So anything hit you straight off? No surprise really that there are more 8a's than any other grade, but more 9a's than 8c+'s might come as a bit of a shock - so hands up all those 8c+’s masquerading as 8c’s. Two often-talked about are John Welford's The Bastard at Rubicon and Jerry Moffatt's Liquid Amber at LPT. You might also think that The Dales' looks as though it has more 8b and 8a+ than it ought to have so we might need to ask some questions there. Like are Well Dunne Finish, Predator and Grooved Arete really 8b? And are Supercool and GBH really 8a+? But where are the skeleton's in the Peak? Well for a start, ask yourself if the 8b/8a+ boundary is in the right place at present, 'cos with only eight 8b's and with thirty five 8a+’s you might well wonder if a different system is being used. You might redress the balance a tad by upping Boot Boys, Superfly and Albatrossity Direct to 8b, to name but three of the proper ‘ard 8a+’s. And by the way these figures assumes that Revelations weighs in at 8b which is more that a bit controversial to say the least!

But really this only amounts to tinkering with the edges. It doesn't matter a damm really, everybody knows the rules: expect to get powered-out in the Peak, pumped out of your crust in the Dales, rained-off in Wales, sun-dried down in the south and midged to death up in Scotland. And just in case the writing on the wall ain't big enough, don't plan a sport climbing trip to the Lakes or Ireland COs there ain't a shit lot of choice when you get there!

So where to next as to be the big question? Well if it's world-class/difficulty projects you're looking for, then go no further than Malham, a bit of quality in an ‘away from it all situation, then The Diamond is for you. Alternatively you might try one of the big sea caves down on the south coast. And when you've finished all those on the list get yourself off to France and Spain, they've a few down there to go at!