Mathew Wright frees bold Magical Thinking E10 at Pavey Ark, UK

Last Friday Britain's Mathew Wright completed the first ascent of Magical Thinking, a bold trad climb initially attempted by Charlie Woodburn at Pavey Ark in England's Lake District.

The route starts up the classic E4 Eclipse, to the right therefore of Lexicon which Wright repeated in May 2022, but after placing the last piece of good gear at the obvious horizontal break it continues up an immaculate wall above. This is split in two by a thin seam running straight through the centre which provides runout, technical 8a+ climbing.

While the technical crux lies shortly after this break, a second, psychological crux liest circa 30m off the deck. In Wright's words "A fall from pretty much any of the hard climbing will guarantee hitting a large ramp that runs diagonally up and right, directly beneath the routes cruxes. It's the kinda route that you wouldn't lead it unless you're certain you won't fall off"

The 24-year-old worked the route on toprope first and then, placing all the gear as he went, made a smooth first free ascent in the late afternoon.

As to the name of the climb, Wright explained "This is Charlie’s route. I may have made the first ascent, but Charlie has put endless energy and time into this project, and thus I feel like he should be the one who gets to name it. I love the name too as it certainly fits my experience."