BURSTBuster Martin has made the ninth ascent of Rhapsody (E11 7a) at Dumbarton Rock on the River Clyde, near Glasgow, Scotland. First climbed by Dave MacLeod in 2006, Rhapsody was the world’s first route graded E11 and remains one of the defining challenges of British trad climbing. His previous hardest E-graded route was an E4.
Martin, 30, completed the ascent five months after climbing The Journey 5.15b (full story here) at Margalef in April. He’s the first climber to send a 5.15b sport route and an E11 trad route in the same calendar year, joining Adam Ondra and Steve McClure in the small group to have climbed both grades.
The day also included sends of Requiem (E8) and Cop Out (E9), making it an exceptional concentration of hard trad climbing in a single session. Martin’s route to E11 was unconventional. His early trad experience amounted to a handful of routes up to HVS in 2009–10, followed by a single E4 in 2025. Rather than progressing through the traditional grade hierarchy, he moved from that E4 to Rhapsody, learning much of the discipline in the process.
Growing up, he followed British trad climbing through accounts of Pete Livesey, Ron Fawcett and Johnny Dawes, before turning his attention to the generation represented by James Pearson, Ryan Pasquill, Dave MacLeod and Steve McClure. His own climbing subsequently took a different direction. Training and living in the tropics, with trips to Provence and Catalonia, placed him far from the British trad scene. Rhapsody nevertheless remained a long-term ambition.
“I always wanted to do it,” he says, “I just never knew when I’d get round to it.” Martin first visited the route in 2024, climbing a substantial portion of its headwall during his initial session. That early progress provided a starting point, but not a substitute for learning how to approach the route as a trad climber.
Rhapsody begins on a 7c+ crack shared with Requiem, Dave Cuthbertson’s 1983 route and Britain’s first E8. From there, it breaks onto a steep, difficult headwall, where approximately 10 metres of climbing on tiny crimps separate the climber from the protection below. The headwall is commonly estimated at around 8c+, placing the route among the hardest trad climbs in the world.
For Martin, sport climbing provided only part of the necessary preparation. “Despite all my sport climbing, I think that only got me halfway,” he says.
The remaining work involved learning to place protection, climb cracks and understand the consequences of long run-outs. These were not peripheral technical details but integral parts of the ascent. Martin’s limited trad background meant that he had to develop confidence in both the climbing and the equipment while working on the route itself.
He describes the process as an exercise in learning rather than simply executing established skills. “Learning the gear was a big part of the experience, and a big part of what made it feel safe.”
His approach also challenged the assumption that a climber attempting such a demanding objective must already possess extensive experience in the relevant discipline. Martin’s sport-climbing background gave him the physical capacity and the ability to manage prolonged setbacks, but it did not eliminate the need to acquire new skills.
“What it did give me,” he explains, “was the ability to sit through the rain, understand the obstacles I might come up against, keep pushing and stay calm.”
Martin had set himself a specific objective: to climb both 9b [5.15b] and E11 within a single year. The goal was as much personal as athletic. He wanted to test his perseverance, his respect for nature and his relationships with climbing partners.
He describes these qualities as things he had admired in others but was still working to develop in himself. The project became a way to examine whether those values could withstand the demands of a sustained, high-level climbing campaign.
The schedule was demanding. Martin worked full-time while training and climbing at the upper limits of both sport and trad climbing. Over the past year, he says, he has spent most of his time either in climbing shoes or at his laptop.
The two achievements required different approaches. The Journey tested his ability to redpoint a route at the highest level of sport climbing. Rhapsody required him to combine difficult free climbing with the technical knowledge and psychological demands of traditional protection.
Completing both in the same year therefore represents more than the accumulation of two high grades. It demonstrates the capacity to operate across disciplines with distinct technical and mental requirements, while managing the constraints of a full-time working life.
Martin documented much of his preparation on social media, receiving advice and practical support from climbers, photographers and people he had never met. Some offered suggestions on equipment and tactics; others helped with belaying or accommodation.
“Learning the gear was a big part of the experience, and a big part of what made it feel safe,” he said. “The climbing shop Outside were really helpful. I didn’t have any sponsors or ties to particular brands, which gave me a real chance to make sure I was using the best gear for the job.”
He also found that the atmosphere on the day of the ascent differed markedly from the solitude of his earlier sessions. “The vibes on the day were great,” he recalls. Between attempts, he chatted with friends on the wall, climbing partners and international visitors. The presence of other people made the experience less intimidating than the long, gloomy days spent alone working the route on a top rope.
That social dimension did not remove the seriousness of the final attempt. Instead, it placed a highly individual undertaking within a broader climbing community, where shared knowledge and mutual support helped make the process possible.
Martin describes the successful attempt as a struggle rather than a moment of effortless flow. “I was very pumped, and I just stuck to the rock,” he said.
He remembers looking down at the wires protecting him, but says the experience felt strangely detached, “like a different version of me, almost an out-of-body experience.” He is careful to distinguish this from the familiar idea of being in a flow state.
“It was more of a chaos state, battling to stay on,” he said. Rhapsody demands not only the ability to perform difficult movements but also the capacity to continue when fatigue and fear threaten to disrupt that performance. Martin’s description conveys neither complete control nor panic, but the difficult balance between the two.
For him, the route’s character depends on that balance. “Rhapsody is safe enough that you can pull hard, but scary enough that you definitely don’t want to let go. It’s a perfect balance.”
Martin’s immediate priority is recovery, as after a year of balancing full-time work with two major climbing objectives, he admits that he needs to catch up on sleep. Further projects are already in view. His van in France puts him conveniently close to Bon Voyage, while progress on Café Colombia during the spring has given him another objective to pursue.
The Other Rhapsody Sends
First climbed 2006 by Dave MacLeod, the route has since been climbed by several notable climbers, including Sonnie Trotter, Steve McClure, James Pearson, Jacopo Larcher, Gérome Pouvreau, Mat Wright, and Billy Ridal.
First Ascent
Second Ascent
The post Buster Martin Climbs World’s First E11 Months After 5.15b appeared first on Gripped Magazine.