Today Danny Cattell defied damp holds and some rather inclement weather (i.e. it was misty and raining) to complete two hard repeats in the Llanberis Pass. Most significantly he repeated Paul Higginson’s hard test piece, Pool of Bethesda V12/Font 8a+, joining a rather exclusive club which includes Malcolm Smith and Rich Simpson. Danny climbed the line, then repeated it twice for the camera afterwards, taking a fairly spectacular fall from the top when a small crimp (not essential) snapped off.

Questioned about the grade, Danny was non-committal: “It probably is 8a+, after all, it does seem to stop a lot of strong people. I don’t know, it felt okay to me.”

Danny also made a fairly effortless ascent of Mr Fantastic V12/Font 8a+ in the same session. He had tried both problems previously.

(NB. NWB.com's reporter introduced Danny to his 4 year old son, and the wee lad immediately asked him: "Are you Danny the champion of the world?" - No, but today he was definitely the champion of the Pass.)

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