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Hokku

Hokku - another Font 8a from the machine MacLeod Pic Hotaches


Hokku, Dave MacLeod's new Font 8a at Dumbarton, is aptly named...it's a shorter part of his longer cave project under the Home Rule boulder and is named after a Japanese form of poetry that reflects seasonal moments. It was certainly seasonal: pissing it down, everything was dripping and this was about the only dry thing to climb in Scotland...from a large sharp jug at the back left of the cave, an innovative and desperate sequence allows the central roof 'handrail' to be gained and then the jugs leading to the finish along Mugsy Traverse (itself Font 7b). The full link-up will be a wild adventure and at least 8b+, but in the meantime Dave was happy to name and grade the 8a version, which may be a popular alternative to his original and more extreme vision! The race is on for the second ascent...

The Hotaches team were out filming. Dave Brown had a key-stones cop moment and nearly did a backflip descending the muddy slopes with a few grand of cameras bundled in his arms, but his reactions were remarkable... as Diff said...'bones heal for free, cameras don't...'

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