[Closed] MBR - Jacobs Ladder

Thoughts?

Ignore any of the route information given out in MBR.

I've ridden all of it in sections - its my fitness that let me down.

I'm not that amazing a rider, so I'm sure there will be plenty on here that have ridden it.

Does the mag not say that Nick Craig cleaned all of it in sections? That I can believe.

same article every 2 years in all the mags but ST.

Its impossible to ride the top section of Jacobs ladder- immpossible. You'd wheelie and go backwards. You'd need a MX bike and balls. Im assuming Edale side up? Or do they mean the long 3 mile climb from the Hayfield direction?

I think your first line is a bit sensationalist (OP).

The story is that they tried to clean the whole of Jacob's ladder without dabbing and couldn't.

However, whilst practicing for the final attempt they broke the climb up into sections and managed to clean these sections individually (with breaks to recuperate in between/pick the best lines, get advice from one of the few blokes who has cleaned it successfully etc.).

Seems fair enough to me.

i don't know how far up he went, but there was an article a few years ago in a mag, i think it was nick craig cleaned it top to bottom in one hit.

i've not attempted it in a while - you've given me some inspiration for a ride once i get my forks back on the bike 🙂 the higher stuff where there are some big steps - i've cleared those, just not done it all from the bottom.

Well it's not that hard to do nearly all of it in one go (for an experienced rider such as myself like 😉 )

However, I'm of the opinion that the top bit is impossible. I've heard claims against this over the years, and have ridden it with Nick Craig/Fred Salmon/John Shaw (ex pros) and have never seen anyone do it. I'm happy to be proven wrong though!

Pre-steps it was closer to being possible but I never did it.

It wouldn't be STW without the all the pompus snobbery about other mountain bike magazine readership. I bought the MBR mag this month, becasue I wante to find out about routes in the peaks, not about some niche 29er 14 spoke wheels and a load of old giffers testing bikes they can only dream of having the skill level to ride properly and then said bikes being likened to some kind of dog. personality: red Setter. Piss Off

i think it was nick craig cleaned it top to bottom in one hit.

I've cleaned it [i]top to bottom in one hit[/i] several times. Bottom to top is a bit hard though 😉

djg, the jam from your doughnut seems to be under your chair.

Imagine you're in a happy place and smile a while. Most magazines readerships think all the others are wierd and always will. I read most of the bike mags and think they've all got good, bad and average bits.

aye, good point, well spotted! Me too 🙂

of course meant bottom to top !

i think your all jealous 8)

to echo mt and cp posts. There was an article 2 or 3 years ago (maybe more) and Nick Craig did clean it bottom to top in one. I think Paul Lazenby did on a fs marin too.

IIRC nick detailed he dabbed twice.

This is a subject that does come round fairly frequently in the mags.

you'd need a hell of a lot of stamina to get anywhere near close to the top. i got to the first corner in about 3 dabs and was completely ****ed, and i consider myself a half decent climber. maybe with the right bike (not 36lb 6" FS) and in broad daylight i'd get around that corner but you've still got a loooong way to go even from there. you can clear the first stepped section after the gate by sticking tight to the corner and taking the line to the left where there is an eroded cut away section but once you summit there you've landed in the thick of it and would have to power your way straight up and over the next section, the bit where there is a definite smoother section that has been laid that zig-zags around the bigger jagged stuff. clear that and you've got a relitively easy section to recoup before the cobbles, which again you'd need high rpms to keep your momentum up - a tough section after what you would have just done. into the gorge bit with a couple of step-ups(which i cleared last night so they can be done) and you're home free. king of the mountain.

can it be done? possibly. if you're of superhuman qualities. but worth a shot just to see how much of it you can ride. i'd love to see someone do it.

descending in the dark is highly recommended though 😀

The problem with Jacobs ladder is the fact that it goes on for a good way what stops me and most others from cleaning it is lack of fitness. If you broke it down into small sections of say 50 yards I imagine quite a lot of us could clean all of it with a bit of practice after all most of it is no worse than a lot of other climbs.

maybe we should organise a forum challenge - one saturday morning, rock up there and see who cleans it 🙂

cp, that's a great idea.

Respect due to whoever cleans it. Even on a mx bike I wouldnt clean that.

flats or spds though!?

SPDs everytime!

NFM - not for mortals IMHO

I've not no chance, but it'd be fun to try.

For clarity, I don't read ST and I wouldn't say I read MBR either, it was just what they had at the train station. No inherrent bias or anti-xx magazine stuff from me. In fact I was surprised when a few people pointed out that MBR have a reputation for not riding their routes, I don't know how true that is though. Still, it's odd that they have the start grid reference as the Hayfield side, but the pics are fromt he Edale side and there isn't any pictures of them riding the really hard bits, which are the obvious bits to photograph.

I don't see why it'd be so hard assuming you had a level of fitness way beyond what most of us have (and the skill that comes with riding that much). It is just very steep and long. You'd have to be quite strong mind, and good at staying on the bike over the big rocks, but no way is it impossible.

Joe

We need BWD here, his mate Guy Kestaven has a minor obsession about cleaning the ladder, and has done a couple of articles about it in WhatMB, I think one or two cleaned in in one go, could be wrong though

there isn't any pictures of them riding the really hard bits

this is probably to do with the photo editor designer choosing photos to suit page layout rather than mbr not riding it. Photographer will always ask riders to session certain bits, often in wrong direction for lighting purposes. Otherwise it would just be arses a la sfb.

I'm usually off within the first 30 seconds

I cleared it once. It was years ago and I think it's become rougher since then. I was younger and fitter and my bike was lighter with a longer stem so better at climbing. These days I don't seem to be able to get from the bridge to the first right hander most times.

joemarshall - Member
I don't see why it'd be so hard assuming you had a level of fitness way beyond what most of us have (and the skill that comes with riding that much). It is just very steep and long.

it's not all that steep though. more like very loose, rocky and relentless!

I was the photographer for that MBR article, and can say it was all done in sections by all three riders, After spending a number of hours sessioning the climb everyone was too tired to do it in one.

This vid shows Nick and Danny cleaning the bottom section for the doubters.
[url=http://]

Nick Craig cleaning it was in What MTB? magazine a couple of years ago. I seem to think Paul Oldham was with him & did it too. If I can dig out the mag I'll confirm.

richpips - I don't think the bottom section is in doubt, that's the 'easy' bit (although as pointed out not as easy as it used to be). We need a video of someone cleaning the cobbled steep stepped bit at the top.

I think its possible for sure, but your talking mega fit and skilled with a big hit of luck! As for me I'd reckon I'd do about 30 meters before getting off for an enjoyable walk to the top!! 😆

I'm sure it been in one of the mags too and WMb springs to Mind like with the others on here.

Would be intresting to see how top level guys would do like Julian Absolom or Lance Armstrong? No issues with running out of gas with those chaps!!

richpips - I don't think the bottom section is in doubt, that's the 'easy' bit (although as pointed out not as easy as it used to be). We need a video of someone cleaning the cobbled steep stepped bit at the top.

The bit captioned "Milner ruined lungs.." is taken as he crests the cobbles. Nick was quite able to start at the bottom of the top cobble climb a number of times for pics.

IMHO no matter how good a rider you are if you've got the stamina to do the lot, it's the bottom section still that is most likely to derail your dreams of making it to the top.

I rode down it two years ago with the guys from GMBC when we were on a riding trip to the area. Reached the gate part way down and got bored waiting for folk so ended riding back up to the top of the climb. Didn't realise it was the famed Jacobs Ladder until I topped out, dab free. It was a challenging climb but I think I had expected it to be much harder than it was. The bottom section looked to be far harder given the loose rubble that litters the trail. Keen to go back and give it a go. 😆

Cheers

Sanny

I never have and never will clean it but it's all do-able (or was last time I went up there dunno if it's changed much), so in theory all I'd need is someone elses legs a third lung and a very good day

🙂

I heard that Craig, Kesteven and some bloke called David Millar had a pop and only Craig managed it with rests on sections.
The MBR attempt seems similar.
I do seem to remember a relay attempt that succeded many years ago.
I've never seen anyone ever clean the lot, not now and not post steps.
Getting up around the first bend is pretty good going.

Nick's cleaned the lot on more than one occasion, including one with Chipps iirc.

The other thing is some people don't know their Jacobs Ladder from their elbow. And some take the footpath, don't know how hard that 'Jacobs Ladder' is?

this thread has made me want a doughnut

I've done it in sections once, but i recon a fs with a high bb, short forks, fliped stem and flat bars (old marin maybe) would be needed to clean the whole lot.

For those of us who have never ridden or walked up there, where can we find out about the definitive Jacobs Ladder? It sounds tremendously epic from the threads of this discussion and I'm intrigued.

Surfr - just go and ride/walk it, finding it isn't the hard part! and there is nothing you can read or photos that do justice to the personal challenge.

We need BWD here, his mate Guy Kestaven has a minor obsession about cleaning the ladder, and has done a couple of articles about it in WhatMB, I think one or two cleaned in in one go, could be wrong though

I'm no authority on it, but two people did clean it from top to bottom on that What Montain Bike article, the one where Miller was lurking in the background. I seem to remember Crazy Legs was actually there.

The bottom line is that it's cleanable, but you need to be prodigiously strong and fit, have the right bike, right set-up and conditions and, ideally, trials-type skills for the top section as well, there's a really nasty step right at the very top.

Just because it's beyond you, doesn't mean really top riders can't do it.

For those of us who have never ridden or walked up there, where can we find out about the definitive Jacobs Ladder? It sounds tremendously epic from the threads of this discussion and I'm intrigued.

Buy August's MBR 🙂

Never been there, can anyone compare it to a tough lakeland climb? Steep + trialsy? like up from watendlath on borrowdale bash? or long, like Garburn from kentmere? Any comparisons welcomed!

Cheers

If you buy August's MBR it'll send you to the wrong end of Jacobs Ladder for a start!

Ach it's just a bridleway. If anyone fancies tackling it in the snow and ice as a night ride give me a call. I'll be the one on the unicycle......

.......in that nice cafe that sells full breakfasts in a mahoosive bap. 😮

certainly longer than watendlath tomb more technical too I'd guess. Not climbed garburn, I rode sadgill up to gatesgarth recently and it reminded me quite a bit of jacobs ladder.

a few people pointed out that MBR have a reputation for not riding their routes

They once did a 'classic/epic/killer/whatever' route around Gower which took them from breakfast time til dark on a winter day. The last time I rode it, it took me 2 and a half hours. When I was fit it would be under 2 hours.

MBR don't strike me as MTBers just mag journalists who write about bikes.

Ach it's just a bridleway. If anyone fancies tackling it in the snow and ice as a night ride give me a call. I'll be the one on the unicycle......

Funny you say that:

The picture linked below shows my unicycle, at the top of Jacob's Ladder, in the snow & ice.
http://www.unicyclist.com/index.php?page=gallery&g2_itemId=135595

I camped out in Edale a few years back in April, and it snowed overnight, quite a lot. Going up Jacob's Ladder was crazy, covered in sheet ice with a bit of snow on top, and I was wearing smooth soled vans - I was using the unicycle on it's side with the pedals* biting into the ice as an ice axe and kicking steps in the snow where it was deep enough. It was well worth the climb for the ride down and round Roych Clough, Chapel Gate, Mam Tor and back to Edale. I managed to ride approximately 50 feet of the bottom section of Jacob's Ladder that time and none of the steep, ice covered bit.

Joe

*It occurs to me that this might be part of why the bearings in those pedals failed soon after!

Not wanting to slate mbr but I really do get confused with their ride guides. Especially Helvyln. I don't understand which route/direction is best.

Then theres the full sus shootout where the review text read that the giant Reign had won it on all counts but it was the Meta (flexy rear-end) 5 that won it. I couldnt understand- the reason they gave was 'the Meta had that oooo feeling' at the end of the day (or something similar). WTF.

I once cleared it all but the last 5 yards at the top, riding a lightweight FS bike 🙂 It was quite some time ago in the days when I was winning the odd trailquest. I reckon the lower half has got more rubbly since then.

The only time I've been there I saw someone go otb 1 foot from the gate at the bottom (they were attempting to clean the climb)! Pretty funny 🙂

The picture linked below shows my unicycle, at the top of Jacob's Ladder, in the snow & ice.
http://www.unicyclist.com/index.php?page=gallery&g2_itemId=135595

Ach that's nae snow and ice. That would pass for a fine spring day round here 😀

After trying to ride up this, and failing, it has now become an ambition of mine to ride it. I will defeat this... Ive only had one attempt so far...

A couple of years ago, Nick Craig and a few others (Paul Oldham, a chap called Martin Brookes (aka dibley off here) and a guy called Neil from Hope Technology) did it for What MTB. I was also there with them and witnessed Nick, Martin and Neil clear it in one go from bottom to top, no dabs. Paul gave it a damn good shot but didn't quite make it. I came no-where close!

The MBR article was basically a rehash of that and as richpips said, they all did it in sections but by the end of that were too knackered to do it all in one go.

The first part of the climb from the bottom to the sharp RH bend is the most difficult. It's mostly luck as to whether you clear that or not. the middle third is "easy" (relative term!), the final bit from the gate to the summit has a couple of easy flattish bits and the brutal cobbled climb at the end. Do-able but you need to be technically VERY good and have an exceptional level of fitness.

I take any forum claims of people clearing it with a hefty dose of scepticism seeing as even Nick Craig has only ever cleared it in one go on about 3 occasions.

I've made it (clean, in one go) from the bottom to the mid-way gate on 2 occasions out of dozens of attempts over the last 12 years. Both times it's left me too dead to finish the rest off in one go although in small sections it is (mostly) do-able with suitable rest in between!

crazy legs what you doing on this forum?
That was a both clear and an informative somethingion of it all.
We dont need your types on here we need more uninformed opinionated ranters..... there are hardly any of those on here anymore.

IdleJon wrote:

MBR don't strike me as MTBers just mag journalists who write about bikes

I don't know them but they seem to be riding pretty well here

[url=

downs MBR session[/url]

Actually, scratch that, I know and have ridden with Roo who does the photography on many of their trips and he is one hell of a rider and would hand most people's arses to them on a plate.

Roo will outride most, and I also refer IdleJon to my first post on this thread 😆

Top thread guys - I read it all (normally on STW some plum comes on & starts ranting within 30 secs & I give up). But that was a good read, its given me something to aim for. 😉

Dibley(Martin Brookes) is our local hotshot. he has cleared Jacobs Ladder,but he is incredibly fit and skilfull.
I'm a decent climber,but my balance and general bike handling skills are shite,so I always fall off.....Doesn't stop me from trying though.

I really think we should have a singletrackworld attempt on this.

i went up there yesterday.. i think i managed a few yards..

time to start a new thread... ...What ty...

A local guy from Chinley Scott Rowland Cleaned it on two seperate occasions. The gate half way up was open on the second climb so it really was from bottom to top. This is what started the many Nick Craig mag articles.