Jerry Moffatt

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References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k&t=3224s

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/641168632615982

[3] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/402010799865101

Jerry nearly made the first ascent in 2 days but fell off the top roof due to not knowing the sequence well enough. Jerry initially suggested 8c+ but revised this to 8c after Nic Sellars made a fast repeat of Jerry's route Evolution at Raven Tor and downgraded it to 8c:

The only grade I got wrong [in 1995] was Progress at Kilnsey. When I first worked the route I thought definitely not 8c+. I spoke to three others who had all been on the route who all thought it probably 8c+. In the end I gave it 8c+ thinking that perhaps I was climbing better than I thought. The bummer was that I was originally right about the 8c grade and wrong to think I was climbing so great. [2]

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,33869.msg697764.html#msg697764

[2] On The Edge Issue 53, page 48.

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/411589388907242

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/288817811184401

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2482152265184267

References

[1] The Power of Climbing (1991) by David Jones, page 192

Completing the trilogy of 8b+'s at Smith within a 1 month trip. (Source: Revelations)

Pre-1991. [1]

References

[1] The Power of Climbing (1991) by David Jones, page 192

References

[1] The Power of Climbing (1991) by David Jones, page 192

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CQq-cfXjVKB/

The start has got harder over time. Originally 8a+.

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2416302841769210

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/1444484248951079

Jerry recounts that a will to impress a passing Dougie Hall and Kim Carrigan provided the extra motivation he needed to climb the route.

Jerry had previously climbed the first pitch in 1981. He then completed the second pitch in 1982.

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/rockarchivist/photos/a.116578176465735/116578389799047

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/3kuxcMcqhNtNWWrfXXkGDL

First free ascent. In it's incarnation as an aid route it was known as The Cambridge Bolt Route.

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/1470798709652966

[2]https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/4612848935447912/

On his 21st birthday.

The FA year is listed as 1988 in ‘Peak Rock’, the 1994 film 'One Summer' and in the chronology in Jerry's autobiography 'Revelations'. However, the text lists the FA year as 1989.

Peak Rock:

It was definitely the hardest boulder problem I had ever done T that point

Revelations:

Closer to Sheffield, some climbers had started exploring a crag called Cressbrook and added some problems. The first time I saw it, I fell in love with the place. It was a limestone dale with a long wall of smooth limestone, about fifteen feet high. Over a summer, some friends and I developed the crag a lot further adding problems like Jericho Road, Moffatrocity and the Hulk, all pretty hard.

That was in 1988, and the following year, Ben Moon started going there a lot. He started trying a sit-down start to my problem, the Hulk. … Ben was doing well on this. It looked like a fantastic, hard piece of climbing. However, I was injured. A tendon problem in my finger meant I couldn't push it too hard, so I couldn't join in. I was jealous.

As it happened, by the next year, 1989, Ben still hadn't done it. I had recovered, and now he was injured. I managed to do the problem and called it Superman. This was probably the hardest problem in Britain, but at the time, nobody was that interested, apart from those of us who climbed there. Bouldering just wasn't news.(1)

On possible changes in difficulty, Jerry stated:

Firstly on Superman, the foothold that broke wasn't used on the first and second ascent and really doesn't make a difference to the grade. It does feel more greasy than it used to. [3]

References

[1] Jerry Moffatt, Niall Grimes, 'Revelations', 2009, Vertebrate Publishing

[2] On The Edge issue 114, page 44

[3] Letter to On The Edge, issue 104, page 8

Various dates between 2000 and 2002 have been reported for the first ascent. It was reported in On The Edge #105 (March 2001 edition) which suggests it was done around January 2001 [4].

If the truth be known, it had been my goal for the last three years; either I'd just not been in good enough shape to try it, or the conditions were not right. As soon as I started trying The Ace everybody who had done The Joker was attempting it this way, which added to the pressure. My advantage was that I felt good on The Joker. If I could just get in to the top moves feeling strong, I knew i could do it. My sequence didn't feel right though and I was intrigued to find out about an alternative sequence Ben Moon had been trying. First chance I had I went straight back to the crag and tried his method. I hit the top second go but couldn't hold it. The friction wasn't good that day, but I returned in better conditions and for it done. [5]

References

[1] Revelations by Jerry Moffatt and Niall Grimes, 2009. Page 225.

[2] Peak Rock by Phil Kelly, Graham Hoey and Giles Barker, 2013. Page 310.

[3] https://www.climber.co.uk/news/dave-mason-repeats-the-ace/

[4] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,33255.msg666546.html#msg666546

[5] Climber magazine

I went on a strict diet for about a week. Salads only. As a pure power problem, I didn’t need any stamina, so didn’t need any carbohydrates in my body at all. I could do it if I felt dizzy, so I cut out almost all food. This wasn’t hard. I was keen to lose the weight to give me the edge on that first move and I was so excited about doing it that I could hardly eat anyway. [1]

References

[1] Revelations (2010)

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/421353737930807

References

[1] On The Edge 122, page 14.

The same day Jerry made the first ascent of The Force.

Climbed after Westworld and listed in the 1995 guide.

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/uk-bouldering-firsts.3991/page-8#post-53140

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 73, page 25

Climbed on top rope as pads were yet to be invented.

References

[1] Letter to On The Edge, issue 104, page 8

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/964820103584165

[2] Revelations (2010)

One of Jerry's first hard ascents following two years of issues with his elbows.

The problem, like Thriller, was high and hard all the way. We had a short ladder, so I would lean this against the wall and step off onto the problem to try the upper section. The landing was very rocky, and since this was in the days before bouldering pads, I spent some time burying wooden pallets to flatten out the ground. I soon started to get the moves sorted. When we tried it we would bring a cassette player along. At the time, we were listening to Michael Jackson’s album Thriller. There was one song in particular I would listen to while I looked at the problem, visualising the moves before an attempt. It started off:

‘The Force. It’s got a lot of power.’

It was a great line. Later, when I did the problem, I called it The Force.

...

Later that year, my old friend John Bachar went to The Force, got a crow bar and levered off the formerly loose flake that Mark Chapman had reinforced. He claimed the glue was unethical, and for that, he destroyed the problem. Left behind, in place of a tiny hold that gave a desperate move, there was a large flat ledge which allowed an easy reach high into the problem. The Force was changed utterly, nowhere near the problem it once was. Originally Bachar denied it, but Mark Chapman had seen him at the boulders, so he admitted it later. I was angry, frustrated and disappointed. The glue was invisible and made no difference, serving only to protect the problem. Bachar had been going through a bad time back then. The nature of climbing, always so precious to him, was changing. In Yosemite and other crags, the use of bolts was becoming widespread, threatening the traditional values of boldness and commitment that he had always championed and excelled at. He became entrenched, began to lose friendships and, perhaps, perspective. [1]

References

[1] Revelations (2010)

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2691794597553365

The first ascent in a day.

Jerry assumed this was a first ascent and named the climb Spare Rib.

References

[1] On The Edge 119, page 71.

With pre-placed gear so that it could be clipped more easily on the lead.

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/4537003366365803/

Shortly after Andy Pollitt's second ascent making use of the fact that the route was cleaned and chalked. Nonetheless a very impressive flash.

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

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/462380993828081

Nobody else can hang those holds. [1]

References

[1] Peak Limestone North, First Ascents Supplement /file/bc3fd0e4-a3ee-a736-1cbf-d68af9f0910e/peak_lime_north_first_ascents.pdf

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgmLyVeX5E

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/rockarchivist/photos/a.115298749927011/115300749926811

Solo after top rope practice.

Certainly Ulysses was very dangerous. I mean, it was really dangerous. If you think, when I went there, there was nobody on the crag. We got the bus to Redmires and walked, so it was an hour's walk, nobody on the crag, no safety, nothing, no bouldering mats, no phones. I mean, if anything had happened, I would have been absolutely screwed. I only top roped it 10 times over two days, and then top roped it once and did it. I mean, it's ridiculous. I mean, now you top rope it till you're blue in the face. Till you have it totally wired. I mean, I top roped it 10 times and fell off it twice. I mean, it's crazy. (2)

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/1557591667640336

[2] https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jam-crack-the-niall-grimes-climbing-podcast/id1065991509?i=1000554413296&r=3285

Japan's hardest route at the time.

Isao Ikeda:

This has not been flashed, you will flash please. [2]

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2679994322066726

[2] Mountain 101, page 22 /library/11122/mountain-101

Simon Nadin aided the route, tieing off the lightning conductors, then brought Jerry Moffatt and Johnny Dawes up on a top rope.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM-zsZM_VwM

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5QUkcaDeBg

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2656362574429901

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/430864846979696

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwr78H2NECe/=

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/278657725533743

An early flash ascent.

References

[1] On The Edge Issue 107, page 47.

Warming-up for Master's Wall

Warming-up for his ascent of Master's Wall a couple of days later.