But Nothing is Lost E12 7a

The Hardest Trad Ruote in the UK.

This email was sent

May 20, 2026 4:30pm EDT

Is this your brand on Milled? Claim it.

Matte tone:

MENS

WOMENS

PACKS

BUT NOTHING IS LOST. FRANCO COOKSON.

Two weeks ago, Montane athlete Franco Cookson completed the first ascent of But Nothing Is Lost in traditional style - a climb proposed at E12 7a and believed to represent the hardest trad route yet established in the UK.

High on a remote sweep of syenite on Ben Loyal, the line had been there for years. Improbable, unfinished, and quietly waiting. For Franco, it wasn’t just another project. It was something far more consuming: a four-year process of returning, refining, and gradually confronting a pitch that would demand everything he had.

This is the story of that climb. The doubt, the persistence, and the moment where preparation, risk, and instinct finally aligned on one of the boldest UK trad ascents of a generation.