Indian Face | E9 Trad climb on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu

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Dawes' first ascent account:

Johnny, frustrated but proud, placed a bolt like a dog pissing to mark his territory and retreated to recover, an 80-foot cameo "The Tormented Ejaculation" graded E8, 7a, a small Matisse sketch, fresh but perhaps unfinished, rests in his Portfolio; but the line remained … Jerry arrived, chopped the bolt and the Master's Wall remained ... The climbing itself is hard and with eight bolts would rate about E6, 6c but there is only half a bolt and that stares at you while you laugh at your runners, a tribute to both a man's vision and his shortsightedness. John Redhead's voyages on the wall deserve special praise ...

Imagine the wall. It is a random woven wire mesh tilted so that it steepens towards the top. At the base of the wall the two thick cables disappear in the turf. The lights in the town flicker as you touch the rock. Each move forms an electric circuit between your hands, you see. As you move, you worry about the outcome of that move. The tension at present resides in a dull "Dinorwig Power Generator" hum. Then I make a false move and the rock barks out a spark, a whip sizzles down my arm and fades to a sickly warmth in my shoulders; I try another hold but which one to use, use the wrong one and retreat may be impossible. The gear is poor and a bad mistake could mean a death jolt full across the heart. So you move taking note of your position and the holds, but as you move higher the voltage grows, and amongst the myriad connections there lie false trails that can kill ... I went up with sticky rubber soles which do not conduct electricity and two friends who knew the score …

Hundred foot up, out above the last gear, I'm faced with the first of the hardest moves, my anxiety has made me enter the moves before reflection and the rock is all in the wrong place. My body feels heavy and lumpy. I slapped out right, a move that should be static and was committed to the crux; a precarious mantel onto a rounded boss. If I fell off this move the gear would rip as it was off to the left and the gear was only in downward-pulling placements. Once on this you can rest and clip the tied-off rurp, which is most comforting. You stand on your heels, your hands by your side. At this point I noticed a friend who l'd met while on holiday in Verdon, on the belay of Great Wall. His face spoke volumes ...

I went for the crux. The motion startling me like a car unexpectedly in gear in a crowded parking lot. I swarm through the roundness of the bulge to a crank on a brittle spike for a cluster of three crystals on the right; each finger crucial and separate like the keys for a piano chord. I change feet three times to rest my lower legs, each time having to jump my foot out to put my other in. The finger holds are too poor to hang on should the toes catch on each other. All those foot changing mistakes on easy moves by runners come into my mind. There is no resting, I must go and climb for the top, swarm up towards the sunlight, gasping for air. A brittle hold holds under mistreatment and then I really blow it; fearful of a smear on now non-sticky boots I use an edge and move up, a fall now fatal. But the automaton stabs back through, wobbling but giving its all, and I grasp a large sidepull and tube upward, the ropes dangling uselessly from my waist. Arthur Birtwistle on Diagonal, I grasp incuts and the vectors recede. 'Indian Face' is climbed and I can rest and feel proud. Longland's, the Drainpipe Crack, Troach, Great Wall; and Midsummer's smile in me again, but like fine antiques in the gallery. [5]

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMX4NAw0NSE

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNb5_PYRhQA

[3] Photos from the first ascent by Jonathan Reti. Jonathan was the only person at the crag that day with a camera. Later pictures of Johnny in white vest were not of the actual ascent. https://www.flickr.com/photos/30814373@N02/albums/72157712866661618/

That top crux was difficult for him and his method was pretty snatchy, which is why I moved out of the fall line in case he fluffed it. Shockingly bold.

[4] Mountain Issue 112, page 17 /library/11111/mountain-112

[5] Clogwyn Du’r Arddu Climber’s Club guidebook by Nick Dixon, 2004

There's one move where I got a left hand sidepull and my right hand was on some nobbles and I came out of my head space because I realised that I couldn't move from that position as freely as planned and pre-practiced as I hadn't accounted for the rope drag. I had to snatch for the next hold, some pebbles. There were about three seconds where I lost my calm a little bit and I had to collect myself. I think Neil had far more of a worry on it. [1]

-

It's like an HVS, only with smaller holds. [2]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/nick_dixon_-_indian_face_the_first_repeat-5756

[2] Colin Wells. Who's who in British Climbing: Bite-sized Biographies of Dead Climbers - and Some that are Still Alive. United Kingdom: Climbing Company, 2008.

Just days after Nick Dixon made the second ascent.

I was locked in this world and the only way I could release myself was by climbing this route.

...

The reason it was particularly fatalistic was Airlie [Anderson] was coming over to North Wales to belay me, and it was obvious it was gearing up towards her belaying me on the route when I did it, which she did. She was with Rachel [Farmer] when she died, and we never really discussed this and I don't know why it played out this way, but in the end I went for the lead and she was belaying me and I really sketched. I was not steady on it. I started really shaking on the crux part, and I can remember hearing her in tears belaying me, because if you fall off that top part that's almost certainly it. You're like 100ft up and you've got an RP2 that's miles below you and that's probably going to rip. And Airlie lost it, she was in tears, and I was fighting for my life climbing up this thing. [1]

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/5cac0uPMB1TYDaUF8XN06f?

I had previously had a play on the Indian Face in 2007 but in the end decided to do something else on that trip. It was quite interesting for me to do that, and also afterwards to experience a lot of questions from people at lectures and comments etc.

I decided not to lead Indian Face on that visit for a few separate reasons. First of all, a hold snapped on me while toproping it which made me acutely aware of an objective danger issue not under my control. …

The other reason was that my feet are, in general, very weak and I seem to suffer more than most from foot cramp and always have a painful first month of the trad season. … My feet were bloody killing me on Indian Face. So I figured a trip later in the trad season would be a better idea (which I never got round to). …

The third reason was a bit more subconscious and not necessarily about the Indian Face. I’d just had a year in which things had changed a lot for me, I’d just opened the first E11, repeated two E10 graded routes, done my first 8c+ and gone from beavering away by myself on these projects to talking about them to hundreds of people on lecture tours. I got a bit worried about all this. I worried that I might not be able to keep in tune with the inner voice that keeps you safe and making good decisions on cliffs and routes without much gear. Whether I had anything real to worry about or not is irrelevant, the point is it’s a healthy thing to think if you spend your life sketching about a long way above gear.

I thought it would be a good idea to see if I could be a bit more relaxed about climbing routes and be able to just walk away and leave them. My concern was that I might slip into an unthinking routine of doing one after another, without taking time to reflect, and in so doing, walk blindly into a climbing accident. So my decision was to leave Indian Face alone until further notice. [3]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2010/06/dave_macleod_repeats_indian_face-56039

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ7oYTRdj5I

[3] https://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2010/06/indian-face.html

Looking down the crux headwall to the resting foothold I’m glad I never tried it from the deck as much as Redhead would think me someone of low libido. I’ve never been on a climb with so many ‘almost holds’ for both hands and feet where it ‘s easy to get it wrong and what could be a 5c move could become a 6b move. […] I found 1 ok RP but if not placed perfectly it would pull through and it was hard to judge if it would take a fall. 3 other rp1s near it weren’t that inspiring either. I checked the moves and gear lower down and was a slightly appalled. The filed down rock 6 mentioned in the old guide is not there which is why I didn’t find it in 2000, where I presume it went a quarter in, offset 5 or sideways rp5 may take some bodyweight. 3 meter beyond a 3rd in sideways rock 7 again possibly takes some bodyweight. These 2 bits are your pro until the ‘gear’ nest at ¾ height, I can only think the gear has changed over the years for redhead to survive a fall down the groove or else the ‘Gods’ were smiling on him that day. (1)

References

[1] http://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/the-indian-face

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/07/indian_face_e9_for_james_mchaffie-68205

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/CoMouAtN-GE/

Belayed by an unsuspecting climber, who didn’t realise Muskett was asking for a lead belay.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/07/ullrich_and_muskett_climb_the_indian_face-68213

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/07/ullrich_and_muskett_climb_the_indian_face-68213

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/george_ullrich_talks_about_indian_face-5787

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2018/07/indian_face_e9_6c_by_angus_kille-71634

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQP7nqwaEog

To my horror, just as I stood up on the crux, I discovered the seepage had drained much lower than anticipated; and the last twenty feet of hard climbing was damp at best, and soaking in parts. At this point I was beyond committed, and falling off was undoubtedly off the table, so I rubbed my palms on the upcoming footholds to try to dry them out. With my heart pounding I began moving up precariously. A few moments later I latched onto the jug - exhilarated, but very much aware that I'd danced with death. [1]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2023/08/morus_sanderson_climbs_indian_face_e9_6c-73423

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/ukc/rachel_pearce_makes_first_female_ascent_of_indian_face_e9_6c-792654?v=1#x10168057

Probably the most iconic route in wales for me, and I think if I were to have ever picked something to head point this would be the one. Dream come true. Never had tears of happiness grabbing jugs before at the end of the crux. I thought I’d shout with joy, but instead I shed some tears and had the biggest smile ever looking down at George. Never had my heart beating out of my chest as much as I could feel it on the foot ledge. [1]

A couple of days before the successful ascent Rachel had a spicy aborted attempt. [3]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/clogwyn_dur_arddu_cloggy-457/indian_face-2171

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2026/08/rachel_pearce_makes_first_female_ascent_of_indian_face_e9_6c-74194

[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/ukc/rachel_pearce_makes_first_female_ascent_of_indian_face_e9_6c-792654?v=1#x10168575

[4] https://fanatic-climbing.com/rachel-pearce-premiere-grimpeuse-a-cocher-indian-face-e9-6c-rachel-pearce-first-woman-to-tick-indian-face-e9-6c/