there's an irony.

By pure good luck, it's not the local experts,

but two visiting Scots on a mission who will get the first chance here.

This is the biggest unclimbed lump of rock

in the whole of the Peak District.

It really is one of Britain's most phenomenal limestone caves,

and I didn't know it existed before this week.

For 400 years, a small community of highly skilled rope-makers

lived in the huge entrance to this cavern.

Known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak,

it was originally called the Devil's Arse,

and the village within it was one that never saw the sun.

It's the largest cave entrance in Britain.

A potential Mecca for climbers.

I remember my first trip to the Peak District and just being so excited

because we were going to the centre of the climbing universe, you know?

There are so many routes and so many climbers,

and so this particular cliff stands out massively.

Dave MacLeod is one of the world's great climbers -

someone who has consistently pushed the limits

with a series of landmark and often dangerous first ascents.

Having climbed in the big sea cliffs in the Hebrides

and the mountain cliffs of the Highlands in summer

and winter ice, there's, like, so many places it takes you to.

I don't think there's many sports that are like that.

You normally do a sport in one place, so the experience of doing it stays kind of the same.

But, in climbing, you go to all sorts of different places

and I think that's what's special about it.

Joining Dave in this foray onto English rock is Alan Cassidy.

He's been a member of the British team,

came third in the UK's lead climbing competition

and in the last 13 years has done over 200

of the hardest sports climbing routes in both Scotland and England.

Alan also needs to earn a living

and works at the new Climbing Academy in Glasgow.

Climbing is pretty much the be all and end all of my life

and it has been since a very young age.

I think it was a shared passion with my father as well.

He introduced me to it. It has a lot of happy memories.

As I was growing up, I was always aware of him going away,

disappearing at weekends with his friend to go climbing.

It was really exciting on the first day that I got taken out to do that

with him, and my mum has a photograph of me

with the rope round my shoulder with a big beaming face.

You know, the first chance to do my dad did,

so he was always like the hero.

HE GROANS

It's an obscure thing to do, climbing rocks,

but it's amazing how it can take hold of your life.

With that in mind, Dave and Alan are heading south

for that ultimate climbers prize - new routes.

They've got just one week

and plan to end it in Peak Cavern in Derbyshire.

But, on the way south, there's an opportunity they just can't miss,

so they'll be making a stop in the Yorkshire Dales.

And why Yorkshire? The answer's simple.

England's largest county contains some of Britain's most exciting cave systems.

One of the local favourites is Jingling Pot.

No-one's ever climbed here before. Dave and Alan plan to change that.

But, life underground is unfamiliar and the territory, intimidating.

One big reason why climbers go climbing is to feel the space

of the mountains around you, so being in a really enclosed,

wet, dark space in a cave isn't always such an attractive thing.

I think a lot of people think I'm absolutely mental,

cos it's not really the sort of thing that most climbers get up to,

going down potholes to put up routes.

So, I think, most of my climbing friends thought it was really crazy,

and I think I thought it was pretty crazy as well.

So, I don't know.

During the next few days,

the climbers will have to learn to adapt to a strange new world.

People think climbing's dangerous,

but climbers look at what potholers do and think, "No, they are nutters."

A few miles north of Ingleton village,

there's a short walk across the rolling Yorkshire hills

to the entrance of Jingling Pot.

-Ah, is this it here?

-Wow!

Certainly looks pretty slippery.

-Definitely pretty damp.

-And dark.

-And dark!

Woah, it goes a long way down.

You can just see down the next shaft. It just looks amazing.

There's all these flutings where the water's, like, scalloped it out.

It looks really beautiful, actually.

Rock climbers, I guess they appreciate as much as any folk

the sort of forms that rock takes from nature,

formed by water or glaciers or whatever.

But I've never seen anything like this. It's incredible.

To start the climb, Alan and Dave must descend down a narrow series

of slippery tracks and shafts known as lateral cleft.

When they get to the bottom, they'll be in a large cavern.

Only then can they start their climb back into daylight.

They can't make this climb without the expert help

of local caver, Matt Burke.

For years, he's been telling climbers

they should enter his world.

I think that if more climbers knew what we had underground, they would be astonished.

And I think, actually, there are lots and lots of caves

that could be climbed by climbers.

A real whole new world for them.

See you later, Dave. Good luck!

Caving, for me, provided much more of an adventure feel.

You feel like you're on a mini expedition every time you go caving,

so I think caving, particularly in the deep caves in Yorkshire,

is more akin to big mountaineering than it is to rock climbing.

ALAN GROANS This next bit just looks crazy. It's really narrow.

-There's a squeeze.

-Crack. Yeah.

Still not convinced I know why people are possessed to go caving.

THEY LAUGH

There's a cliche that's used by cavers very often

and lots of people have heard it, which is that you never know what you'll find round the next corner.

And I think it's difficult to understand that

until you've experienced it, actually.

'I can't say anything at all. It's just this little narrow ledge.'

But I can't really see the way ahead, yet. I need to shuffle along.

Oh, no, hang on! I can see it now. It's just like quite a narrow hole.

Right.

Quite small.

We think at the moment that we've have found maybe

two thirds of the caves in the Yorkshire Dales,

so there's a real incentive there, a real driver for people to go and keep looking.

-This chamber is just amazing.

-Yeah, I can't wait to see it.

-Do you see through the gaps into the main chamber?

-Oh, brilliant!

And it's huge!

It's really massive.

It's a bit less claustrophobic down here. It opens out quite a lot.

-Good.

-The rock formations are just, like, really beautiful.

Oh, wow, all the stalactites and things.

I feel like we've been down here already for absolutely ages.

It seems like we've come down miles. It's hard to imagine that...

-We've still got lots more to go.

-..we've still got more to go.

-Yeah, I know, I know.

I get the feeling that, as much as this is going to be

a brilliant experience, I'm not sure I'll take up caving.

There's something quite nice about dry rock and just being able to

wander about and have space.

I'm still trying not to think about the fact that this is only the first half of the adventure

and we actually have to get back out of this thing under our own steam.

-Yeah, I know.

-You can't just climb up the rope.

-Right, I'm going to head down then, Alan.

-OK, good luck. Last descent.

OK, here I go.

-Looks nice and spacious down there at the bottom.

-Yeah.

Yeah, much more spacy abseil this time.

Oh, cool, more cracks heading off into the darkness

in this direction as well.

'It's definitely the craziest place I've ever been.'

-That's me on the floor now.

-OK.

It's really cool, it's, like, just a big flat chamber, like a big room.

I'm glad we're not going any further. Going back out.

There's, like, bones and things.

From the last guy that tried to climb out!

-Hopefully not!

-The adventure begins now.

Alan and Dave are now at the start of their route.

The rock is dark and unfamiliar.

It's also wet, which will make the climbing a lot harder.

Alan leads the first pitch.

The beginning isn't promising.

-Not good.

-Did something just break off that you were holding onto there?

Eh, yeah, just a really thin flake that I had in my hand there.

You got the first hand. Told you that should pull it.

There's actually a lot less handholds and if there were.

It's a little bit off-putting, that first hold breaking.

-It just makes you question everything, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

Looks like quite a tricky wee move, here.

OK.

'Climbing is a very sensory activity.'

Well done.

Can you reach that next splitting now?

Not quite.

'You're relying on how the holds feel in your hands

'and under your feet,

'but your also relying on sight to be able to plan the next move

'and make sure you have the hold.

'Climbing in the dark seems preposterous.

'You're going to have to rely a lot more on just that sense of touch

'and faith in your protection and that your partner is still there,

'despite the fact that you can't see them.'

If it wasn't so damp, you can hold on to pretty much anything on this.

Yeah.

I'm kind of over-gripping a little bit...

..as it is.

Ooh, I don't like this bit.

Just have a tiny little crimpy hold here. Ooh!

Are they incut enough that you'll be able to pull on them properly?

-Well, I just feel like I could slip off them.

-Yeah.

-You're going to have to stand on something small for your foot.

-Yeah.

Alan is struggling to see a way forward.

Where was I before?

He needs to find the right sequence of moves to make progress.

In this alien environment, he finds it hard to trust his own judgment.

-Actually more awkward than I thought it would be.

-Yeah.

Takes time.

Go on.

ALAN SHUDDERS

-I'm just going to come back down to this good hold...

-OK.

..and reassess.

Alan needs to commit to a line soon,

but, a wrong move could mean a fall,

and that could jeopardise their chances of a successful first ascent.

I think the shadows cast by my head torch make it hard to see

where I'm placing my feet.

Is that like a sloping pinch you've got for your left hand?

Yeah, it's incut and...

-Going to go inside? Oh, good!

-Yeah.

At the last second there, I spotted a foothold out to the right.

It made all the difference.

Great.

Aww, that one's really wet!

-It's all very wet, but that one's really wet!

-THEY LAUGH

That one's got an ocean in it.

I'm watching you on the rope.

(Hop up.)

Go on.

Is that a hold? Just about.

At last, Alan's successfully found a way through the problem

and he's nearly at the end of the first pitch.

-You must be almost at the stance now.

-Yeah. I'm just below it.

-Great.

I've just got to run my feet up.

Or try and do it in one big flexible move.

-Yeah, it means it's going to be my turn soon.

-Wow!

I have to say, I was exceptionally pessimistic when I set off,

but that was actually really good,

-and not quite as bad as I thought it would be.

-Brilliant.

-Amazing pitch, actually.

-Yeah! Yeah, it looks excellent.

I'm quite looking forward to coming up.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy it.

I'm not the biggest fan of getting really scared,

-but it was actually all right.

-Yeah.

-OK, you're off belay, so taking the rope when you're ready.

-OK.

Eager to get started.

Get some blood moving, get warm.

Well, enjoy.

Contending with the dark and struggling with wet rock,

this pitch was far tougher than Alan expected

and it's taken him well outside his comfort zone.

'It was completely novel. I was just gripping on for dear life

'most of the time, thinking, "Oh, my word, this is so slippery!"

'But, yeah, it was actually really good fun.'

Nice, Dave.

'There was a whole different element to it that I've never experienced

'on a rock climb before.

'I was really quite worried.

'I didn't actually think I was going to be able to climb

'that first pitch at all.'

-There's not much for feet here, is there?

-No, it's...

It's all in the arms, here. Strain your... Pull.

Dave joins Alan at the belay.

He knows his hard work is only just beginning.

He will lead the long second pitch and is undecided about the line.

I'm really unsure which way to go.

I was quite keen to go into this chimney, but I think maybe

I'll try and go out into the middle of the wall in this scoop.

It looks very steep and smooth from below, but I just hope that

the good fluting is going to appear at the last minute,

cos if they don't, then, it could not be possible.

So, I'm really apprehensive, actually.

I really can't wait to get started and go for it.

Ah, that's much better in your options, right enough.

Nice use of the knee, Dave.

Yep, winter climbing tactics.

'With normal dry rock climbing,

'you can tell when you're getting close to falling off.

'But with this, you had to have quite a lot of reserve,

'because if a hand or a foot were to slip it would be so sudden.

'Unless you had really good handholds, there's no way you could stay on.

'Even when you were on climbing and it was quite easy to make progress,

'you really had to be aware not to make a mistake,

'cos if one thing just slipped a little bit, you'd be off.'

OK. OK, I might fall off here.

Go on, Dave.

Nice.

Nicely done.

Just had to kind of fall round and get it.

Yeah, that looked like a hard move.

OK, moving up again.

OK, go on.

'Normally, for rock climbers,

'we would think a stretch of wet rock on a climb was, like, "Wet rock?

'"We've got endure this?" but I think cos the climb was completely wet

'and because you were expecting it, you actually really enjoyed it.'

-Oh, the handhold just broke just as I moved.

-Really? Woah!

Did you have your heart in your mouth there?

Yeah, I was almost off, there.

-I'm going to step up and left a bit.

-OK, yeah.

So, if I fall off, I'm going to go a long way,

cos I think that knot will pull out.

-OK, I'm just going to head to the right now, Alan.

-OK, good luck.

I've got a run round which is kind of OK-ish.

Good.

DAVE GROANS

'All of our normal outdoor rock climbs are given a grading.

'You can normally get a fairly good idea,

'even by looking at a climb, what grade it's going to be,

'and certainly by doing it. They're quite consistent, the grades.

'But grading something that's wet is almost impossible.

'I think you have to have, obviously,

'an alternative grading system which is just like, possible or impossible?

'You either get up it or you can't.'

-That's good.

-Excellent.

I think I'm definitely going to have to go left here,

as it just steepens up and gets really blank above me.

Yeah.

It's positively overhanging up there.

-OK, mate, a tricky move.

-OK. Go for it.

That looked pretty spicy.

Go on!

Wow. Good effort, Dave.

-Watch this here, my man.

-Go on!

Wow!

-Is a good foothold but it's just all sloping for the hand.

-Yeah.

-Watch this here.

-Yeah.

-Oh! That was a sketchy one.

-Well done.

That's better. I'm much happier now. I'm stood properly on my feet again.

Dave's now halfway up the pitch.

He's doing incredibly well,

especially as they've had no time to prepare and inspect this route.

As they climb, they've had to work out where to put the equipment

that will protect them in case they fall.

I'm going to have to go left cos the wall above me

starts to overhang and it's just completely blank and really smooth,

so I'm going to go into this chimney and try and climb up that.

I've still got quite a long way to go.

Gets me in the base of the chimney, Alan.

Right, OK. And how does that look?

Really slimy and slippery.

So, it's going to be, like, not too easy to actually climb,

but at least, you know, it is a chimney.

-I should be able to hopefully get some jams and things in there.

-Yeah.

Just going to have to be very careful.

Just watch this here.

The rock, now, is starting to get green,

like, moss and slime cos we're getting closer to the top now.

So, the friction's not nearly as good.

Before, I could actually stand on quite sloping footholds.

Not too bad, but now it's worse.

Actually, I think the chimney's about to get a fair bit harder.

It's so awkward.

I can't move them the way I want to.

HE STRAINS

My feet aren't on anything. I'm just jamming myself!

Totally wedged in there.

If I can get up a couple more feet, I can get a foothold.

Go on!

I'm just, like, chest jamming.

HE GROANS

Go on, Dave!

Ah, that's a bit better!

HE GROANS

-Totally wedged in there.

-I'm in a much better position now.

Nice, well done.

It's funny chimneys are like that. It's really desperate one second,

and then as soon as you get into the footholds again, you're fine.

The relief.

Do you know, I think I might be close to a good belay ledge.

Good. That's some pitch you've done.

I just turned round and there's a great big ledge behind me. I think I'm there!

Brilliant, well done!

OK, I'll just be two minutes and then it'll be your turn.

It's a brilliant pitch. Really long.

The hard part was the first third, really,

cos there was a good few spots where I got protection in the rock,

nuts or cams, but I wasn't really happy with it.

And there's quite a few ledges, so if you fell off

you'd have to be a bit careful that you didn't catch a ledge.

-Is that you at the tricky move now?

-Yeah. I think so.

That's the one.

-A bit balancey, isn't it?

-Yeah, really balancey.

Woah!

You just had to take your time,

and then you could just make sure you were solid on every move and then it was OK to make progress.

Wow, Dave, I'm really impressed with this...

-this lead.

-Yeah.

-But, very smeary feet.

-Yeah.

'I'll remember the experience of going down Jingling for a long time.

'I think it's kind of awakened an inner-caver inside me.

'Not that I think I'm going to be rushing down any potholes

'any time soon, but, yeah, it's really interesting

'to have a light shone upon a world I don't really know much about.'

Wow!

You know, when you look down before you see the rope, you can't get a sense of how far it is.

But when you see the rope disappearing down and you can see

your protection clip on the rock and you can see Alan away down there,

you're like, "Wow, that's really far and that's only the second pitch."

It's a big hole.

'I reckon if there had been a spot in the first part of that pitch

'where there was another metre without a hold,

'it just wouldn't be possible at all.

'It's amazing how it's just all there.'

Climbing's like that, I think. It only just works.

-Wow!

-There we go.

-Nice one.

Good one. Cheers! THEY LAUGH

-Good pitch, eh?

-Yeah, it was amazing. So varied.

There was a bit of everything, really - technical balancey moves

at the bottom and then thrutching and chimneys.

Incredible! And every time I looked down at my feet it was just into the abyss.

-It was incredible.

-I know, it's great.

-It's only about 20ft to go or something?

-Yeah, not far to go.

I can see the trees and fresh air.

I'm fancying up this chimney up here.

-All right, see you at the top, man.

-See you in the daylight!

Looking forward to getting out of this hole, I have to say.

-Are you going for a grovel and a hovel?

-I'm going for a grovel.

There's actually a dry hold here, believe it or not.

I'll believe it when I see it!

Squirm!

I'm inventing a technique as I go.

What's your new technique?

It's like the backwards caterpillar.

The backwards caterpillar? Okay.

-Oh, I can see daylight.

-Excellent.

-I'm out of here.

Good news.

Brilliant.

Dave and Alan have put up the first climbing route in Jingling Pot.

Climbers give all of their routes a grade.

But this one has been almost impossible to define.

In the end, we settle for A3,

a respectable hard grade.

More importantly, their achievement is one that could open up

a whole new world for enterprising climbers.

-Daylight.

-Here we are.

-Superb!

-Yes!

-Well done!

-Excellent!

-Yeah.

I'm just amazed that we actually made it happen...

I was really doubting it at the start.

I was a bit intimidated to start with.

It was so wet though, you can't blame us for being worried about it.

It certainly gives you an appreciation

of a part of the landscape that we wouldn't have known,

'and you think as rock climbers, we would have appreciated

'a lot of the cliffs we climb on

'have got these caves, but we've never been in them.'

Most climbers would be satisfied with one new first ascent.

But our team now move on.

90 miles south of the rolling moors of Yorkshire,

lie the deep valleys of Derbyshire's Peak District.

Here, the limestone of the valleys

merge with the gritstone of the Pennine Moors.

Within these hills is an even harder challenge.

And a number of problems to solve.

There's a lot of questions in your mind about the best line to take,

what's possible, what's not possible.

At this moment in time as well, there's a time pressure.

We've only got three days to equip the route,

clean it and actually climb it.

We'll have to just get on and get moving as fast as possible

and get it ready to actually climb, because there'll be a bit of work

before we even really start climbing.

We've got to put the bolts in and then a roof, which is really hard.

There's a lot of complicated rigging to get the bolts in and get it ready.

Peak Cavern is on the edge of the village of Castleton in Derbyshire.

It's a cave that attracts visitors from around the world.

Whilst they come to look at the past,

Dave and Alan want to write a new chapter in its history.

Yet neither of the climbers knows what lies ahead.

Alan has never seen the cavern before,

while Dave managed one brief visit a few days ago.

What he saw was impressive, but daunting.

I'm apprehensive, but excited as well, to see this place.

The first thing I'm looking at, is in this bowl...

it's kind of damp, and the air is really still...

I'm just wondering if the rocks will be dry enough to do a hard climb.

Oh wow!

It is amazing that we've got a piece of rock this size and this steep,

that's totally unclimbed, right in the Peak District.

Every other crag as good as this in the Peak is covered in routes.

'To come here and it's been totally untouched is something

'that people would only have had the opportunity to do 20 or 30 years ago.

Come to a crag this steep and just say "What shall we do?"

We can do any of them! They're all new routes!

It's incredible.

This cave system is the largest in the Peak District

and the main cavern, once thought to be an entrance to hell,

is the biggest in Britain.

400 years ago, it was more than just a natural phenomenon.

People spent their lives living and working in this cavern.

'Castleton was a big centre for lead mining in the area,'

from predominantly the early 1700s until the middle of the 1800s.

There were around 200 operational lead mines within a mile radius of Castleton

and they all had a need for rope, it created a massive demand.

Rope in those days was predominantly made from hemp and natural fibre.

It had to be made in dry conditions

and the Peak District weather

is fairly damp at the best of times!

That limited rope making to dry days. It was a bit hit and miss.

Peak Cavern here, with its entrance, which is 100 metres long,

all undercover, made a fantastic natural factory.

And so the Duke of Devonshire, who had the rights to the mine,

or to the cave at that time,

granted ropemakers leave to live and work and use the cavern

free of charge whenever they were producing ropes for the lead mines,

many of which were under his stewardship.

And so it became a home to, really, generations of people

who lived in the cave and worked,

and basically formed the cave entrance,

as to how it stays today.

Dave and Alan have only three days to prepare the route,

practise the moves, and then attempt a first ascent.

For a climb of this standard, that's an almost impossibly short time.

The first task is to clean the rock,

removing loose bits of rubble, vegetation and debris.

And the past use of the cave for ropemaking

is making this job even harder.

On the inside of the cave here,

it had that many fires over hundreds of years

that it's actually like the inside of a chimney,

it's covered in black soot,

and all the calcite that's run down the outside of the rock,

and just dust that's built up,

and so it's like forming a really thick layer.

And it's probably impossible to climb without cleaning that off,

and it's certainly really unpleasant.

Yeah, I just don't want to undermine this part too much,

it's a wee bit loose.

I have to find the footholds that are solid enough,

and just try and stick to them.

I'm quite apprehensive still, it's like, you know,

often with new routes, if you're lucky,

you have a sense quite early on that it should at least be possible,

and it's just a matter of how much time and effort.

But with this, I just don't know.

This will be a sport climbing route.

Bolts are drilled in for protection.

'There's like, two or three different disciplines in climbing,

'and people enjoy going trad climbing, traditional climbing,

'where you place your own protection in the rock,

'and that where the rock type lends itself to it,

'lots of cracks or pockets,

'where you can place nuts and devices in the cracks.

'And so you can protect yourself quite well.

'But on a cliff like this, any kind of peak British limestone,

'where it's like really grey, smooth, no cracks and hardly any pockets,

'and you just can't get any natural protection in the rock.

'So the climbing's really hard, and if you were to fall off of it

'onto a natural protection, there wouldn't be any,

'and you'd fall to the ground,

'So it's just a kind of non-starter.'

Scary clip.

Preparation is the key to success on a route like this.

But climbers can often spend weeks or months cleaning a route.

Our team don't have that luxury.

Day tow in Castleton,

and it's time to make their first attempt in Peak Cavern.

'It's actually a complete first ascent.

'We have to do the whole thing from bottom to top

'without weighting the rope at all.

'Apart from on the actual anchor stances,

'where we have to stop three or four times and make a belay anchor

'and bring your partner up to that point.

'But on each pitch, on each section of the climb,

'we have to do it completely without weighting on the rope

'in order to call it a success.

'I did manage to do every individual move,

'but when I tried to link sections together,

'I would just slip off without any warning.

'And so the chances of me managing to do the whole pitch without any slips

'is quite slim, actually!'

I can't believe you can reach that flake from the ground!

-Should'a ate your porridge when you were younger.

-I know! I know.

The route Dave and Alan have chosen is made up of four pitches.

The first one, starting in the innards of the cavern,

is the hardest.

There are a number of problems -

this deep in the cave, it's dark, damp, and some of the rock is wet,

which can make climbing at this level impossible.

The next one.

'The first ten to 15 feet over the cliff is really steeply overhanging.

'And there tend to be very, very few holds in that part.

'But because it's really overhanging,

'all your weight is nearly on your fingers.

'And so it's really important for the rock to be dry.'

-I really need to stop and dry my hands.

-I know.

-It's really slimy.

-The next one?

-Yeah.

'Before about the 1970s, I think the outlook of climbing changed a lot,

'and people started to do harder and harder technical climbs.

'That's when it started to become essential that the rock was dry.

'And ever since then, I think, if the rock's wet, they just don't climb

'and they wait till it's dry, or go somewhere else.

'I remember listening to Jamie Marshall,

'who was like a climbing hero for me from the 1960s,

'and he was telling me this long story about a climb on Ben Nevis,

'he said, "Oh, it was raining, of course," and it was just like a passing comment,

'and it's just because it was normal to go climbing when it was raining.'

HE EXHALES DEEPLY

'Cos these days, people would just go home and come back another day.'

HE SIGHS

-Just stand here for a couple of minutes.

-OK.

-It's good this rest is here.

-Yeah.

-DAVE CHUCKLES

-OK, mate?

-Go for it.

This is the hardest part of the first pitch,

and Dave's not sure he'll be able to do it.

He'll need all his strength and endurance

for the next few critical moves.

Nice one.

DAVE BREATHES HEAVILY

-HE EXHALES SHARPLY

-Awesome, Dave, well done.

-Stand here for a few minutes again?

-Yeah, no worries.

-Oh, ...

-Yeah, good.

OK, climbing, Alan.

Go for it, man.

Climbing at this standard demands the highest levels of skill,

stamina and determination.

Camera people, the safety team and production crew,

are careful not to break Dave's concentration.

Slack.

Where's that hole?

Ah, there, it's there!

-HE BLOWS OUT

-Quite complicated, that section.

-Yeah.

I'll take my time here.

'For sport routes in general, we have a scale of numbers and letters.

'If this climb was completely dry, it would be 7C+,

'which is a sort of immensely ranged kind of grade,

'the sort of grade that I can normally climb first try

'if I was warmed up and going well.

'But for this climb, because it's wet,

'it's totally different, and it feels impossible to grade.

'So we have a special grade for that type of climb in Britain,

'for really peculiar climbs that don't fit the bill

'because they're either really loose, or really long,

'or you have to swim to them if they're a sea cliff,

'and it's HXS, Hard XS, which basically is a code-word for,

'"you'll have an adventure."

'If you're a good climber, you might get up it,

but adventure is guaranteed.'

So we're getting on to the better holds now.

-Nearly there, man.

-Well done!

-OK!

-Hey, nice one!

-We did it, man!

-All right?

-Cool! Cheers!

Whoo!

-Cool.

-Good job!

As soon as you do a few moves in a row,

your fingertips just get covered in mud.

So... It's OK when you're on the big holds, and they're muddy,

but then as soon as you go on to the next small hold,

you just feel like...

You can hold on with all your strength and it doesn't make any difference,

you just feel like you're at the mercy of whether your hand goes "ping!" and falls off, so...

You get so tight and so tense, I was like, "Just don't..."

"Try and keep even pressure on all the points of contact."

Oh, that's a big weight off my mind to get that done.

Really big weight.

That was excellent, man!

-OK, it's your turn, man.

-Yeah, cool!

-DAVE CHUCKLES

Go on, Alan.

Nice.

Alan's going to have a much harder time than me, following,

cos he has to take the clips out of the rope as he comes past.

And it's harder to take them out than it is when you actually lead,

cos the rope's going through them at the wrong angle.

Go on, mate, I've got you.

Ah...

Hah!

Had a bit of a moment there.

Well done.

He'll be OK, he can take a rest on the rope if he wants to.

It's really just the very start, cause if it's so wet,

and if he slips off as he's taking a clip out,

there's so much stretch, you know, of this rope,

he'll end up probably stretching down right to the ground again!

But he'll be fine.

He's a strong guy.

HE CHUCKLES

-Ooh! It's much more pumpy than I thought it would be.

-Yeah.

-Is that you having a good one now?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

OK, man.

Nice, go on.

Aaagh! It's just my hand slipped off.

-Oh, man! Gutted!

-That's just cruelly sudden.

Oh!

-Just at the last second...

-yeah.

I just went to reach with my left hand.

I know, I saw your hand reaching, and it just pinged off.

Aah!

I'm in no man's land.

-DAVE CHUCKLES

-I have to pioneer our way back up.

THEY CHUCKLE

-I'm so disappointed!

-DAVE CHUCKLES

-I so wanted to do that.

-Just the conditions.

-Yeah, it's not totally under your control.

Alan's fall doesn't jeopardise the climber's chances

of making a first ascent.

It's only the lead climber who must not come off.

But he's still upset,

and now has to climb his way up wet and greasy rock to the traverse.

Oh!

-Ha!

-DAVE CHUCKLES

Aaah!

I'm going to have a tantrum!

HE LAUGHS

It's not fair!

-OK, I'm climbing again.

-OK, man.

-Little bit, little touch of slack.

-Yeah.

OK, got you.

'I didn't even have time to think about it,'

I didn't even realise I was going to come off, I thought, "this is all going very smoothly,"

I was reaching down to what was going to be a better hold,

next thing I know, I'm dangling in space and going,

"what on earth happened there?"

I knew that it didn't affect the attempt on the whole route,

but climbing is also a personal thing, and you know, from a

personal point of view, it was, yeah, just disappointing, really.

-He's really balancing that now, isn't he?

-Oh, yeah.

-Well, one pitch up. How about that?

-Yeah, yeah, good job.

Cheers!

The bit I was really worried about was the start, um,

the steep part, because, um,

I'd only, hadn't actually really done the moves there.

So I managed to get through that, and thought,

"I know how to do the technical part, I'll be OK."

And it all went smoothly, as I planned,

and I was just about to reach for a better hold,

and just as I was about, sort of stretching across,

my right hand just...went pinging off the wet toofer hold.

-You know, it's so thin there, there wasn't anything I could grab onto...

-Yeah.

-..to stop myself from falling.

-And we've got three more pitches.

-Onwards and upwards! Exactly!

-Yeah, we're not there yet, so time to press on and...

-Yeah.

..get this thing done.

Leading off on the second pitch,

Alan will ease his way round the first part of the bulge

which forms the massive entrance arch into Peak Cavern.

This enormous lump of rock is what climbers dream about.

And the Peak District is a magnet for athletes from across the whole of the UK.

'It's famously the epicentre of UK climbing.'

Are you slack, Dave?

'I even as a 17-year-old decided to come here for university,

'cos I thought, "I love climbing, I've got to come down here,"

'and I'm a bit older and wiser now, and I quite like the Scottish scene,

'but to find a route in probably the most climbed-out place in the world,

'pretty much every piece of rock has been climbed here,

'and there's this enormous piece of rock that's got nothing on it.'

Seems like a bit of fresh dust is appearing on some of the holds.

-Yeah.

-OK, slack.

Slack.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

'In climbing, it's definitely the sweetest thing

'to have your name in the guidebook, the first ascensionist, and things.'

'Personally, I'm a climber

'who mostly focuses on doing repeats of routes,

'but I've definitely got the thirst for a first ascent now,

'I can definitely see the attraction.

'There's lot of extra hard work, you know, the cleaning,

'preparing the climb, and having the vision.'

Dave, slack.

'But it's quite infectious,

'and I can see why Dave's so keen on pioneering first ascents.'

'Climbers have a concept of what a rock climb is,

'and I think if we were to come and do something

'that didn't, kind of, fit into that concept,

'people would come and say, "Well, why on earth did they climb that,

'"when there was a more obvious or more stunning line to be done,"

'so I quite like the idea of leaving something behind

'that I can proudly say, "Yeah, we climbed that line,

'"and it was an obvious thing to do as a first line in the cave."'

OK, Dave, that's me.

After the disappointment of the last pitch,

I just really wanted to sort of redeem myself,

and do that cleanly and nicely.

I can still feel the first pitch in my arms a little bit, so...

But it's a relief to get to the end, and...

erm...

It means that we're still on for the ascent, so...

Pressure's off a little bit now.

OK, Dave, climbing ready.

When a sport route is this hard, climbers practise each move

before attempting to link them together into a continuous ascent.

But Dave and Alan only have permission to be here

for a few days.

So Dave's not been able to rehearse this pitch.

Bit more interesting for you, this pitch, having not tried it before.

Yeah.

It's all a surprise coming round every corner.

And there you've kind of got to drop down to that hole.

Low down.

And undercut that pocket with your left hand.

And then there's two here.

That's it.

Crouched move.

THEY CHUCKLE

You've got it.

Nice one.

-Well done.

-Yes.

So next up, we've got to go round the back of this bay,

and it's a horizontal roof right there,

so I bet I'm going to have to climb about 15 metres,

and I'll probably go up about two metres.

And it's a really nice beach here in the back of the cave there,

there's a big toofer where the floor stone's formed a big pillar,

like two elephants' trunks,

and I've got to climb up that,

and then it's really gymnastic moves through the roof.

And then it's just a right struggle to get across the roof.

To the end.

-But we'll see, we'll go for a good blast.

-Yeah.

-See what happens.

-Give it a good shot.

HE CHUCKLES

-OK?

-OK, man.

-Have it.

-Aye, aye.

-Considerably better friction than the first pitch.

-Yeah.

-Really heavily featured, these first few holds.

-Yeah.

Right, so what is it, like, two metres, are they?

Nice.

-OK, I'm just going to do a little jump.

-OK. Go on.

Nice.

Dave MacLeod has the ability to make the hardest routes look easy.

Only a world-class athlete

could have completed the initial crux pitch

on a first serious attempt.

Now, there's no stopping him.

He's powering upwards.

Dave's a great guy to climb with.

I mean, he's a real inspiration to a lot of climbers.

I've known him for quite a number of years,

and I think there's a lot that I can learn as a climber,

as an experienced climber, from Dave.

I'd definitely like to emulate him,

and maybe knock him off his perch a little bit.

DAVE GASPS

Come on.

-DAVE EXHALES SHARPLY

-Nice.

Go on.

HE EXHALES SHARPLY

HE BREATHES DEEPLY

Ow.

Come on, Dave.

HE GASPS

-Ah!

-Oh, yes!

-There you go!

That's more like it. Woo-hoo!

ALAN LAUGHS

Nice!

Could you pass us up the flask?

Yeah, well...

-Could try throwing it.

-DAVE CHUCKLES

-Well, I think I'll stand here for a few minutes.

-All right, man.

In the relative comfort.

-The sun's back out as well now.

-It is. So it is.

'When I got into the chimney, I suddenly realised'

that if I just stood right up, I could stand right up into the cave,

and stick my hands off, and I could get a total rest.

'There's only one problem with that,

'which is you get used to the confined space.

'And then when it comes time to come out and finish the pitch,

'you suddenly go, "Ooh! I've got to concentrate again and try hard."

HE GASPS

Awesome.

Slack.

And this bit just coming round here, these are undercuts,

they're very awkward, the undercuts that go over your head.

And you have to let this hand drop out.

I can't really pull on the hold of the thing, though.

I could do with a nice finishing hold, please.

Looks as if it's going to break off.

A long day.

DAVE SIGHS

OK.

-That's me, man.

-Good job. Well done.

-Ah, I really enjoyed that.

-Went quite cleanly.

-There we go, safe.

-Yeah, good job. Well done.

-Excellent.

HE CLAPS

Yes!

Alan's pitch now.

Steep headwall, a bit more fingery, small holds.

Erm... Pretty sure he can do it.

Uh... But it looks interesting, I've not been on this pitch at all, so it's completely a first for me.

And so...

-I'll bring him up, and see how he gets on.

-OK, Dave.

-OK, man.

-Just about to go.

Enjoy.

That pitch could not have been more different from the first pitch.

It was probably the same sort of difficulty,

or maybe a little bit easier, sort of 7C-ish, something like that.

Erm... But it's lovely and dry, and there's a bit of wind,

so the holds had some friction.

So it was much more athletic and steeper

and swinging around on big holds.

Nice. That's you. You've got it.

Then get a... Bicycle with your feet.

Ooh!

That is a great pitch, that. Really, really great climbing.

Exactly what you look for in a new route.

I've certainly got an appreciation

of how different the vibe and the environment is

from way, way back, 100 metres in there, where we started,

and out here when we're out in the light.

And I feel, like, really excited to be out here,

and almost on the headwall of the cave.

And back out in an environment we're kind of used to.

Have a bit of daylight!

With just the final pitch now to go, success is almost assured.

We're nearly there now.

The summit is in sight.

It's been an extraordinary few days.

The rarest of opportunities

to put up one of the longest new sport climbs in Britain.

A bold, new line that goes from darkness into light.

'I've got the extra pressure in that Dave's done all the hard work now,

'so it's all on me now to finish this off.

'I won't think about that too much.

'I'd say we're 90% done now.

'I think we can nail this thing now.

Good stuff, man, well done.

'I think what guys like Dave and I are looking for

'is something that's challenging us to our absolute limit.

'Just the scale of this cave is what really has got me inspired.

'I think in sport climbing

'you're looking for the most difficult challenges you can find,

'and the more of over-hanging,

'generally the more difficult things are.

'It's not like an athletic event

'where people are trying to run the fastest over 100 metres, because their route is defined,

'so we're trying to find the hardest thing that we can do,

'within the context of something that's possible.'

-Nice big hole here.

-Excellent.

-Right, Dave, this next bit is the second crux, so...

-OK.

Yeah, I'm watching you.

Go for it, man. My finger's still there.

Good stuff.

HE GASPS

Big reach.

'So good, the position on that pitch is just amazing.

'You just feel like you've got so much air below you.

'And you're just climbing up on these holds.

'It's just brilliant. I love it.'

Woo!

Yes!

ALAN CHUCKLES

-Excellent.

-Excellent!

DAVE CHUCKLES

OK, Dave, that's me safe.

-OK!

-Woo!

Well done, man!

Yeah! So good!

ALAN CHUCKLES

It's in the bag, we've done it.

Clean first ascent.

Success at Peak Cavern,

with the first ever sport climb on the wet, slimy cave walls,

and up over the entrance arch onto this massive rock face.

It's a fantastic achievement.

But Alan can't quite believe they've done it.

This morning when Dave and I got up, we were talking in the room,

thinking that given the conditions of the first pitch,

we didn't imagine that we'd actually be able to do it.

So to be so successful on our first attempt, I think,

is... is really excellent.

I wouldn't use that loose block, Dave.

DAVE CHUCKLES

-Well-timed advice - I was just about to pull on it!

-Yeah!

Whoo!

-Bit high up up here!

-HE CHUCKLES

Get dizzy looking down.

You have to build your feet really high now,

and there's a good crimp high up for your left hand.

HE BREATHES DEEPLY

-Yeah, I got it.

-Nice one.

Hah!

Yes!

Nice, Dave.

-Lovely pitch, yeah?

-Amazing pitch, isn't it?

Great position.

Yes!

Excellent!

-That's good.

-Good one!

-Yay! Good job, man.

-First on the crag.

-First on the crag. Amazing.

-Ah, yes!

-Do you want to jump off?

-THEY LAUGH

Their new climb will be called Ring Of Fire.

An evocative description of its difficulty.

The first crux pitch is graded 7C+.

This means it's impossible for all but the top few climbers.

Even less could do it in the time available to Dave and Alan.

This week has been one of the most memorable weeks of my life.

I've never been down a pothole before,

I've squeezed and wriggled my way, and then climbed back out again,

which I never imagined in a million years I would do.

And then I've had the opportunity to climb this place, which is...

You know, this really is one of Britain's most phenomenal limestone caves,

and I didn't know it existed before this week,

and now I've climbed it, that's just... it's unreal.

Very few climbs that have been done that are wet climbs.

Obviously people have done climbs that it starts chucking down with rain while they're climbing it

and they finish it, and they're generally much easier climbs.

But I wonder if there's any climbs harder than this

that are soaking wet!

And are just always soaking wet.

So I'm really pleased with it.

I think we... I think we did well to finish it.

This week has been more than just a superb athletic achievement.

Dave and Alan have shown the enormous potential

for climbing underground,

leaving their comfort zone to enter a strange new world.

And now, right in the heart of the English rock climbing scene,

these two Scots have accomplished what many thought impossible -

a brilliant, bold new route on a massive unclimbed face.

This is climbing with no limits.

It is interesting that we've had this opportunity

to come down and do it

when people have obviously wanted to climb here for a long time.

I think every climber in the Peak District

who has an interest in new climbs, probably like,

"Wow! How did they... How did they manage to do it out there?"

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