After it's first ascent in 1980 by UK climbing legend Ron Fawcett, the first onsight didn't come until 1987 when legendary European climber Stefan Golwacz visited. Most people thought that this onsight would pave the way for the rest of the strong climbing community to complete the route in a similar style ... not so.

The difficulty of the route has baffled people for many years,technically it isn't very hard, certainly by modern rock standards.

However, the rock type, the features, the conditions ... all can be very difficult to balance in equilibrium. Many world class climbers have tried and failed at the coveted onsight attempt of Strawberries. It would seem that if all of the forces at play are not in balance ... then you have very little chance of actually onsighting the route.<br>

After TWENTY FOUR more years without another successful onsight, another visiting European climber, Jorg Verhoeven, took a liking to the idea of onsighting the route and after battling with the British weather, managed to top out on the route. Not many months after this, Austrian climber Hansjorg Auer also onsighted the route. 3 onsights, all from visiting Europeans ... but never a British onsight???<br>

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There has been much speculation over the years about who would be the first British climber to onsight Strawberries. It's reputation grew and grew as it spat off more and more strong British climbers, in Steve's words, "...the reputation of the route always felt bigger than me, as I got stronger, the route seemed like it would be harder...". Many people save the route for a day when they felt perfect, and for most this day never comes ... the route remained without a British onsight until Thursday 12th June 2014.<br>

It was a long time coming, but Steve had been wanting to get on the route for a few years to no avail, conditions were bad, belayers unavailable, he had to look after the kids, suffering from injury ... years of desire and motivation came together and on the 12th of June fell into place perfectly. Steve tied in at the bottom of the route. A few perfectly executed moves later, and Steve was standing on top of the Vector Butress at Tremadog, Strawberries, E7 6b, onsight, in the bag.

For more information on the route and for an interview that I did with Steve, click here http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6412 <br>