| Country | Contributions | Between | Climbers | Crags | Summits | Climbs | Ascents | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 10115 | 22nd May 2025 – 26th June 2026 | 106 | 13 | 0 | 547 | 986 |
| 2 | France | 3310 | 22nd May 2025 – 25th June 2026 | 30 | 13 | 0 | 166 | 318 |
| 3 | USA | 1660 | 30th July 2025 – 26th June 2026 | 24 | 56 | 0 | 156 | 82 |
| 4 | Japan | 1433 | 19th July 2025 – 23rd June 2026 | 14 | 25 | 0 | 98 | 70 |
| 5 | Spain | 314 | 31st July 2025 – 25th June 2026 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 33 | 13 |
| 6 | New Zealand | 214 | 19th August 2025 – 26th June 2026 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 13 |
| 7 | Switzerland | 194 | 31st July 2025 – 26th June 2026 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 12 |
| 8 | Canada | 146 | 10th September 2025 – 10th June 2026 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| 9 | Italy | 146 | 12th August 2025 – 17th May 2026 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 6 |
| 10 | Norway | 126 | 6th September 2025 – 16th June 2026 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 6 |
| Date | Time | User | Type | Name | Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | 24th June 2026 | 18:06:26 UTC | TdG | 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’s *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 an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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](/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’s *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 an ascent of an 8b+ slab in [La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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](/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)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 162 | 24th June 2026 | 17:57:39 UTC | TdG | 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’s *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 exploring futuristic projects such as [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop) and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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’s 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’s *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 an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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](/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)
Diff
--- before
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| 163 | 24th June 2026 | 17:57:39 UTC | TdG | climber | Johnny Dawes | notes_pretty | |
|
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’s <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 exploring futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a> and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in<a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag. </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’s 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’s <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 an ascent of an 8b+ slab in<a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag. </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>
|
|||||||
| 164 | 24th June 2026 | 17:54:44 UTC | TdG | 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’s *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 exploring futuristic projects such as [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop) and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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’s 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?
### 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’s *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 exploring futuristic projects such as [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop) and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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’s 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)
Diff
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| 165 | 24th June 2026 | 17:54:44 UTC | TdG | 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’s <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 exploring futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a> and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in<a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag. </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’s 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?</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’s <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 exploring futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a> and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in<a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag. </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’s 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>
|
|||||||
| 166 | 24th June 2026 | 17:52:36 UTC | TdG | 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 had 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 and slightly unhinged sparse bolting ethic. [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’s *annus mirabilis*: [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 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 t[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 exploring futuristic projects such as [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop) and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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. The difference between the two films is a perhaps encapsulates Dawes’s 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?
### 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’s *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 exploring futuristic projects such as [Promontory Scoop](/climb/5479/promontory-scoop) and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in[La Pedriza](/crag/2660/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’s 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?
### 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)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 167 | 24th June 2026 | 17:52:36 UTC | TdG | climber | Johnny Dawes | notes_pretty | |
|
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 had 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 and slightly unhinged sparse bolting ethic. <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’s <em>annus mirabilis</em>: <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 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 t<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 exploring futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a> and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in<a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag. </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. The difference between the two films is a perhaps encapsulates Dawes’s 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?</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’s <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 exploring futuristic projects such as <a href="/climb/5479/promontory-scoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promontory Scoop</a> and exploring inventive movement. In 2018 he pulled an ascent of an 8b+ slab in<a href="/crag/2660/la-pedriza" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Pedriza</a> out the bag. </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’s 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?</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>
|
|||||||
| 168 | 24th June 2026 | 17:22:00 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | featurable | |
|
Before
false
After
true
|
|||||||
| 169 | 24th June 2026 | 17:21:15 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<p>Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of <a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a> 9A and <a href="/climb/827/no-kpote-only" rel="noopener noreferrer">No Kpote Only</a> 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively. </p>
<p>Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mini Drill</a> and the legendary track for <a href="/climber/467/adam-ondra" rel="noopener noreferrer">Adam Ondra</a>'s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFX4wY-NgKg" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul video</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/498/lucien-martinez" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lucien Martinez</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [<a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a>] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/</a></p>
<p>[2] Interview with <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/</a>, November 2015 <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2</a> </p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY</a> </p>
After
<p>Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is somewhat infamous for his ascents of <a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a> 9A and <a href="/climb/827/no-kpote-only" rel="noopener noreferrer">No Kpote Only</a> 9A, where he subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively. </p>
<p>Nico is also known for his interesting music talents, being behind the masterpiece <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mini Drill</a> and the legendary track for <a href="/climber/467/adam-ondra" rel="noopener noreferrer">Adam Ondra</a>'s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFX4wY-NgKg" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul video</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/498/lucien-martinez" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lucien Martinez</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [<a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a>] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/</a></p>
<p>[2] Interview with <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/</a>, November 2015 <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2</a> </p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY</a> </p>
|
|||||||
| 170 | 24th June 2026 | 17:21:15 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | notes | |
|
Before
Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of [Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul) 9A and [No Kpote Only](/climb/827/no-kpote-only) 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively.
Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece [Mini Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY) and the legendary track for [Adam Ondra](/climber/467/adam-ondra)'s [Soudain Seul video](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFX4wY-NgKg).
[Lucien Martinez](/climber/498/lucien-martinez):
> A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [[Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul)] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]
### References
[1] [https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/](https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/)
[2] Interview with [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/), November 2015 [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php)
[3] [https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2](https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY)
After
Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is somewhat infamous for his ascents of [Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul) 9A and [No Kpote Only](/climb/827/no-kpote-only) 9A, where he subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively.
Nico is also known for his interesting music talents, being behind the masterpiece [Mini Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY) and the legendary track for [Adam Ondra](/climber/467/adam-ondra)'s [Soudain Seul video](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFX4wY-NgKg).
[Lucien Martinez](/climber/498/lucien-martinez):
> A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [[Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul)] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]
### References
[1] [https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/](https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/)
[2] Interview with [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/), November 2015 [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php)
[3] [https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2](https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 171 | 24th June 2026 | 17:19:15 UTC | TdG | media | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFX4wY-NgKg | missing_right_to_reproduce | |
|
Before
None
After
false
|
|||||||
| 172 | 24th June 2026 | 17:19:15 UTC | TdG | media | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFX4wY-NgKg | url | |
|
Before
None
After
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFX4wY-NgKg
|
|||||||
| 173 | 24th June 2026 | 17:19:15 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<p>Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of <a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a> 9A and <a href="/climb/827/no-kpote-only" rel="noopener noreferrer">No Kpote Only</a> 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively. </p>
<p>Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mini Drill</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/498/lucien-martinez" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lucien Martinez</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [<a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a>] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/</a></p>
<p>[2] Interview with <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/</a>, November 2015 <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2</a> </p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY</a> </p>
After
<p>Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of <a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a> 9A and <a href="/climb/827/no-kpote-only" rel="noopener noreferrer">No Kpote Only</a> 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively. </p>
<p>Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mini Drill</a> and the legendary track for <a href="/climber/467/adam-ondra" rel="noopener noreferrer">Adam Ondra</a>'s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFX4wY-NgKg" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul video</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/498/lucien-martinez" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lucien Martinez</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [<a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a>] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/</a></p>
<p>[2] Interview with <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/</a>, November 2015 <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2</a> </p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY</a> </p>
|
|||||||
| 174 | 24th June 2026 | 17:19:15 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | notes | |
|
Before
Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of [Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul) 9A and [No Kpote Only](/climb/827/no-kpote-only) 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively.
Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece [Mini Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY).
[Lucien Martinez](/climber/498/lucien-martinez):
> A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [[Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul)] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]
### References
[1] [https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/](https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/)
[2] Interview with [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/), November 2015 [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php)
[3] [https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2](https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY)
After
Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of [Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul) 9A and [No Kpote Only](/climb/827/no-kpote-only) 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively.
Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece [Mini Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY) and the legendary track for [Adam Ondra](/climber/467/adam-ondra)'s [Soudain Seul video](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wFX4wY-NgKg).
[Lucien Martinez](/climber/498/lucien-martinez):
> A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [[Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul)] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]
### References
[1] [https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/](https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/)
[2] Interview with [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/), November 2015 [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php)
[3] [https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2](https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 175 | 24th June 2026 | 17:11:25 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | notes | |
|
Before
Nico Pelorson is a prolific name and developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of [Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul) 9A and [No Kpote Only](/climb/827/no-kpote-only) 9A. He subsecquently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively.
Nico is also known for his interesting music career being behind the masterpiece [Mini Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY).
[Lucien Martinez](/climber/498/lucien-martinez):
> A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [[Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul)] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]
### References
[1] [https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/](https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/)
[2] Interview with [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/), November 2015 [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php)
[3] [https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2](https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY)
After
Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of [Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul) 9A and [No Kpote Only](/climb/827/no-kpote-only) 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively.
Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece [Mini Drill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY).
[Lucien Martinez](/climber/498/lucien-martinez):
> A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [[Soudain Seul](/climb/849/soudain-seul)] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]
### References
[1] [https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/](https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/)
[2] Interview with [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/), November 2015 [http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php](http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php)
[3] [https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2](https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2)
[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY)
Diff
--- before
|
|||||||
| 176 | 24th June 2026 | 17:11:25 UTC | TdG | climber | Nico Pelorson | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<p>Nico Pelorson is a prolific name and developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of <a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul">Soudain Seul</a> 9A and <a href="/climb/827/no-kpote-only">No Kpote Only</a> 9A. He subsecquently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively. </p>
<p>Nico is also known for his interesting music career being behind the masterpiece <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY">Mini Drill</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/498/lucien-martinez">Lucien Martinez</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [<a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul">Soudain Seul</a>] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/">https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/</a></p>
<p>[2] Interview with <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/</a>, November 2015 <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2">https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2</a> </p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY</a> </p>
After
<p>Nico Pelorson is a prolific developer in the Fontainebleau scene and further afield. He is known for his ascents of <a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a> 9A and <a href="/climb/827/no-kpote-only" rel="noopener noreferrer">No Kpote Only</a> 9A. He subsequently downgraded both boulders to 8C+ and 8C respectively. </p>
<p>Nico is also known for his interesting music career, being behind the masterpiece <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mini Drill</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/climber/498/lucien-martinez" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lucien Martinez</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A last one for the road. In the 65° overhang of Blocage, the small ‘gym’ in Font, Nico Pelorson opened a boulder (red holds) with a move of pure crimping and core strength that seemed to me not to work. Yet Nico managed to do it, and even adding the two moves prior. It was around the time he made Big Island sit [<a href="/climb/849/soudain-seul" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soudain Seul</a>] and he was a monster. The climbers who passed by the gym and saw his boulder thought it was so impossible as to be a joke. [1]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/</a></p>
<p>[2] Interview with <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/</a>, November 2015 <a href="http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://escalade9.wifeo.com/nicolas-pelorson.php</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bleau.info/profiles/nicolas.pelorson.2</a> </p>
<p>[4] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBS_nOUZUFY</a> </p>
|
|||||||
| 177 | 24th June 2026 | 16:12:52 UTC | TdG | climber | Jim Bridwell | notes_pretty | |
|
Before
<p><a href="/climber/728/john-long">John Long</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unlike many pontifical climbers who, having made their mark, silently slip into history, Bridwell’s initiative has redoubled with each new route. Indeed he has maintained a level of motivation rarely matched by any climber anywhere. Yet this same motivation has occasioned controversy, fisticuffs and vindictive slandenngs from fellow cragsmen. [4]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3471497632916387">Portrait by Dean Fidelman</a></p>
<p>[2] <a href="https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018">https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A</a></p>
<p>[4] Interview with <a href="/climber/728/john-long">John Long</a> in Mountain 79 (1981), page 22 <a href="/library/11090/mountain-79">/library/11090/mountain-79</a></p>
After
<p><a href="/climber/728/john-long" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Long</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unlike many pontifical climbers who, having made their mark, silently slip into history, Bridwell’s initiative has redoubled with each new route. Indeed he has maintained a level of motivation rarely matched by any climber anywhere. Yet this same motivation has occasioned controversy, fisticuffs and vindictive slandenngs from fellow cragsmen. [4]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bridwell's sage advice to <a href="/climber/574/leo-houlding" rel="noopener noreferrer">Leo Houlding</a> and <a href="/climber/1488/jason-pickles" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jason Pickles</a>, prior to their attempt on <a href="/climb/2309/the-prophet" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Prophet</a> (E9):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Just remember boys, it’s fine line between badass and dumbass [5]</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3471497632916387" rel="noopener noreferrer">Portrait by Dean Fidelman</a></p>
<p>[2] <a href="https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018</a></p>
<p>[3] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A</a></p>
<p>[4] Interview with <a href="/climber/728/john-long" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Long</a> in Mountain 79 (1981), page 22 <a href="/library/11090/mountain-79" rel="noopener noreferrer">/library/11090/mountain-79</a></p>
<p>[5] <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jam-crack-the-niall-grimes-climbing-podcast/id1065991509?i=1000774041461" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jam-crack-the-niall-grimes-climbing-podcast/id1065991509?i=1000774041461</a></p>
|
|||||||
| 178 | 24th June 2026 | 16:12:52 UTC | TdG | climber | Jim Bridwell | notes | |
|
Before
[John Long](/climber/728/john-long):
> Unlike many pontifical climbers who, having made their mark, silently slip into history, Bridwell’s initiative has redoubled with each new route. Indeed he has maintained a level of motivation rarely matched by any climber anywhere. Yet this same motivation has occasioned controversy, fisticuffs and vindictive slandenngs from fellow cragsmen. [4]
### References
[1] [Portrait by Dean Fidelman](https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3471497632916387)
[2] [https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018](https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018)
[3] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A)
[4] Interview with [John Long](/climber/728/john-long) in Mountain 79 (1981), page 22 [/library/11090/mountain-79](/library/11090/mountain-79)
After
[John Long](/climber/728/john-long):
> Unlike many pontifical climbers who, having made their mark, silently slip into history, Bridwell’s initiative has redoubled with each new route. Indeed he has maintained a level of motivation rarely matched by any climber anywhere. Yet this same motivation has occasioned controversy, fisticuffs and vindictive slandenngs from fellow cragsmen. [4]
Bridwell's sage advice to [Leo Houlding](/climber/574/leo-houlding) and [Jason Pickles](/climber/1488/jason-pickles), prior to their attempt on [The Prophet](/climb/2309/the-prophet) (E9):
>Just remember boys, it’s fine line between badass and dumbass [5]
### References
[1] [Portrait by Dean Fidelman](https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3471497632916387)
[2] [https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018](https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214821/Jim-Bridwell-1944-2018)
[3] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysF9wx4X08A)
[4] Interview with [John Long](/climber/728/john-long) in Mountain 79 (1981), page 22 [/library/11090/mountain-79](/library/11090/mountain-79)
[5] [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jam-crack-the-niall-grimes-climbing-podcast/id1065991509?i=1000774041461](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jam-crack-the-niall-grimes-climbing-podcast/id1065991509?i=1000774041461)
Diff
--- before
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| 179 | 24th June 2026 | 15:33:39 UTC | TdG | climb | Justified and Ancient | crag_id | |
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Before
None
After
610
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| 180 | 24th June 2026 | 15:33:39 UTC | TdG | climb | Justified and Ancient | notes_pretty | |
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Before
<p>The forerunner to Unjustified utilising a glued on crimp on the crux (knocked off by Tony Mitchell prior to the FA of Unjustified).</p>
After
<p>The forerunner to Unjustified utilising a glued on crimp on the crux (knocked off by Tony Mitchell prior to the FA of Unjustified). </p>
<p>Name likely a reference to the 1991 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justified_%26_Ancient" rel="noopener noreferrer">KLF track</a>.</p>
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