Jim Pope makes third ascent of Dynamics of Change (E9 7a)

• Wednesday 5th March 2025

Jim Pope has made a quick repeat of Pete Whittaker Burbage South testpiece, Dynamics of Change (E9 7a).

When Pete Whittaker made the first ascent of Dynamics of Change in 2008 he was just 16 years old. Dynamics is sandwiched between Johnny Dawes’ 1984 Braille Trail (E7 6c) and John Dunne’s 1989 Parthian Shot (E9 6c). At the time of Whittaker’s ascent Dynamics it was the hardest of the bunch.  As well has being a bold undertaking with hard and tenuous moves in an almost certain ground-fall position, Dynamics has a heinous – and now infamous – rock-over.

Since Whittaker’s FA of Dynamics, only Neil Kershaw has managed to repeat the route. Jim Pope, now concentrating on rock climbing – as opposed to doing competitions – had had a brief and incomplete dalliance with Braille Trail  in the past; finishing that off he then moved rightwards for Dynamics.

Read a short Q&A with Jim below about his third ascent of Dynamics…

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You’re known as someone that appreciates the history behind routes etc., was it that that attracted you or the thought of getting involved with that move – one of the most famous of all the moves on a grit route – that was the driver for you?

Yeah that video of Pete has become an iconic clip! After seeing that I always wanted to try the route, but I still hadn’t climbed Braille Trail so I felt like I needed to do that first. BT is another route I’d always wanted to try.

When did you start with Dynamics and how did you first session go?

I tried BT ground up back in 2019 but fell off the move to the crack and broke the gear placement, then never went back until last week. I decided to put a rope down it rather than sticking with the ground-up, and quickly found my way. It felt a lot bolder without the cam placement, but that was a good stepping stone for DoC as it was the same runout on the upper wall. I went back a few days later and flashed DoC on a shunt, but didn’t have a belayer so came back the next day and did it that morning.

In total how many sessions did it take and what was the most difficult aspect of the route for you?

In total I had 2 sessions on Braille Trail and 2 sessions on Dynamics. For me, being smaller, the rock over actually fit me really well, and I still think it was the hardest part of the route but I knew I could fall there and be okay, and I’d never fallen there. However, for me, the step-up on the slab was still a tricky move, and the only one id fallen off. That move is definitely in the no-fall zone so I was more worried about that one.

How did the actual send attend go? Was it full-bore from the get-go? Any issues during the send?

The actual send went really smoothly. It was a nice day and there was a small breeze, Ben Heason came out to belay me and I always feel comfortable climbing with Ben.

Stepping back a little what’s your thoughts on Pete Whittaker’s FA when he was a young 16 year-old?

It’s a great vision to turn up at that crag, see that line and think yeah I’m gonna go for that when no one else has, and I think doing that at 16 is even more impressive, although maybe your less scared when your younger, I certainly was!

Any thoughts on the grade?

I think the grade is appropriate!

Where do you think Dynamics sits with the pantheon of hard grit routes?

I think it’s one of the proudest lines on grit, and with such a wild set of moves it deserves its high status. The only thing that knocks it a bit is maybe how often it’s out of condition, Burbage South is often a green slime fest, but when its dry and in good nick all those routes look great.

There’s probably about a month left of primo grit connies – will we be seeing more from you this season?

Definitely, this is the first year I’m not doing the competitions, so all of my focus is on rock climbing at the moment, and grit for now!