West Side Story 7B+

West Side Story is a gritstone boulder problem at Burbage West in the Peak District, graded 7B+ (also logged historically as around E3 7a in trad terms). It climbs a wall using layaway holds to a high, committing finish, and is considered one of the better lines at the crag. The moves reward tension and precise footwork on the small, sloping edges typical of Peak grit, and climbers describe it as sustained rather than a single explosive crux, with a well known break partway up that has caught out more than one attempt.

History

John Allen made the first ascent in 1985. By his own account, he nearly finished the problem in one go but deliberately jumped off rather than reach for a hold with a dynamic move, since dynoing was regarded as poor style at the time; he could not get back up to that point again for a long while afterward. That frustration is the source of the name, Allen later saying the process of trying it went on and on. The problem has since become a well regarded testpiece at Burbage West and appears on Peak District tick lists in the mid 7B range.

On film

WIFE ON HOLD - Gritstone Bouldering, a roughly 25 minute film by Leo Skinner shot across the Peak District, Northumberland and northern Yorkshire, features West Side Story as one of the problems climbed by Sam Carling, Leo Skinner, Solly Kemball-Dorey and Finn Parry. The film presents it alongside other grit lines as part of a broader look at the group's bouldering across those areas rather than treating it as a standalone objective.