Dave Cuthbertson

Rhapsody shares the same central crack-line as another notable traditional climbing route called Requiem (the two routes deviate for the last 10 metres near the top as the crack-line peters out). Scottish climber Dave Cuthbertson made the first free ascent of Requiem in 1983, creating Britain's first-ever E8-graded route.

• Name — Rhapsody • Location — Dumbarton Rock, Scotland • Rock Type — Basalt • Climbing Area — Dumbarton Rock • Rating — Rhapsody: E11 R/X Requiem: E8 R • First Free Ascent — Rhapsody: Dave MacLeod 9 April 2006 Requiem: Dave Cuthbertson 6 July 1983 • First Female Free Ascent — Requiem: Caroline Ciavaldini 27 September 2014 • Pitches — 1 • Route Type — * Traditional climbing • Crack climbing • Known for — First-ever traditional route in history; first E11 in history

In 1983, Scottish climber Dave "Cubby" Cuthbertson free climbed the central crack on the northwest face of Dumbarton Rock and called it Requiem. It was speculated at the time that the technical grade could be British 7a —that is international —and which would have been a new grade milestone in rock climbing after Tony Yaniro's 1979 ascent of Grand Illusion at. With subsequent repeats, the consensus grade of Requiem settled at E8 6b, or circa, making it the first-ever British E8-graded route. It means that at the time of Cuthbertson's ascent, Requiem was one of the hardest climbing routes in the world of any type, as it was only in 1983 that Jerry Moffatt set a new grade milestone with The Face, and in 1984 that Wolfgang Güllich set another milestone with Kanal im Rücken. In 2006, Scottish climber Dave MacLeod completed a 2-year project to continue Requiems thinning central crack to the top, creating Rhapsody. MacLeod's route featured a large runout, and he took several 'bone crushing' 20 m falls from its crux at the top onto tiny wire nuts for protection. Rhapsody was the first-ever British E11-graded climbing route, and at the international grades of, was a new grade milestone in traditional climbing making it the "world's hardest 'traditional' climb". In 2008, Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter made the first repeat of Rhapsody and added a variation between it and Requiem called Direqium that he graded. A few weeks after Trotter, British climber Steve McClure made the third repeat. In 2014, British climber James Pearson made the fourth ascent of Rhapsody. Pearson had caused controversy in 2008 when he dismissed MacLeod's proposed grading despite not being able to complete the route. MacLeod had in turn repeated Pearson's Walk of Life, which he had proposed at E12 7a, but which MacLeod downgraded to E9 6c. After the controversy, Pearson left for France, but his wife, French climber Caroline Ciavaldini, urged Pearson to return to Rhapsody. Pearson said of his ascent: "I couldn't take it back, but perhaps I could do something to make up for it? A gesture of goodwill, or perhaps even a peace offering to the UK climbing community?". Just after his ascent, Ciavaldini made the first female free ascent of Requiem. In 2016, Italian traditional climber Jacopo Larcher made the fifth repeat of Rhapsody, while his partner Barbara Zangerl made the second female ascent of Requiem, and the first repeat—and first female ascent—of Dave MacLeod's 2001 Dumbarton route, Achemine at E9 6c. While in the years after MacLeod's first ascent, other traditional climbing routes were established at Rhapsody's climbing grade milestone of (e.g. Beth Rodden's Meltdown in Yosemite), Rhapsody's grade milestone in traditional climbing was only surpassed with the 2019 ascent of Tribe by Jacopo Larcher, which is considered to be at, and at the British E-grade of E11 to E12, and also with the 2024 ascent of Bon Voyage by James Pearson, which was also considered to be at, and most likely at the British E-grade of E12.

• Illustration — The 10 m runout on section 3, is typically secured by a tiny Black Diamond No #3 nut inserted near the top of section 2. Rhapsody and Requiem are essentially crack climbs with bouldering cruxes close to their very tops; they both break into three parts, the first two of which they share. The first section is an easier circa graded (depending on the specific route taken up the slab) 10 m slab that gets to a ledge that is shared by several routes on the face. The second part is a 15 m narrow left-leaning diagonal graded crack up the centre of the face that both Requiem and Rhapsody follow. The climbing protection is considered to be thin (e.g. the crack only takes the smallest wire nuts such as BD#3) but with solid placements, which is important given the potential falls to come. The final section starts from a resting jug 10 m from the top where the crack starts to peter out. From here, Requiem moves directly right to another crack system that leads directly to the top. Rhapsody moves directly left on delicate holds before following the diminishing line of the original crack via a 14-move bouldering problem near the top. There is no additional climbing protection available in the third section, and with the hardest moves at the very top, any fall will be a 'swinging fall' (i.e. because the climber has moved horizontally from the second section) of up to 20-25 m in length. Several climbers reported falls from the top where they bounced off the slab of the first section. Sonnie Trotter wrote that Rhapsody felt like an eliminate, and that there was a more direct line between Rhapsody and Requiem that he called Direquiem that he graded at, and which he felt was a more natural finish to the crack. Trotter noted that a climber on the final stages of Rhapsody had to deliberately keep themselves from reaching out to grab the arete that was on their left side, which Trotter dubbed The Cop Out, and even graded it at 5.13b/c (or 8a/a+). Trotter also avoided anchoring his belayer to the ground (i.e. when Trotter fell, it lifted his belayer into the air), which reduced the 'swing' on his falls and stopped him from crashing into the rock face as MacLeod had painfully endured.

• Illustration — Dumbarton Rock, with the northwest face in the centre Notable ascents of Rhapsody: • 1st. Dave MacLeod on 9 April 2006. • 2nd. Sonnie Trotter in June 2008. • 3rd. Steve McClure in June 2008. • 4th. James Pearson in September 2014. • 5th. Jacopo Larcher in May 2016. • 6th. Gérôme Pouvreau in September 2018. • 7th. Mathew Wright in April 2024. • 8th. Billy Ridal in June 2025. Notable ascents of Requiem: • 1st. Dave Cuthbertson on 6 July 1983. • 1st female ascent. Caroline Ciavaldini on 27 September 2014.

• Documentary on MacLeod's 2006 ascent: • Documentary on Pearsons's 2014 return: