I idly started making a list of the 10 hardest problems around St. John's. I tried to list them not just by the grades they have been given but also how hard I personally believe them to be relative to each other. Basing this not just on how hard I find the problems myself but also on how many other people have attempted them and their levels of success.
I've also tried to list every ascent of the problems with the first ascentionist's name listed first. It's very likely I may have missed some people here or have some information wrong. Please let me know if that's the case. Also I'd be very interested to hear of any disagreement in terms of difficulty of the lines or any hard problems I may have missed.
Here is the list as I've got it so far...
2. The Mandolin- V9, Sean McDowell (Unrepeated)
3. Born to Clear Cut- V9, Dave Stack/Sean McDowell.
4. Me Ol' Cock - V10, Thomasina Pidgeon, Dave Stack, Jamie Robbins
5. Warlord- V9, Sean McDowell, Dave Stack, Thomasina Pidgeon, Greg Foote, Jamie Robbins
6.The View- V8, Greg Foote (Unrepeated)
7. Beat it Like a Red Headed Step Child- V8, Phil Smith, Sean McDowell, Dave Stack, Andrew Osnach, ???
8. Smack- V8, Thomasina Pidgeon, Dave Stack
9.Nightmare-V8, Phil Smith, Sean Mcdowell, Neil Phillips, Dave Stack, ???
10. The Wire- V8, Dave Stack (Unrepeated)
Me Ol Cock.... V9?
As you may have noticed I listed "Me ol cock" lower than three problems graded V9. I've put quite a bit of thought into this and believe it to be accurate. Since climbing "Me ol' cock" this fall I re-climbed both "Warlord" V9, and "Born to clear cut" V9. I believe with the beta I used "Me ol Cock" lies in between these two problems in terms of difficulty, as such I am now suggesting V9 for Me ol cock. I believe with Thomo's original beta the climb more than deserved the V10 it was given. However my new beta, while still quite hard does not put it a grade above the other V9 problems around here.
Notes and Honourable Mentions:
It's important to note that I left the problem "Addiction" at the trailer boulders in Flatrock off of this list. It was climbed by visiting Tim Doyle and it would likely be listed as harder than any other problem around St. John's. However very little is known about how it was climbed and no grade was suggested. For this reason I am leaving it off the list for now.
At #6 "The View" is a problem I know very little about, Greg climbed it with Thomasina when they were both here two summers ago. On a boulder at Fort amherst that I had previously tried unsuccessfully to pull off the ground on. They established two lines from the same start "Green eggs and ham" goes left and was graded V7, and "The View" goes right and was graded V8. I have managed to find my way up the V7 version, but have not been able to figure out the right beta at all. As such I am not sure where to include the problem in the list. I believe it likely requires some very specific beta that I have not yet unlocked. So for now I have listed it as the hardest problem given V8.
"Lunar Eclipse" is another problem that may well deserve to be on this list. It was climbed by Phil Smith (anyone else??) at Freshwater Bay and given V7. I have never given the problem any serious effort but what few attempts I have made have seen very little progress.
I know there are some hard problems put up by Sean McDowel at "The chapel" boulder and in butterpot park. However I'm not sure what grades were suggested or whether they should be included in this list. Sean if you are reading, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.
I was surprised when I made the list that the top 10 was all V8 and above. It shows standards have risen quite a bit from when V6's were considered the areas' test pieces. Including V7 would add at least another 9 problems!
Anyway, that's all just some pointless rambling on a rainy day, but I would be very interested in hearing what you think! Did I miss anything? Get anything wrong? Let me know in the comments. Please include your name, I allow anonymous comments to make posting easier... not so people can hide who they are.
