Gripped Magazine
Emma Twyford Climbs Test-Piece 5.14R Trad
Experienced trad climber Emma Twyford has redpointed Yma O Hyd, an E10 7a (5.14R) on Skyline Buttress in the Ogwen Valley. The test-piece gear climb was first climbed by James McHaffie in September 2024. Yma O Hyd is a direct start to a 1996 climb called Mission Impossible (E9 7a), which Twyford climbed in 2024.
Yma O Hyd was first repeated last October by Steve McClure, who confirmed the grade. He then climbed it again without using the fixed pegs. McClure told Climber, “The trad gear is mostly OK. There’s just one section in the middle where there’s a good peg, the pegless version has instead a small RP, and then higher, the next good peg is usually clipped from a decent hand hold… but it’s crucial to get a cam in that hand hold so you have to commit to the first crux and reach back and plug a cam into it. Falling off there onto the RP far below could be nasty.”
Twyford is one of the U.K.’s top trad climbers, with several hard sends to her name, including, Mission Impossible Olwen (E9 6c), Rare Lichen (E9 6c), Once Upon a Time in the South West (E9 6c) and The Big Issue (E9 6c). In 2023, she made the first ascent of Deux Mauvais Melons 5.14a.
With her send of Yma O Hyd, Twyford has become the first woman to climb E10 in the U.K. In 2019, she became the fifth woman from the U.K. to climb 5.14d with Big Bang in North Wales.
Emma Twyford Profile
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