John Redhead

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...my own attempts from 1980 have been well wagged about. I call them The Tormented Ejaculation - not just mere climbing, but an expression of the flesh and blood of my work, the poetry of rock-movement inextricably bound up with the network of shape and colour. A last look at the line and a strange impulse took hold of me. I went for it. At 70ft I woke up. Ghastly! The aggression was dissipated and the fear gripped me. I had climbed with no protection and was now eyeballing a tiny shallow crack. I remembered it from the abseil and it had looked pathetic. It was real now. I contemplated jumping on the scree below before the situation got out of control. I fell a million times, my arms unfolding, my breath fading. A no. 1 stopper came to a halt, half-way down this crack, half in, rocking - my weight was on it...the mental preparation was becoming harder and harder. The so-called psyching up, a pain beyond reason. Out of the accquaintance grew more and more fear. Gone the initial naivety that had sparked off this terrifying enterprise. I knew the score and was unnerved by it...I distinctly felt a tiny slide on a friction move lower down and became very insecure, with my feet in canyon boots. I got to the little crack another 20 feet up and was dangerously pumped because of the extra strain on my fingers. The resin was wearing off the boots. I managed to place an RP1, clipped in, and was about to place a No 2 when my right foot shot off.The strain came on the RP, ripped it through, and I cartwheeled a long way down the wall. [3]

References

[1] Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Climbers' Club Guides) 2004, Nick Dixon

Originally an E5 trad route.

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.

Probably the hardest thing I did at the time, and I was going really well. [1]

References

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

Redhead's first new route on the slate.

The long section to the first bolt at 22m was protected with three skyhooks and RURP.

Mark Lynden:

I watched JR leading this. At one point he got the sequence wrong and teetered backwards, but stayed on the rock because a small, sharp spike stuck into his finger and just held him on. [1]

References

[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.

[2] https://snowdoniamountainguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Slate_Historical_Section.pdf

References

[1] Mountain Issue 104, page 11 /library/11125/mountain-104

References

[1] Mountain Issue 107, page 11 /library/11129/mountain-107

Second pitch.

“I got a brief low-down about the gear from Johnny and in particular the off-set nuts that protected the moves to the bolt at 60ft. It seemed ok. Dave Towse was belaying and decided not to tie in. My boots were a little on the worn side but I felt confident. All went fine, gear placed and just as I went to clip the bolt, my foot shot off! I cartwheeled down the wall as the offsets pulled out. I didn’t know it at the time but Dave had jumped back immediately as the first nuts ripped. He’d jumped into the pool taking in 20ft of slack! All the nuts ripped and a friend snapped leaving a sling over a loose spike that starts the moves up the slab. The sling held! I was held upside down, my head 2ft from the jagged belay boulders. Dave had saved my life! I broke my little finger. I mentioned this episode in Pete’s and apparently what Johnny hadn’t told me is that he had hammered the off-set nuts into the crack on the first ascent! Thanks! I came back another day and hammered them in! I think Johnny was likewise pissed off with me over the rurp and sling by the first bolt at 80ft on Raped by Affection. This made no difference to me on the first ascent as I could reach the bolt, but merely acted as marginal back-up!”(1)

References

[1] https://www.muskettmountaineering.co.uk/writing/slate-of-the-art/

I had just recovered from a paralysing virus, no doubt self-induced, as most viruses are, which hospitalized me for several days. The births of four paintings (titled The Shaft of a Dead Man) were no doubt the product of this alternative head space. [1]

References

[1] Dixon, N. (2004). Clogwyn Dur Arddu: Climbers' Club Guide to Wales, page 188. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club.