James McHaffie repeats The Big Bang, 9a (Pen Trwyn, North Wales)

This Neil Carson route from 1996 has finally been repeated. Rumored to have a font 7c+ crux on tiny sharp crimps after an 8b+ route, it is no wonder it hadn't had much action! 

Caff supposedly found a more consistent way of doing the crux section, making it feel a whole lot easier, but it is worth bearing in mind Caff's ridiculous ability to make the smallest wafer of rock appear to be a big jug. Amazing effort! just goes to show what a bit of training and dedication can do - turn one of Britain's best trad climbers to one of our best sport climbers!

I wonder if this marks the beginning of another boom in British sport climbing? The number of people climbing 8c in Britain has shot up in the last couple of years and hopefully ascents like this will inspire others to get stuck in to the harder routes.

There is some footage of James on the route below: