| Country | Contributions | Between | Climbers | Crags | Summits | Climbs | Ascents | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 11146 | 22nd May 2025 – 12th September 2026 | 114 | 13 | 0 | 586 | 1083 |
| 2 | France | 3430 | 22nd May 2025 – 29th August 2026 | 32 | 13 | 0 | 172 | 326 |
| 3 | USA | 1770 | 30th July 2025 – 14th August 2026 | 26 | 56 | 0 | 167 | 88 |
| 4 | Japan | 1478 | 19th July 2025 – 14th August 2026 | 14 | 25 | 0 | 107 | 73 |
| 5 | Spain | 319 | 31st July 2025 – 14th August 2026 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 35 | 13 |
| 6 | Switzerland | 229 | 31st July 2025 – 9th August 2026 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 15 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 216 | 19th August 2025 – 14th August 2026 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 13 |
| 8 | Canada | 170 | 10th September 2025 – 14th August 2026 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| 9 | Italy | 166 | 12th August 2025 – 16th August 2026 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 7 |
| 10 | Germany | 151 | 8th November 2025 – 6th August 2026 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 5 |
| Date | Time | User | Type | Name | Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | 19th August 2026 | 00:58:59 UTC | Mono | ascent | George Ulrich's ascent of Shaft of a Dead Man | notes | |
|
Before
None
After
### References
[1] [https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind](https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 82 | 19th August 2026 | 00:58:59 UTC | Mono | ascent | George Ulrich's ascent of Shaft of a Dead Man | climb_id | |
|
Before
None
After
2188
|
|||||||
| 83 | 19th August 2026 | 00:58:59 UTC | Mono | ascent | George Ulrich's ascent of Shaft of a Dead Man | climber_id | |
|
Before
None
After
567
|
|||||||
| 84 | 19th August 2026 | 00:47:59 UTC | Mono | ascent | Neil Dickson's ascent of Margins of the Mind | notes | |
|
Before
### References
[1] [https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind](https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind)
After
### References
[1] [https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind](https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind)
[2] [https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/neil_dickson_-_margins_of_the_mind-1098](https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/neil_dickson_-_margins_of_the_mind-1098)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 85 | 19th August 2026 | 00:47:59 UTC | Mono | ascent | Neil Dickson's ascent of Margins of the Mind | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind">https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind</a></p>
After
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/clogwyn-duarddu-margins-of-the-mind</a></p>
<p>[2] <a href="https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/neil_dickson_-_margins_of_the_mind-1098" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/neil_dickson_-_margins_of_the_mind-1098</a></p>
|
|||||||
| 86 | 19th August 2026 | 00:43:30 UTC | Mono | media | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg | dt_pretty | |
|
Before
None
After
|
|||||||
| 87 | 19th August 2026 | 00:43:30 UTC | Mono | media | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg | missing_right_to_reproduce | |
|
Before
None
After
false
|
|||||||
| 88 | 19th August 2026 | 00:43:30 UTC | Mono | media | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg | url | |
|
Before
None
After
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg
|
|||||||
| 89 | 19th August 2026 | 00:43:30 UTC | Mono | ascent | John Redhead's ascent of Margins of the Mind | ascent_dt_end | |
|
Before
1985-01-01
After
1984-07-25
|
|||||||
| 90 | 19th August 2026 | 00:43:30 UTC | Mono | ascent | John Redhead's ascent of Margins of the Mind | ascent_dt_start | |
|
Before
1984-01-01
After
1984-07-25
|
|||||||
| 91 | 19th August 2026 | 00:43:30 UTC | Mono | ascent | John Redhead's ascent of Margins of the Mind | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<blockquote>
<p>Probably the hardest thing I did at the time, and I was going really well. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg</a></p>
After
<blockquote>
<p>Probably the hardest thing I did at the time, and I was going really well. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdrpFm_Pg</a></p>
|
|||||||
| 92 | 19th August 2026 | 00:42:33 UTC | Mono | climb | Margins of the Mind | notes | |
|
Before
A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon).
[Dave Towse](/climber/742/dave-towse):
>Clipped into the belay bolt, I watched [Johnny](/climber/623/john-redhead) as the evening quickly slipped away. He couldn't seem to commit himself to the move above the poor peg, so l shouted up some encouragement. He went for it, snatching the creaking flake above, the crucial stopper 1 in his mouth. In the failing light he couldn't locate the placement. In extremis, he screamed, "You've let me down Dave you bastard, you've let me down." Like some T.V. game, macabre in concept, I played with Johnny's life, and talked his hand to the small hole for the runner.
After
A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon).
[Dave Towse](/climber/742/dave-towse):
>Clipped into the belay bolt, I watched [Johnny](/climber/623/john-redhead) as the evening quickly slipped away. He couldn't seem to commit himself to the move above the poor peg, so l shouted up some encouragement. He went for it, snatching the creaking flake above, the crucial stopper 1 in his mouth. In the failing light he couldn't locate the placement. In extremis, he screamed, "You've let me down Dave you bastard, you've let me down." Like some T.V. game, macabre in concept, I played with Johnny's life, and talked his hand to the small hole for the runner.
### References
[1] [Clogwyn Du'r Arddu](/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu) Guidebook, 1998
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 93 | 19th August 2026 | 00:42:33 UTC | Mono | climb | Margins of the Mind | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<p>A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/742/dave-towse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dave Towse</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Clipped into the belay bolt, I watched <a href="/climber/623/john-redhead" rel="noopener noreferrer">Johnny</a> as the evening quickly slipped away. He couldn't seem to commit himself to the move above the poor peg, so l shouted up some encouragement. He went for it, snatching the creaking flake above, the crucial stopper 1 in his mouth. In the failing light he couldn't locate the placement. In extremis, he screamed, "You've let me down Dave you bastard, you've let me down." Like some T.V. game, macabre in concept, I played with Johnny's life, and talked his hand to the small hole for the runner.</p>
</blockquote>
After
<p>A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/742/dave-towse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dave Towse</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Clipped into the belay bolt, I watched <a href="/climber/623/john-redhead" rel="noopener noreferrer">Johnny</a> as the evening quickly slipped away. He couldn't seem to commit himself to the move above the poor peg, so l shouted up some encouragement. He went for it, snatching the creaking flake above, the crucial stopper 1 in his mouth. In the failing light he couldn't locate the placement. In extremis, he screamed, "You've let me down Dave you bastard, you've let me down." Like some T.V. game, macabre in concept, I played with Johnny's life, and talked his hand to the small hole for the runner.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clogwyn Du'r Arddu</a> Guidebook, 1998 </p>
|
|||||||
| 94 | 19th August 2026 | 00:40:42 UTC | Mono | climb | Margins of the Mind | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<p>A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon">Nick Dixon</a>.</p>
After
<p>A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/742/dave-towse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dave Towse</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Clipped into the belay bolt, I watched <a href="/climber/623/john-redhead" rel="noopener noreferrer">Johnny</a> as the evening quickly slipped away. He couldn't seem to commit himself to the move above the poor peg, so l shouted up some encouragement. He went for it, snatching the creaking flake above, the crucial stopper 1 in his mouth. In the failing light he couldn't locate the placement. In extremis, he screamed, "You've let me down Dave you bastard, you've let me down." Like some T.V. game, macabre in concept, I played with Johnny's life, and talked his hand to the small hole for the runner.</p>
</blockquote>
|
|||||||
| 95 | 19th August 2026 | 00:40:42 UTC | Mono | climb | Margins of the Mind | notes | |
|
Before
A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon).
After
A candidate for the UK's first E8 according to second ascentionist [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon).
[Dave Towse](/climber/742/dave-towse):
>Clipped into the belay bolt, I watched [Johnny](/climber/623/john-redhead) as the evening quickly slipped away. He couldn't seem to commit himself to the move above the poor peg, so l shouted up some encouragement. He went for it, snatching the creaking flake above, the crucial stopper 1 in his mouth. In the failing light he couldn't locate the placement. In extremis, he screamed, "You've let me down Dave you bastard, you've let me down." Like some T.V. game, macabre in concept, I played with Johnny's life, and talked his hand to the small hole for the runner.
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 96 | 19th August 2026 | 00:40:42 UTC | Mono | climb | Margins of the Mind | grade_id | |
|
Before
60
After
61
|
|||||||
| 97 | 19th August 2026 | 00:40:42 UTC | Mono | climb | Margins of the Mind | grade | |
|
Before
E7
After
E8
|
|||||||
| 98 | 19th August 2026 | 00:32:44 UTC | Mono | ascent | Neil Dickson's ascent of Margins of the Mind | Belayer | |
|
Before
None
After
623
|
|||||||
| 99 | 18th August 2026 | 15:06:35 UTC | Mono | climber | Johnny Dawes | notes | |
|
Before
Johnny Dawes made an indelible contribution to British climbing in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Whilst contemporaries such as [Ben Moon](/climber/130/ben-moon) and [Jerry Moffatt](/climber/131/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](/climb/6009/jugged-hare) (E6), climbed in EBs in 1983 was an aperitif for what was to come.
Jerry Moffatt had climbed [Ulysses' Bow](/climb/881/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](/climb/922/ulysses-or-bust), it was anything but.
A host of hard gritstone classics followed: [Braille Trail](/climb/3475/braille-trail) (E7), [Benign Lives](/climb/5798/benign-lives) (E7), [The Salmon](/climb/1450/the-salmon) (E7); [Sad Amongst Friends](/climb/2973/sad-amongst-friends) (E7) and [Silk](/climb/5782/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](/climb/1167/dawes-of-perception) (E7) set a benchmark for difficulty and boldness that came to define the medium, whilst his best link on [The Meltdown](/climb/52/the-meltdown) project was worth at least 8c.
But the best was yet to come. 1986 was Dawes’ *annus mirabilis*. The highlights included: [Gaia](/climb/585/gaia) (E8), [End of the Affair](/climb/586/end-of-the-affair) (E8), and [Slab and Crack](/climb/622/slab-and-crack) (E8) on the grit; [Conan the Librarian](/climb/1187/conan-the-librarian) (E7) and [Come to Mother](/climb/1003/come-to-mother) (E7) on Gogarth; [Coeur de Lion](/climb/700/coeur-de-lion) (E8) and the majestic [The Quarryman](/climb/699/the-quarryman) (E8) on the slate.
But it was [Indian Face](/climb/601/indian-face) (E9) that topped them all, a harrowing quest up the Great Wall of [Clogwyn Du'r Arddu](/crag/457/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](/climb/586/end-of-the-affair) (E8) and [Gaia](/climb/585/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](/climb/1648/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](/crag/778/sròn-uladail) to free climb [The Scoop](/climb/3047/the-scoop) (E7) and [Moskill Grooves](/climb/7131/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](/climb/797/the-very-big-and-the-very-small) (8b+) on the slate and [Smoked Salmon](/climb/4123/smoked-salmon) (E8) and [The Angel's Share](/climb/900/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](/climb/920/downhill-racer) was a typically Dawesian antic – he rated his effort E8.
In 1993, an attempt on Himalayan big wall [Meru Shark’s Fin](/summit/52/meru-peak) was abandoned when Dawes dropped a boot at 6000m.
In 1995 he repeated his friend [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon)’s masterpiece [Face Mecca](/climb/647/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](/climb/6959/wizard-ridge) and [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop), whilst exploring ever-more inventive approaches to movement. In 2018 he pulled a second-go ascent of an 8b+ slab in [La Pedriza](/crag/2660/la-pedriza) out the bag and teamed up with longstanding friend [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon) to add a bold new E7, [Island](/climb/8246/island), to [Clogwyn Du'r Arddu](/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu).
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](/climber/3087/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](/climber/1215/alan-rouse) 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](/climber/702/niall-grimes) and [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU)
[2] Features in [80's Birth of Extreme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k)
[3] Interview for the film *Stone Monkey*, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I)
[5] Interview with [Jon Barton](/climber/3087/jon-barton), On The Edge 63 (1996) [/library/11066/on-the-edge-63](/library/11066/on-the-edge-63)
[6] *What Climbing Has Taught Me* (2025) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30)
After
Johnny Dawes made an indelible contribution to British climbing in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Whilst contemporaries such as [Ben Moon](/climber/130/ben-moon) and [Jerry Moffatt](/climber/131/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](/climb/6009/jugged-hare) (E6), climbed in EBs in 1983 was an aperitif for what was to come.
Jerry Moffatt had climbed [Ulysses' Bow](/climb/881/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](/climb/922/ulysses-or-bust), it was anything but.
A host of hard gritstone classics followed: [Braille Trail](/climb/3475/braille-trail) (E7), [Benign Lives](/climb/5798/benign-lives) (E7), [The Salmon](/climb/1450/the-salmon) (E7); [Sad Amongst Friends](/climb/2973/sad-amongst-friends) (E7) and [Silk](/climb/5782/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](/climb/1167/dawes-of-perception) (E7) set a benchmark for difficulty and boldness that came to define the medium, whilst his best link on [The Meltdown](/climb/52/the-meltdown) project was worth at least 8c.
But the best was yet to come. 1986 was Dawes’ *annus mirabilis*. The highlights included: [Gaia](/climb/585/gaia) (E8), [End of the Affair](/climb/586/end-of-the-affair) (E8), and [Slab and Crack](/climb/622/slab-and-crack) (E8) on the grit; [Conan the Librarian](/climb/1187/conan-the-librarian) (E7) and [Come to Mother](/climb/1003/come-to-mother) (E7) on Gogarth; [Coeur de Lion](/climb/700/coeur-de-lion) (E8) and the majestic [The Quarryman](/climb/699/the-quarryman) (E8) on the slate.
But it was [Indian Face](/climb/601/indian-face) (E9) that topped them all, a harrowing quest up the Great Wall of [Clogwyn Du'r Arddu](/crag/457/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](/climb/586/end-of-the-affair) (E8) and [Gaia](/climb/585/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](/climb/1648/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](/crag/778/sròn-uladail) to free climb [The Scoop](/climb/3047/the-scoop) (E7) and [Moskill Grooves](/climb/7131/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](/climb/797/the-very-big-and-the-very-small) (8b+) on the slate and [Smoked Salmon](/climb/4123/smoked-salmon) (E8) and [The Angel's Share](/climb/900/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](/climb/920/downhill-racer) was a typically Dawesian antic – he rated his effort E8.
In 1993, an attempt on Himalayan big wall [Meru Shark’s Fin](/summit/52/meru-peak) was abandoned when Dawes dropped a boot at 6000m.
In 1995 he repeated his friend [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon)’s masterpiece [Face Mecca](/climb/647/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](/climb/6959/wizard-ridge) and [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop), whilst exploring ever-more inventive approaches to movement. In 2018 he pulled a second-go ascent of an 8b+ slab in [La Pedriza](/crag/2660/la-pedriza) out the bag and teamed up with [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon) to add a bold new E7, [Island](/climb/8246/island), to [Clogwyn Du'r Arddu](/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu).
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](/climber/3087/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](/climber/1215/alan-rouse) 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](/climber/702/niall-grimes) and [Nick Dixon](/climber/540/nick-dixon) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU)
[2] Features in [80's Birth of Extreme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k)
[3] Interview for the film *Stone Monkey*, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I)
[5] Interview with [Jon Barton](/climber/3087/jon-barton), On The Edge 63 (1996) [/library/11066/on-the-edge-63](/library/11066/on-the-edge-63)
[6] *What Climbing Has Taught Me* (2025) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30)
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| 100 | 18th August 2026 | 15:06:35 UTC | Mono | climber | Johnny Dawes | notes_pretty | |
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Before
<p>Johnny Dawes made an indelible contribution to British climbing in the 1980s and ‘90s.</p>
<p>Whilst contemporaries such as <a href="/climber/130/ben-moon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ben Moon</a> and <a href="/climber/131/jerry-moffatt" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jerry Moffatt</a> 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. </p>
<p>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 <a href="/climb/6009/jugged-hare" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jugged Hare</a> (E6), climbed in EBs in 1983 was an aperitif for what was to come. </p>
<p>Jerry Moffatt had climbed <a href="/climb/881/ulysses'-bow" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ulysses' Bow</a> (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 <a href="/climb/922/ulysses-or-bust" rel="noopener noreferrer">found out the hard way</a>, it was anything but. </p>
<p>A host of hard gritstone classics followed: <a href="/climb/3475/braille-trail" rel="noopener noreferrer">Braille Trail</a> (E7), <a href="/climb/5798/benign-lives" rel="noopener noreferrer">Benign Lives</a> (E7), <a href="/climb/1450/the-salmon" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Salmon</a> (E7); <a href="/climb/2973/sad-amongst-friends" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sad Amongst Friends</a> (E7) and <a href="/climb/5782/silk" rel="noopener noreferrer">Silk</a> (E5) were climbed ground up. </p>
<p>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. <a href="/climb/1167/dawes-of-perception" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dawes of Perception</a> (E7) set a benchmark for difficulty and boldness that came to define the medium, whilst his best link on <a href="/climb/52/the-meltdown" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Meltdown</a> project was worth at least 8c. </p>
<p>But the best was yet to come. 1986 was Dawes’ <em>annus mirabilis</em>. The highlights included: <a href="/climb/585/gaia" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gaia</a> (E8), <a href="/climb/586/end-of-the-affair" rel="noopener noreferrer">End of the Affair</a> (E8), and <a href="/climb/622/slab-and-crack" rel="noopener noreferrer">Slab and Crack</a> (E8) on the grit; <a href="/climb/1187/conan-the-librarian" rel="noopener noreferrer">Conan the Librarian</a> (E7) and <a href="/climb/1003/come-to-mother" rel="noopener noreferrer">Come to Mother</a> (E7) on Gogarth; <a href="/climb/700/coeur-de-lion" rel="noopener noreferrer">Coeur de Lion</a> (E8) and the majestic <a href="/climb/699/the-quarryman" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Quarryman</a> (E8) on the slate. </p>
<p>But it was <a href="/climb/601/indian-face" rel="noopener noreferrer">Indian Face</a> (E9) that topped them all, a harrowing quest up the Great Wall of <a href="/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clogwyn Du'r Arddu</a> 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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="/climb/586/end-of-the-affair" rel="noopener noreferrer">End of the Affair</a> (E8) and <a href="/climb/585/gaia" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gaia</a> (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. </p>
<p>The ground-up approach reached a new high watermark in 1988 when Dawes succeeded on the first ascent of <a href="/climb/1648/hardback-thesaurus" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hardback Thesaurus</a> (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. </p>
<p>The eighties also saw trips to <a href="/crag/778/sròn-uladail" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sròn Uladail</a> to free climb <a href="/climb/3047/the-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Scoop</a> (E7) and <a href="/climb/7131/moskill-grooves" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moskill Grooves</a> (E6), multipitch monsters winding their way through the crag’s 50m-overhanging girth. </p>
<p>The 1990s saw the bar for slab climbing raised further with <a href="/climb/797/the-very-big-and-the-very-small" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Very Big and the Very Small</a> (8b+) on the slate and <a href="/climb/4123/smoked-salmon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Smoked Salmon</a> (E8) and <a href="/climb/900/the-angel's-share" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Angel's Share</a> (7C) on the grit, the latter taking a harder line, above a harder landing, than is usually climbed today. A one-handed solo of <a href="/climb/920/downhill-racer" rel="noopener noreferrer">Downhill Racer</a> was a typically Dawesian antic – he rated his effort E8. </p>
<p>In 1993, an attempt on Himalayan big wall <a href="/summit/52/meru-peak" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meru Shark’s Fin</a> was abandoned when Dawes dropped a boot at 6000m. </p>
<p>In 1995 he repeated his friend <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a>’s masterpiece <a href="/climb/647/face-mecca" rel="noopener noreferrer">Face Mecca</a> (E9), taking a parallel line to Indian Face. This marked the end of the superbold era. </p>
<p>The following years were spent conjuring up futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/6959/wizard-ridge" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wizard Ridge</a> and <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a>, whilst exploring ever-more inventive approaches to movement. In 2018 he pulled a second-go ascent of an 8b+ slab in <a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag and teamed up with longstanding friend <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a> to add a bold new E7, <a href="/climb/8246/island" rel="noopener noreferrer">Island</a>, to <a href="/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clogwyn Du'r Arddu</a>.</p>
<p>Dawes was captured climbing at his best in the 1986 film <em>Stone Monkey</em> by Alun Hughes, a cult classic that was shown on terrestrial television several times. In 1996 Dawes made <em>Best Forgotten Art</em>, a film about gritstone crack climbing that was the easy listening antidote to Ben And Jerry’s techno-energised <em>The Real Thing</em>, 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.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="/climber/3087/jon-barton" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jon Barton</a>: Do you think you ever shocked anybody Johnny?</p>
<p>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 <a href="/climber/1215/alan-rouse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Al Rouse's</a> 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.</p>
<p>JB: No Johnny, did you ever shock anybody with your climbing? [5]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] Interview with <a href="/climber/702/niall-grimes" rel="noopener noreferrer">Niall Grimes</a> and <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU</a></p>
<p>[2] Features in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k" rel="noopener noreferrer">80's Birth of Extreme</a></p>
<p>[3] Interview for the film <em>Stone Monkey</em>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q</a></p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I</a></p>
<p>[5] Interview with <a href="/climber/3087/jon-barton" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jon Barton</a>, On The Edge 63 (1996) <a href="/library/11066/on-the-edge-63" rel="noopener noreferrer">/library/11066/on-the-edge-63</a></p>
<p>[6] <em>What Climbing Has Taught Me</em> (2025) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30</a></p>
After
<p>Johnny Dawes made an indelible contribution to British climbing in the 1980s and ‘90s.</p>
<p>Whilst contemporaries such as <a href="/climber/130/ben-moon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ben Moon</a> and <a href="/climber/131/jerry-moffatt" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jerry Moffatt</a> 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. </p>
<p>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 <a href="/climb/6009/jugged-hare" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jugged Hare</a> (E6), climbed in EBs in 1983 was an aperitif for what was to come. </p>
<p>Jerry Moffatt had climbed <a href="/climb/881/ulysses'-bow" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ulysses' Bow</a> (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 <a href="/climb/922/ulysses-or-bust" rel="noopener noreferrer">found out the hard way</a>, it was anything but. </p>
<p>A host of hard gritstone classics followed: <a href="/climb/3475/braille-trail" rel="noopener noreferrer">Braille Trail</a> (E7), <a href="/climb/5798/benign-lives" rel="noopener noreferrer">Benign Lives</a> (E7), <a href="/climb/1450/the-salmon" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Salmon</a> (E7); <a href="/climb/2973/sad-amongst-friends" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sad Amongst Friends</a> (E7) and <a href="/climb/5782/silk" rel="noopener noreferrer">Silk</a> (E5) were climbed ground up. </p>
<p>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. <a href="/climb/1167/dawes-of-perception" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dawes of Perception</a> (E7) set a benchmark for difficulty and boldness that came to define the medium, whilst his best link on <a href="/climb/52/the-meltdown" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Meltdown</a> project was worth at least 8c. </p>
<p>But the best was yet to come. 1986 was Dawes’ <em>annus mirabilis</em>. The highlights included: <a href="/climb/585/gaia" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gaia</a> (E8), <a href="/climb/586/end-of-the-affair" rel="noopener noreferrer">End of the Affair</a> (E8), and <a href="/climb/622/slab-and-crack" rel="noopener noreferrer">Slab and Crack</a> (E8) on the grit; <a href="/climb/1187/conan-the-librarian" rel="noopener noreferrer">Conan the Librarian</a> (E7) and <a href="/climb/1003/come-to-mother" rel="noopener noreferrer">Come to Mother</a> (E7) on Gogarth; <a href="/climb/700/coeur-de-lion" rel="noopener noreferrer">Coeur de Lion</a> (E8) and the majestic <a href="/climb/699/the-quarryman" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Quarryman</a> (E8) on the slate. </p>
<p>But it was <a href="/climb/601/indian-face" rel="noopener noreferrer">Indian Face</a> (E9) that topped them all, a harrowing quest up the Great Wall of <a href="/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clogwyn Du'r Arddu</a> 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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="/climb/586/end-of-the-affair" rel="noopener noreferrer">End of the Affair</a> (E8) and <a href="/climb/585/gaia" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gaia</a> (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. </p>
<p>The ground-up approach reached a new high watermark in 1988 when Dawes succeeded on the first ascent of <a href="/climb/1648/hardback-thesaurus" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hardback Thesaurus</a> (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. </p>
<p>The eighties also saw trips to <a href="/crag/778/sròn-uladail" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sròn Uladail</a> to free climb <a href="/climb/3047/the-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Scoop</a> (E7) and <a href="/climb/7131/moskill-grooves" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moskill Grooves</a> (E6), multipitch monsters winding their way through the crag’s 50m-overhanging girth. </p>
<p>The 1990s saw the bar for slab climbing raised further with <a href="/climb/797/the-very-big-and-the-very-small" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Very Big and the Very Small</a> (8b+) on the slate and <a href="/climb/4123/smoked-salmon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Smoked Salmon</a> (E8) and <a href="/climb/900/the-angel's-share" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Angel's Share</a> (7C) on the grit, the latter taking a harder line, above a harder landing, than is usually climbed today. A one-handed solo of <a href="/climb/920/downhill-racer" rel="noopener noreferrer">Downhill Racer</a> was a typically Dawesian antic – he rated his effort E8. </p>
<p>In 1993, an attempt on Himalayan big wall <a href="/summit/52/meru-peak" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meru Shark’s Fin</a> was abandoned when Dawes dropped a boot at 6000m. </p>
<p>In 1995 he repeated his friend <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a>’s masterpiece <a href="/climb/647/face-mecca" rel="noopener noreferrer">Face Mecca</a> (E9), taking a parallel line to Indian Face. This marked the end of the superbold era. </p>
<p>The following years were spent conjuring up futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/6959/wizard-ridge" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wizard Ridge</a> and <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a>, whilst exploring ever-more inventive approaches to movement. In 2018 he pulled a second-go ascent of an 8b+ slab in <a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag and teamed up with <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a> to add a bold new E7, <a href="/climb/8246/island" rel="noopener noreferrer">Island</a>, to <a href="/crag/457/clogwyn-du'r-arddu" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clogwyn Du'r Arddu</a>.</p>
<p>Dawes was captured climbing at his best in the 1986 film <em>Stone Monkey</em> by Alun Hughes, a cult classic that was shown on terrestrial television several times. In 1996 Dawes made <em>Best Forgotten Art</em>, a film about gritstone crack climbing that was the easy listening antidote to Ben And Jerry’s techno-energised <em>The Real Thing</em>, 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.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="/climber/3087/jon-barton" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jon Barton</a>: Do you think you ever shocked anybody Johnny?</p>
<p>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 <a href="/climber/1215/alan-rouse" rel="noopener noreferrer">Al Rouse's</a> 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.</p>
<p>JB: No Johnny, did you ever shock anybody with your climbing? [5]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] Interview with <a href="/climber/702/niall-grimes" rel="noopener noreferrer">Niall Grimes</a> and <a href="/climber/540/nick-dixon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Dixon</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU</a></p>
<p>[2] Features in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k" rel="noopener noreferrer">80's Birth of Extreme</a></p>
<p>[3] Interview for the film <em>Stone Monkey</em>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q</a></p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I</a></p>
<p>[5] Interview with <a href="/climber/3087/jon-barton" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jon Barton</a>, On The Edge 63 (1996) <a href="/library/11066/on-the-edge-63" rel="noopener noreferrer">/library/11066/on-the-edge-63</a></p>
<p>[6] <em>What Climbing Has Taught Me</em> (2025) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30</a></p>
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