Dan Varian made the second ascent of The Dark Side E9 7b ground-up. This makes him one of only a handful of people to have pushed the style to routes of that grade and the only one to do so at such a high technical grade.

The steep twelve metre route at Back Bowden Doors was first climbed by Andy Earl in 2003 and features extremely difficult moves with only poor protection. The climbing is exclusively on horizontal crimps, making it an ideal target for attempting ground-up as the sequence is relatively straightforward.

Dan Varian on Brokeback Bowden ©Mark Savage

Varian had tried the route before, while injured, three years ago and decided to save it for attempting in good style despite barely being able to get off the ground at the time. He returned on Sunday 18th armed with four pads, two spotters and a cam, which had been chosen after studying an old photo of Earl on the route.

After warming up by making the first ascent of Brokeback Bowden 7c, Varian headed over to The Dark Side. Excellent conditions meant that only three attempts were needed to complete Northumberland’s hardest route after a quick clean of the holds on abseil by Mark Savage. Varian made use of the perfect flat landing, bailing once and falling once.

Dan Varian on The Dark Side ©Mark Savage

Although 7b is the hardest technical grade that a traditional route can receive it covers a large spectrum of moves. Varian’s background in highball bouldering leaves him well positioned to suggest that it is at least Font 8A and probably 8b+ as a sport route.

Sources
Mark Savage - Darth V turns to The Dark Side
Dan Varian - The Dark Side of Bouldering is Trad