Thick End of the Wedge 8A

Thick End of the Wedge is an 8A boulder problem on gritstone at Burbage South in the Peak District, at a sector known as the Alliance. It is a sit start into the line Home Cooking, and the difficulty is concentrated in that opening sequence: a compression pull off a low crimp and an arete-level sidepull that has to be held with the body low and square before the climber can stand into easier ground above. Peak grit problems at this grade are usually short and intense rather than long, and this one is no exception, with the whole test packed into the first few moves off the ground.

History

The problem has drawn debate in the UK bouldering community over what counts as a valid sit start, since the starting crimp sits high enough that shorter climbers need stacked pads to reach it from the ground. Some ascents recorded from a crouch rather than a true seated position have been treated as a lesser variation by climbers who consider the full sit start, with the climber's body on the ground before pulling on, the version that earns the 8A grade. Sources checked for this page could not confirm a first ascensionist or date with confidence.

On film

WIFE ON HOLD - Gritstone Bouldering (2026) is a bouldering film shot across the Peak District, Northumberland and northern Yorkshire, and it includes Thick End of the Wedge as one of the problems climbed by Sam Carling, Leo Skinner, Solly Kemball-Dorey and Finn Parry during the roughly 25 minute edit.