Elder Crack was first climbed in 1950 by the legend Joe Brown who graded this eye-catching grit stone classic as a VS. Thankfully, since then it has given the more appropriate extreme grade, E2. Elder Crack is an 18 m struggle on Curbar Edge and is a must for every crack climber. An easy start leads to the off width “sentry box” which is a sickening full body struggle to the large welcoming jug out left.
Do not relax yet, the real crux is transferring from the jug on the left of the crack to the layback up the right side. This crack is followed via strenuous laybacks until you can flop over the top of edge.
Access
To access the Curbar there is the Curbar Gap Car Park with easy footpaths to follow to the top of the Edge. This can be found by clicking the link – here
However, I recommend you drive a little further down the hill to the parking linked – here
This takes you down the hill where there is limited parking available on the left and righthand side of the road. Remember to park considerately.
From the lower carpark, walk down the hill for 20 – 30 meters until turning right before reaching the house and pass through the gate towards the incredibly popular Trackside Boulder. From the boulder you will be able to see the edge above you. From here you need to pick your way through the ferns toward the base of crag. This can be easier said than done but to limit damage to the ground and potentially nesting ground birds, keep to the obvious footpaths as best you can. I usually pass on the left of the Gorilla Warfare boulder and continue to zig zag my way up towards the Pea Pod. Another Joe Brown classic.
The Route
First climbed in 1950 by the mighty Joe Brown, this route is a fierce undertaking with should not be underestimated. The route was named Elder Crack as at the time of the first ascent there was a small elder tree low in the crack which has long since disappeared.
An initial easy series of blocks in the crack is climbed until inside the crack properly. From here it is possible to place protection deep inside the crack but unless your helmet is exceptionally small, it will be essential to remove this to reach inside the crack. Once some protection has been placed it is possible to thrutch oneself into the sentry box crack. An entire body can disappear into the bowels of Curbar in this section of the climb. After a sickening series of thrutching movements, the thinner crack is reached above. Too wide for jams, too thin for a full body thrutch, you must now through intense effort fight towards the jug high up on the left-hand side.
If you can get this and keep the nauseous feeling of the off width at bay, you need to transfer to the right-hand side of the crack on the large slab. Once here, you can layback your way to the top of the crack, if your arms can hold on.
To protect the crux off width, a DMM Dragon no 8 is needed before the jug and 6’s and 7’s after.
The Climb
I first visited Curbar in April ’22. We bivvied under a boulder for the night as it was early season so not many people around and the weather was good. We played on the Trackside Boulder and Gorilla Warfare in the morning. From the boulders below, I could see the impressive crack of Elder Crack, not knowing at the time what route it was. After a bit of skin sapping bouldering, we hiked up to do some trad climbing.
After warming up on Bel Ami, VS 4b then Green Crack, HVS 5b, it was then my lead for Elder Crack. This was nothing short of an utter palaver. I did not have a no 8 cam, only a no 6. After getting my helmet stuck in the crack before the sentry box, I then spent what felt like forever, trying to place the undersized cam.
When I finally found a spot for it, I pulled through the desperate off width and grabbed the lefthand jug. I was so exhausted by this point I attempted to move across onto the slab but was almost sick from the exertion and fell off. I was lowered back to the ground where I lay in a sweaty mess for some time.
Si then lead the route on the preplaced gear and without the faff of placing gear he was soon on the slab. Si placed the second no 6 cam after climbing past the crux only to realise he had no more gear which would fit the 7 – 8-meter remaining section of the route. Stoically he climbed on to the top and thankfully did not fall as it would have been a bad fall. I then seconded the route clean but being so depleted I do not remember all the details of the ascent.
I returned in the end of September after doing a round of Bristol to locate a big green cam that I could borrow. Equipped with the right protection, and a bit of beta from my earlier failure I returned. The weather was questionable and when we arrived at the base, it rained a bit. Not to be deterred I racked and roped up and hopped straight on the route. No time for a warmup.
I quickly reached the sentry box without much difficulty then placed the correct size cam. I stood in the sentry box for a minute, made a false start as I had wrong footed myself, then proceeded to start with the correct foot. As I squeezed up the off width, I bumped the cam up higher and thrutched my way up until I could reach the jug out left. I then pulled up and began to transfer onto the slab. At this point the lack of breathing and the body thrutching caught up with me so I wedged as much of my body into the crack so I could rest. A wave of nausea later, I pulled onto the slab. Placed another cam and continued up the pleasant but still strenuous crack.
After a fair bit of laybacking and slow progress, I gratefully pulled onto the top of Elder Crack. Retribution of the previous failure.
It is humbling to read stories of Joe Brown and Don Whillans who climbed these routes with meagre protection, poor ropes and daps not climbing shoes. They really were extraordinary climbers.
Sources:
-The Hard Years, Joe Brown
