Johnny Dawes : British Climbing Pioneer & Legend
Born on May 9, in 1964, Johnny Dawes a fiercely intelligent, iconoclast, is a British rock climber famous for his dynamic style and often very bold ascents. His influence on British climbing was at its peak in the mid to late-1980s.
Among his contributions is the introduction of two new grades to the British grading system for rock climbing when Dawes brought solid E8 (Gaia, an E8 6c at Black Rocks) and the world's first E9 (Indian Face, E9 6c, 150 feet of technical, 5.12c death at Clogwyn D'ur Arddu) to the world during his manic blitzkrieg in 1986 on which he wrote:
“I went for the crux, the motion startling me like a car unexpectedly in gear in a crowded parking lot. I swarm through the roundness of the bulge to a crank on a brittle spike for a cluster of three crystals on the right; each finger crucial and separate like the keys for a piano chord. I change feet three times to rest my lower legs, each time having to jump my foot out to put the other in. The finger-holds are too poor to hang on should the toes catch on each other. All those foot-changing mistakes on easy moves by runners come to mind. There is no resting. I must go and climb for the top. I swarm up towards the sunlight, gasping for air. A brittle hold stays under mistreatment and then I really blow it. Fearful of a smear on now-non-sticky boots I use an edge and move up, a fall fatal, but the automaton stabs back through, wobbling, but giving its all and I grasp a large sidepull and tube upward. The ropes dangle uselessly from my waist. Arthur Birtwhistle on Diagonal, I grasp incuts and the tight movement swerves to a glide as gravity swings skyward.”
As one of the most experimental climbers of all time, Johnny now devotes most of his attention to the esoteric discipline of no-handed climbing. A master of movement and balance, Johnny has a kinesthetic awareness in climbing like no other. Johnny can walk up climbs that many of us find challenging enough using our hands and feet.
Some of his notable ascents include:
- 1986 Gaia, Black Rocks E8 6c (first ascent)
- 1986 End of the Affair, Curbar Edge E8 6c (first ascent)
- 1986 The Quarryman, Twll Mawr E8 7a (first ascent)
- Smoked Salmon, Bamford Edge E8 7b (first ascent)
- Face Mecca, Clogwyn Du'r Arddu E9 6c (second ascent)
- Angel's share, Black Rocks E8 7a (first ascent)
- 1990 The Very Big & the Very Small 8b+/8c slab (first ascent)
He is featured in the films Stone Monkey (1986), Best Forgotten Art (1994) and Hard Grit (1998).
In 2011 Dawes his autobiography Full of Myself.
No Handed Climbing With Johnny Dawes video:
[Info: Wiki; Climbing.com; UKclimbing.com]
[Photo of Johnny Dawes © James Perrin; courtesy UKclimbing.com]