Climbers

Johnny Dawes made an indelible contribution to British climbing in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Whilst contemporaries such as Ben Moon and Jerry Moffatt pushed physical standards forwards, Johnny took a swerve sideways (probably getting the vehicle on two wheels in the process), bringing his restless innovation in movement to bear on some of the country’s most spectacular lines.

Dawes’s teenage years were spent honing his skills on the buildings around his school, but it wasn’t long before he made his presence known on the grit: the bold friction slab Jugged Hare (E6), climbed in EBs in 1983 was an aperitif for what was to come.

Jerry Moffatt had climbed Ulysses' Bow (E6) in 1983 after extensive top rope practice. Just one year later Dawes soloed it onsight. He made the route look easy, but as those who tried to follow him found out the hard way, it was anything but.

A host of hard gritstone classics followed: Braille Trail (E7), Benign Lives (E7), The Salmon (E7); Sad Amongst Friends (E7) and Silk (E5) were climbed ground up.

In 1985, the North Wales slate beckoned, where Dawes found an affinity with its slabby style, slightly unhinged sparse bolting ethic, and social scene of misfits and miscreants. Dawes of Perception (E7) set a benchmark for difficulty and boldness that came to define the medium, whilst his best link on The Meltdown project was worth at least 8c.

But the best was yet to come. 1986 was Dawes’ annus mirabilis. The highlights included: Gaia (E8), End of the Affair (E8), and Slab and Crack (E8) on the grit; Conan the Librarian (E7) and Come to Mother (E7) on Gogarth; Coeur de Lion (E8) and the majestic The Quarryman (E8) on the slate.

But it was Indian Face (E9) that topped them all, a harrowing quest up the Great Wall of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu and the country’s first E9. The route established a level of boldness that still may not have been surpassed, and it has become a near-mythical part of British climbing lore.

The eighties was a time of conflicting styles as climbing evolved. The Indian Face was pre-inspected, but to a level that would be considered minimal by today’s standards. Although the more accessible classics such as End of the Affair (E8) and Gaia (E8) are now regularly headpointed, few have matched the spirit and style of Dawes’s first ascents: End of the Affair was attempted ground-up with a terrifying fall, whilst the bold final moves on Gaia were climbed onsight.

The ground-up approach reached a new high watermark in 1988 when Dawes succeeded on the first ascent of Hardback Thesaurus (E8) on Gogarth, but not before taking gear-ripping falls that were enough to make you feel sea sick. It remains one of the hardest ground-up first ascents.

The eighties also saw trips to Sròn Uladail to free climb The Scoop (E7) and Moskill Grooves (E6), multipitch monsters winding their way through the crag’s 50m-overhanging girth.

The 1990s saw the bar for slab climbing raised further with The Very Big and the Very Small (8b+) on the slate and Smoked Salmon (E8) and The Angel's Share (7C) on the grit, the latter taking a harder line, above a harder landing, than is usually climbed today. A one-handed solo of Downhill Racer was a typically Dawesian antic – he rated his effort E8.

In 1993, an attempt on Himalayan big wall Meru Shark’s Fin was abandoned when Dawes dropped a boot at 6000m.

In 1995 he repeated his friend Nick Dixon’s masterpiece Face Mecca (E9), taking a parallel line to Indian Face. This marked the end of the superbold era.

The following years were spent conjuring up futuristic projects such as Wizard Ridge and Promontory Scoop, whilst exploring ever-more inventive approaches to movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in La Pedriza out the bag.

Dawes was captured climbing at his best in the 1986 film Stone Monkey by Alun Hughes, a cult classic that was shown on terrestrial television several times. In 1996 Dawes made Best Forgotten Art, a film about gritstone crack climbing that was the easy listening antidote to Ben And Jerry’s techno-energised The Real Thing, released around the same time. Like a tweed jacket in a Sheffield nightclub, the contrast between the two films perhaps encapsulates Dawes’ place in his era: a climber who stood alongside the sport’s leading performers, yet always seemed to be playing a different game.

Jon Barton: Do you think you ever shocked anybody Johnny?

Well I'd been at this mad party over in Wales. I left in the early hours to drive over to Sheffield, I like driving at night when the roads are quiet. I could tell you about the Snake Pass first thing at dawn, but that's boring hippy stuff. I got to Sheffield, and broke into the back of Al Rouse's house. I was in the kitchen making coffee, admiring Al's new decorating efforts, I went up stairs and jumped into his room and onto the bed, to be faced by two worried looking strangers hiding under the duvet. Al had moved out some weeks earlier.

JB: No Johnny, did you ever shock anybody with your climbing? [5]

References

[1] Interview with Niall Grimes and Nick Dixon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU

[2] Features in 80's Birth of Extreme

[3] Interview for the film Stone Monkey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I

[5] Interview with Jon Barton, On The Edge 63 (1996) /library/11066/on-the-edge-63

[6] What Climbing Has Taught Me (2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30

Laura Rogora is an Italian professional rock climber, known for excelling in both competition climbing and elite sport climbing. She rose to prominence as a youth competitor, winning multiple World and European Youth Championship titles and qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Rogora is also one of the strongest female sport climbers in the world, having climbed routes graded up to 9b and achieved several historic milestones. In 2021, she became only the third woman to redpoint a 9b route, and in 2025 she made history as the first woman to onsight an 8c+ route. She is also notable for her depth of experience in hard sport climbing, having climbed over 45 routes graded 9a or harder.

Rogora is now one of the best onsight climbers in the world. Only Alex Megos and Adam Ondra have more hard onsights to their name, and the gap is closing.

James McHaffie is a prolific North Wales based trad climber who's also a very capable sport climber. He is one of the best trad onsight climbers in the UK (and potentially the world) with over a hundred E7 onsights to his name. He's also completed some impressive challenges, such as the 100 lakes extremes in a day.

On the 26th May 2021 James climbed Revelations at Raven Tor, the last route of 180 on his way to ticking every route in the book Extreme Rock. This incredible effort demonstrates a huge breadth and depth of experience, from relatively pedestrian climbs such as The Strand at Gogarth (North Stack And Main Cliff) to bold and intimidating leads such as Johnny Dawes' Indian Face and Jerry Moffatt's Master's Wall.

References

[1] Interview with DMM, September 2021 https://dmmwales.com/journal/may-2021/mchaffie-completes-extreme-rock

[2] Interview with RockClimbingUK, 2011 https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php?topic=23709.0

[3] Interview with Marc Langley for UKClimbing.com, September 2020 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/james_mchaffie_-_the_cumbrian-13045

[4] Adam Hocking picture of James McHaffie during his 100 lakes extremes in a day challenge https://www.instagram.com/p/CDb9sm3DI-T/

[5] https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/ticklists/caffs_100_lakeland_extremes-890

Peak district based climber's climber.

References

[1] Training for the Olympic Qualification Series, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX6NicPSTEE

[2] New Beginnings, 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3D0FfS4v8k

[3] https://alpineclub.org.nz/feature/interview-jim-pope

[4] Climbing in the Hoggar Mountains (2026) https://jimpopeonarope.substack.com/p/climbing-in-the-hoggar-mountains

Jakob Schubert is an Austrian climber, and one of the best all rounders of his generation with many competition achievements (Bronze in the 2020 Tokyo olympics, winning the World Championships in 2023), sport routes (third ascent of Perfecto Mundo 9b+ in 2019, first ascent of B.I.G 9c in 2023) and boulder problems (fifth ascent of Alphane 9A in 2023).

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y47TXwLbCu8

Noah Wheeler is a young and up-and-coming boulderer who currently resides in Colorado, USA. He is one half of Wheel Rock with his brother Benn Wheeler.

Noah burst onto the scene in 2022 when he repeated three 8C/V15 boulders with G-Master, Paint it Black, and Delirium. In 2024 Noah repeated Sleepwalker 8C+/V16 and Insomniac 8C+/V16. In the dying days of 2024 Noah repeated the infamous Return of the Sleepwalker 9A/V17 at only 22 years of age, this made him the youngest person to climb 9A/V17 at the time of his ascent. He made short work of Burden of Dreams (9A), finding it suited his board-honed style.

References

[1] https://www.grimper.com/news-mais-jeune-americain-nomme-noah-wheeler

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/3O6FI1hbAKBsel83KUqvNS?

One half of the WideBoyz.

References

[1] Features in Without a Partner: Rope Solo of El Cap in Under 24rhs

[2] Interview with Alex Megos (2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6vBe-2guBw

Jack Palmieri is a British boulderer. He started climbing relatively late in life but has rapidly established himself by repeating a huge number of hard problems in the UK and abroad.

Around 2017 Jack spent a lot of time in Parisellas Cave, repeating nearly all the hard problems (including Silk Cut and Pilgrimage) in the cave as well as adding some new link ups of his own.

Using this as a base, he has then branched out in an attempt to seemingly climb every hard boulder in the UK. In 2022 alone he climbed over 100 8th grade boulder problems in the UK [1], a very impressive feat given the weather!

In March 2026 Jack ticked the last recorded boulder problem at Parisella's Cave, an incredible effort over the course of many years. While there are many links included, there are over 50 problems 8B or harder.

References

[1] Interview with UKClimbing.com, December 2022 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/jack_palmieri_on_climbing_100_8s_in_a_year-14907

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/jack_palmieri_on_climbing_200_8s_in_a_year-15678

Alex Barrows is a British sport climber and boulderer. He specialises in onsighting and longer, endurance style routes.

References

[1] https://vimeo.com/user11693449

References

[1] https://www.grimper.com/news-jorge-diaz-rullo-conatus-spinoza

[2] Interview with desnivel, February 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPYi1svMkEk

Features in Forte.

Niccolò Ceria is an Italian boulderer. He is known for his aesthetic approach to bouldering which focuses on the quality of the problem and the movement, as well as the difficulty.

Giuliano Cameroni is a Swiss professional rock climber. Born in 1997 and raised in the climbing-rich region of Ticino, Switzerland, Cameroni grew up immersed in rock climbing from an early age. His father, a route developer, introduced him to the sport, fostering both his technical foundation and a deep appreciation for the natural environment.

References

[1] Biographic video https://watch.reelrocktour.com/videos/born-among-boulders

Owner of climbing's most iconic moustache.

References

[1] https://www.jamesclucas.com/portraits/blog-post-title-three-tfa7m-p9hwd

Sébastien Bouin is a sport climber from the south of France. While being an exceptionally good all round climber, he is known for his extreme endurance climbing and establishing many hard first ascents. For example, his route Nordic Marathon in Flatanger takes in over 130m while climbing the out of the cave.

Prolific explorer and first ascenionist in the peak district. Has also repeated many hard problems at home and abroad. Part owner of Beastmaker.

References

[1] Interview with Simon Lee

[2] Wedge Climbing profile

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajSuf5s2yyo

[2] https://archive.org/details/climbtalk-9-2-2011