Die by the Drop, new E10 by Dave MacLeod in Scotland

Macleod first attempted the 40 foot slab in mid October shortly after repeating Muy Caliente! in Pembroke, together with Kevin Shields, then worked the line on his own one afternoon before committing to the lead on 1 November with Shields once again, stating "Of course the inevitable happened and everything went wrong on the crux. I caught the thumb press but at the same time my toes seemed to buckle on a tiny smear and my body arched backwards. In that breath, I fully expected to fall. But at least I also fully accepted I was committed. So survival instinct could fully kick in and I pressed down into the crimp I’d locked to my knee level with strength you only get above an unprotected drop. That was enough to escape the impending splat and I pressed on, wobbling like jelly, all the way to the top."

Die by the Drop clocks is as one of MacLeod's hardest ever first ascents, after his Rhapsody at Dumbarton Rock, To Hell and Back at Hell’s Lum in Cairngorms and his Echo Wall high on Ben Nevis. Winter has now kicked in in the Highlands and with this frame of mind, who knows what MacLeod will be up to next?