By Neil Bentley.

A quick note to the reader - This is the second piece of writing I have churned out on my ascent of Equilibrium. I have tried to give a more subjective account of how I ended up trying this route which highlights some of the great routes that have given me the experience I needed to climb Equilibrium. It is far less personal than the other piece I wrote which you may find printed elsewhere. I hope you don't find it too heavy going!

Mission statement - to seek out a new sequence, to find new holds and a belayer, to boldly go where no grit climber had gone before……

In the beginning there was gravel and water, over time this was buried, compressed, uplifted and finally after 270 million years appeared the grit crags of today. As a geologist originally, I found this amazing, anything which took so long to be created deserved special attention - surely they were put there to be climbed……

Yoghurt arete - looking up at the arete I knew that it had been climbed on top rope by Ben Moon in 93. So the real mission was to take it that step further and lead the route. This process was to take over 3 years from first acquainting myself with the route in 97. But how had I become so addicted to this weird and wonderful activity to the point of obsession.

My climbing background is grit through and through. Having first climbed at Holmfirth Edge in the winter of 86 in a pair of gym pumps, I was hooked immediately. Climbing was always something I had wanted to try, having spent many Summer weekends at Ilkley and Shipley Glen with my parents as a child playing on the grit boulders. I had an inexplicable fascination with the rock. By the time I had my first proper opportunity to climb I was 16.

I slowly rose through the grades, my first route was Parsons Chimney, a Hard severe at Almcliff Crag. My climbing almost came to an early end when topping out on the route, my friend and I found our hair was standing on end as a massive thunder cloud sped over the crag, a lightning strike was narrowly avoided!

Old Friends was the big breakthrough into the E3's for me, in floppy boots, socks and a chalk bag big enough to fit my whole arm into. I had the bug now, I was 19 and studying rock climbing at Sheffield University with a bit of Geology degree when I could fit it in. With the grit only 6 miles away it was easy for it to become the main focus of my climbing.

By the early 90's I'd become drawn to sport climbing. I enjoyed the physical challenge it presented and the mental discipline required to push your self up harder and harder moves on small bits of obscure limestone in the Peak. This type of climbing helped to get my fingers stronger, as they had always been my weakest point. I was then able to start pushing myself on the harder, more powerful grit routes.

By 94 I was determined to try and climb a grit E6 ground up. I plotted in the pub with Rob Barker and Niall Grimes. Niall was the belayer. On the first attempt I just missed getting to the gear, taking a ground-sweeping fall straight into Niall. Second attempt I got to the gear, an RP3, placed it blind and slapped up the arete only to falter on the upper arete, totally pumped and plunged groundwards yet again. That was my first really scary grit experience, thankfully the RP had been in well! Next try, I climbed it.