Master's Wall | E7 Trad climb at Clogwyn Du'r Arddu

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First ascent.

Jerry had practiced what he thought would be the crux moves on abseil. However, the dangerous lower section was climbed without pre-practice and did not go to plan:

In that photo [see [2]] I am absolutely climbing to save my life. I'm out of control, it's way harder than I thought, I didn't want to be there and I'm absolutely terrified.

...

You get to some footholds where you can stand and get some RPs behind these little flakes...all I was thinking was "I need to get rescued, I need to get rescued". The I got there, got the wires in, settled down...I just told myself "I never want to climb that bottom bit again, I'm here now and I've got these wires in". The crux was above here but I'd sussed those moves on abseil...so I stood there for a while and thought "let's just go for it".

Jerry prepared for the route by soloing Great Wall, Curving Arete and The Boldest – some of these were onsight.

The day after Master's Wall, he soloed Right Wall and six other Extremes on Dinas Cromlech.

He later spoke about having potential post-traumatic stress symptoms:

And still I think about those things. It's like a post-traumatic thing, and you still think about it and stuff. […] I'll be dreaming, and I'll be just like on the thing, and then I'll wake up and think, and then I'll be going, oh God, that was so lucky, or I don't know. Not really great feelings, just feelings of like, what the hell was I doing? And I was so bloody lucky, so lucky, so lucky. And you think, what if I'd have broken that hold, and you had pictures of yourself flying through the air and stuff.(3)

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3446194975446653

[2] https://www.facebook.com/rockarchivist/photos/a.116371059819780/116371949819691

[3] Interview with Niall Grimes on Jam Crack Podcast, March 2022 http://www.niallgrimes.com/jam-crack-climbing-podcast/2022/3/17/jcpc-113-jerry-moffatt

Second ascent.

Margins is more strenuous and technical but Master's is a much harder lead. The crux and substance of the route done in 1980 by myself.

An incredibly audacious ascent from a young Leo who was aged just 16 at the time. Being young and poor his shoes had a big hole worn in them and the only other shoes he could get hold of were 2 sizes too large.

I had hit my limit, that ephemeral, invisible line. Panic rising I desperately tried to stay on top of my fear. Feeling close to critical, I closed my eyes and felt around the area of rock where I needed my hands to be, like a blind man reading braille, until my fingers connected with a character that felt good enough at this desperate point on which to pull. Too scared to look at what I held, I went for it and made a massive rock over to a distant edge. My fingers stuck to the braille and I grabbed the hold. To my dismay it was wet, as were the next couple of far better crimps. Now I knew I had thoroughly crossed the line and was beyond my limit. WIthout stopping I scrabbled my feet and pulled on the wet holds, praying my fingers wouldn't grease off. The next moves were like an out of body experience, again powered by a force beyond myself, until I came back to reality with my feet established on better holds and my hands on positive but filthy features. [1]

Leo speaking to Niall Grimes:

Masters Wall was one of the high points, or low points [of the summer] depending on how you look at it.

...

I did A Midsummer Night's Dream and walked up it, which is supposed to be E6 6b and so technically Master's Wall is only one notch harder but it's not, it's fucking miles harder...I found it way harder and had a god-awful epic on it. [2]

References

[1] Houlding, L. (2022). Closer to the Edge: Climbing to the Ends of the Earth. United Kingdom: Headline.

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KczO0Bqnj82XH0b9SjD7T?KZcplA

I was drawn up there almost unconsciously. I’d justified it to myself, partly through listening to Jerrys take on the route. I’ve always loved treading in the footsteps of heros [sic] and this was another opportunity. It wasn’t about the quality of the route, it was about the experience it offered. It was also a mental block and I hate the thought of those, they just shouldn’t be allowed.

...

I’d done more than 200 routes of E7-9 and this bastard felt amongst the most serious few leads I’d ever done. It was more than just my history with it for sure, the way Jerry went was really dangerous and if Leo went that way as a 17 year old in shit shoes it’s just extraordinary and shows the mental audacity he had in the late 90s. From reading into Jerrys account of his ascent I’m pretty sure this is where he went and I’ll just throw it out there and say I think he did an E9 in 1983 and I don’t feel too bad for having a total fucking epic on it as a teenager. [1]

Did Caff climb a new route?

The school is out on whether McHaffie made a repeat or a first ascent here. It sounds like previous repeats from Leo Houlding and Stuart Cameron traversed right into 'Spreadeagle' significantly lower down. Dawes and Dixon both think that the line Jerry Moffatt took on the first ascent was also at this lower level. Whatever the case, the high line that McHaffie followed was a harrowing experience that felt "as difficult as the Indian Face"…[2]

References

[1] http://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/masters-wall-extreme-rock

[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2018/10/north_wales_trad_round-up-71750

References

[1] https://x.com/calummuskett/status/1432670857478934529?s=46&t=U2tY3CKUgtS6sG3j0YrfFQ