{{short description|Traditional climbing route in England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox climbing route | name = Master's Edge | photo = File:Millstone Edge Master's Edge E7 6c.jpeg | photo_caption = ''Master's Edge'' is the brightly coloured arete left of centre, "Embankment Wall" is the brightly coloured face at right of centre, Millstone Edge. | other_name = | map = England | location = Hathersage, Derbyshire | coords = {{coord|53.3212 |-1.6291|format=dms|region:GB_type:mountain|display=inline,title}} | climbing_area = Millstone Edge quarry, | route_type = Traditional climbing | rock_type = Gritstone | vertical_gain = {{convert|18|m|ft}}<ref name=BMC/> | pitches = 1 | rating = E7 6c (British)<ref name=CMagazine/><br />5.12d R/X (American)<ref name=CMagazine/> | route_setter = | first_ascent = | ffa = Ron Fawcett<br>29 December 1983<ref name=BMC>{{cite book | title=Eastern Edges: North - Burbage, Millstone and Beyond Paperback | chapter=Millstone Area | isbn= 978-0903908771 | publisher=The British Mountaineering Council | date=2006 | pages=91-123}}</ref> | fffa = Airlie Anderson<br>September 1994 | first_onsight_flash_ascent = {{plainlist| * Liam Hasley<br>(2004, flash) * Alex Honnold<br>(2009, onsight) }} | fastest_ascent = }} '''''Master's Edge''''' is an {{convert|18|m|ft|adj=on}} traditional climbing route on a gritstone arête in the "Corners Area" of Millstone Edge quarry, in the Peak District, England.<ref name=BMC/> When English climber Ron Fawcett completed the first free ascent of the route on 29 December 1983, it was graded E7 6c, and one of the hardest traditional climbing routes in the world; it remains one of the hardest gritstone climbs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rock Climbing Europe |author= Stewart M. Green |publisher=Falcon |year=2006 |page=67 |isbn= 9780762727179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrSvR2px3hwC&pg=PA67}}</ref>
==History== Fawcett's rival, English climber Jerry Moffatt, had been top-roping the route earlier that year, waiting for the right conditions to lead it, and had said that: "anyone who could do this climb without abseiling down it first, or practicing it on a top rope, would be a true master".<ref name=UKC>{{cite web | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2007/03/ben_cossey_the_true_master_of_the_masters_edge-34609 | title=Ben Cossey, The True Master of The Master's Edge? | first=Mick | last=Ryan | date=11 December 2007 | accessdate=30 December 2021 | website=UKClimbing.com}}</ref>
In his biography, Fawcett said that by late 1983, he was desperate to find a bold new route and that someone had mentioned that Moffatt had been working on a new climb just below ''Great Arete'' (E5 5c), at Millstone Edge, and had already called it ''Master's Edge'' (in January 1983, Moffatt had freed a major new route he called ''Master's Wall'' E7 6b at Clogwyn Du'r Arddu). While only 28 at the time, Fawcett remarked that "I was starting to feel part of an older generation whose time was passing, Master's Edge might give me the chance to turn the clock back a little". Fawcett, belayed by his wife Gill, completed the route in one day on 29 December 1983 after taking a few attempts, and one serious fall that was arrested by his new ''Amigo'' protection but without the aid of top-roping. Fawcett said that Moffatt was pretty upset, but in the era before sport climbing in Britain (i.e. where climbers would take time to install bolts onto a route), "it was a free for all".<ref>{{cite book | title=Ron Fawcett - Rock Athlete | first=Fawcett | last=Ron | date=January 2010 | isbn=978-1906148171 | chapter=Chapter 10 Taking Fight | publisher=Vertebrate Publishing }}</ref>
Described as "Fawcett's Masterpiece",<ref name=BMC/> the route remained a serious and intimidating undertaking for even the greatest climbers,<ref name=CMagazine/> and it wasn't until 2004 that English climber Liam Halsey completed the first flash of the route (although with some falls).<ref name=BMC/> In the 1990s, German climber Wolfgang Gullich broke his back in a fall on the route when testing his protective gear.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/millstone_-_quarried_grit-2791 | title=Millstone - Quarried Grit | date=22 June 2010 | accessdate=30 December 2021 | website=UKClimbing.com}}</ref> In September 1994, 19-year old Airlie Anderson made the first female free ascent of the route,{{efn|Anderson punched a man to the floor in her own local pub when he questioned whether she had used too many safety mats during her ascent.<ref name=CMagazine/>}}<ref name=CMagazine>{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/places/history-headpointing-peak-district-gritstone/ | title=How the World’s Boldest Climbing Area Got that Way | first=Mike | last=Hutton | date=3 November 2022 | accessdate=13 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.climbing.de/news/katy-whittaker-masters-edge-e7-6bc-33546.html | title=Katy Whittaker – Master´s Edge E7 6b/c | date=1 December 2008 | accessdate=30 December 2021 | website=Climbing.de}}</ref> and became the first-ever female to climb an E7.<ref>{{cite web | website=UKClimbing | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2003/09/lisa_rands_climbs_grit_e7-9116 | title=Lisa Rands climbs grit E7 | date=September 2003 | accessdate=4 February 2022}}</ref> In 2009, American climber Alex Honnold, onsighted ''Master's Edge'', and in an interview afterwards said that he found the route "hard", "sustained", and "scary".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/alex-honnold-climbing-interview.html | title=Alex Honnold climbing interview | date=27 January 2009 | accessdate=30 December 2021 | first=Nicholas | last=Hobley | website=PlanetMountain.com}}</ref>{{efn|When the American Alpine Club named Honnold as its 2009 Robert Hicks Bates award winner, his 2009 on-sight of ''Master's Edge'' was cited in their announcement.<ref>{{cite web | website=ClimbingArc.com | url=https://climbingnarc.com/2009/09/alex-honnold-is-the-2009-robert-hick-bates-award-winner/ | date=18 September 2009 | accessdate=30 December 2021 | title=Alex Honnold Is The 2009 Robert Hick Bates Award Winner}}</ref>}}
While the route retains its "E7" grade due to the extreme level of risk, the technical difficulty has been lowered slightly from 6c to 6b; however, flashes are still rare enough to be worthy of capture in the climbing media, an example being English climber Nathan Lee's 2016 flash of what ''Rock & Ice'' described as the "ultra-classic", ''Master's Edge''.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rockandice.com/videos/climbing/nathan-lee-flashes-masters-edge-e7-6b/ | magazine=Rock & Ice | date=March 2016 | accessdate=30 December 2021 | title=Nathan Lee Flashes Master's Edge (E7 6b)}}</ref>
==Filmography== * Major climbs in Peak District: {{cite AV media | title=Big Balls & Ground Falls| asin= | type=Motion picture | date=2020| publisher= | people=Pope, Jim (director) | url= https://www.rockandice.com/videos/climbing/big-balls-ground-falls-hard-and-scary-peak-district-routes/ | accessdate=30 December 2021}} * Shows Swedish climber Richard Ekehed on Master's Edge : {{cite AV media | title=Hard Grit | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=1998| publisher=Slackjaw Film | people=Heap, Richard (director) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/hard-grit-1998 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==See also== *History of rock climbing *''Hubble'', first grade {{climbing grade|8c+}} in the world, Raven Tor, Peak District, England *''Hard Grit'', a 1998 film on Peak District extreme gritstone routes *''Indian Face'', first E9-graded traditional climb in the world at Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Wales *''Rhapsody (climb)'', first grade E11-graded traditional climb in the world at Dumbarton, Scotland
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.thebmc.co.uk/burbage-millstone-and-beyond?_ga=2.265105673.787346247.1640880664-1949565720.1640880664 The Millstone Area], Free chapter from British Mountaineering Council Peak District guidebook covering Millstone Edge quarry (2006) *[https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/millstone_edge-19/the_masters_edge-10767 The Master's Edge E7 6c], UKClimbing.com Database (January 2022)
Category:Traditional climbing routes Category:Climbing areas of England Category:Climbing in the United Kingdom