EXCLUSIVE: Male cavers rushed to repeat Gaping Gill climb before women got their dirty hands on it

In 1972 two ambitious cavers managed the first ascent out of Gaping Gill main chamber using 10 points of aid. Roger Baxter-Jones and John Moore had managed something that plenty had imagined before them, but never achieved.

Skipping forward 16 years to June 1988 brings us the first 'free climb' of the route, completed by another pair of cavers.

Other than these two known completions, up to 2025 there had been no successful repeat ascents of the route. In 2021 a climbing group required rescuing after getting stuck on a ledge, much to the amusement of local cavers.

Then, in 2025 it was announced that two professional climbers were going to attempt the first repeat of the free route 'Gee Gee Rider' in May 2026, graded E3 5c by the 1988 crew. A film was also to be made showing the feat. Suddenly interest in the route increased. Comments on caver social media went crazy.

"We can't have dirty climbers getting the first repeat on the caver's route" said a member of the Creaky Parts Cavers, or CPC for short. "We heard there's even a woman planning on doing it, so will need to get in there first to save us any embarrassment".

It's no surprise the CPC weren't too happy. As is the case with many northern clubs, they are yet to officially recognise women as individuals, preferring the 'speak only when spoken to' mantra of the good old days. The thought that a woman with little caving experience would be able to handle such a feat seemed downright threatening to them.

Therefore in April, one month before the official attempt, two male CPC climbers made the second successful climb of Gee Gee Rider - but as expected no one cared. Presumably by pure coincidence, the route was climbed again in early May by another team - and then finally in late May by the pair of climbers, one of which was indeed, a woman.