Johnny Dawes

Johnny Dawes (born 9 May 1964) is a British rock climber and author, known for his dynamic climbing style and bold traditional climbing routes. This included the first ascent of Indian Face, the first-ever route at the E9-grade. His influence on British climbing was at its peak in the mid to late-1980s.

Climbing career


Dawes' climbing career splits into an initial period pre-1986 where he focused on gritstone in the Peak District, which was suited to his unique climbing style (e.g. Gaia, and End of the Affair). From 1986, Dawes focused on Wales and on a diverse range of rock, from the slate quarries of Llanberis (e.g. The Quarryman, The Very Big and the Very Small, and Dawes of Perception), to the quartzite cliffs of Gogarth North Stack (e.g. Conan the Librarian, and Hardback Thesaurus), and the rhyolite mountain crags of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (e.g. Indian Face). Dawes is remembered for intimidating traditional climbing routes, in the legacy of Pete Livesey, Ron Fawcett and John Redhead, and less for sport climbing routes, unlike his contemporaries Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon.

Dawes came to prominence outside of the rock climbing world with his 4 October 1986 ascent of Indian Face, the first E9-graded traditional rock route in Britain, and at the time, considered to be the hardest and most dangerous traditional route in the world. The guidebook described it as "A pitch of such appalling difficulty as to be almost beyond the realms of human comprehension". In a 2011 interview, Dawes said: "As you set off it's best to consider yourself already dead. You just do it". The climb, and rare repeats, are the subject of a 2006 documentary, Johnny Dawes and the Story of Indian Face.

In 1993, Dawes was a member of an expedition funded by the Mount Everest Foundation to attempt the first ascent of The Shark's Fin on Meru Peak in Gangotri Himalaya, India; a dropped boot led to a forced descent from 6,000 meters to avoid frostbite. An autobiographical account of his climbing, Full of Myself, was published in 2011.

Style
Dawes had a uniquely dynamic technique, leaping between very small holds, and also for his levels of balance and foot-control that enable him to climb extreme-grade routes without using his hands. Welsh climber George Smith said: "His climbing seemed choreographed rather than constructed in a gym. If there's perfect pitch for movement, he has it". Aspects of his unique technique was captured in the 1986 climbing film, Stone Monkey, considered one of the best-ever films in the genre, as well as the 2015 climbing series, No Handed Climbing,  and other "no-hands",  and "no-feet" videos.

His unorthodox climbing style, coupled with his reputation for a keen intellect and an artistic or bohemian bent, made Dawes an enigmatic and mercurial character in British climbing. His writing has been called "quirky, convoluted, and often obscure", and a tendency to "speak in riddles" earned him the titles of "nutty professor", and of "mad genius" from some commentators. His approach also made it difficult to secure commercial sponsorship, with Dawes saying in a 2019 interview, "I wasn’t supported by the climbing industry because I didn't fit the commercial template".

Legacy
Dawes is widely considered a legend of British rock climbing, and one of the most influential figures in British rock climbing history. Over a career spanning the early-1980s to the early-1990s, he pushed the technical level of traditional climbing with routes that were unprecedented both in terms of difficulty, and the style in which they were climbed. In 2012, The Guardian called Dawes a "defining figure" and wrote that: "His climbs were rated among the very hardest in the world, test pieces of both balance and nerve, some with a reputation for terrible danger". Some of his routes are still so intimidating that they are rarely repeated, and several feature in climbing films focused on Dawes (e.g.  80s Birth of Extreme) and his routes (e.g. Hard Grit, Quarrymen).

Personal life
Dawes was born in 1964 in Birmingham, into a wealthy family, whose parents were part of the 1960s British motor racing scene. His education at the Uppingham School was a difficult one, with Dawes suffering from periods of depression and bullying.

Dawes rejected the career path of his contemporaries into third-level education and then a likely London-based career, choosing instead to obsess on climbing, telling The Guardian, "I was in a shut-off state, to a certain extent. When I was doing something dangerous it would wake me up".

In 2011, Dawes was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which he called "depressing and heavy"; by 2018, treatment enabled him to climb at.

Notable ascents

 * 1983: Monopoly (E7 6b), Millstone Edge. First ascent. Originally climbed with side-runners, Dawes reclimbed it in 1984 with a low peg runner (now removed).
 * 1984: The Salmon (E7 6c), Bamford Edge. First ascent. Reclimbed by Dawes as Smoked Salmon at E8 7b in 1995, after it lost a crucial pebble.
 * 1984: The Braille Trail (E7 6c), Burbage South Edge. First ascent.
 * 1985: Dawes of Perception (E7 6c), Vivian Quarry, Llanberis. First ascent.
 * 1986: Janus (E7 6b), Curbar Edge. First ascent.
 * 1986: Slab and Crack (E7/8, 6c), Curbar Edge. First ascent.
 * 1986: Gaia (E8 6c), Black Rocks, Derbyshire. First ascent. Britain's first grade-E8; featured in the 1998 film, Hard Grit; repeats are coveted.
 * 1986: End of the Affair (E8 6c), Curbar Edge. First ascent. Dawes' hardest gritstone route, and the end of a period of focus by Dawes on gritstone.
 * 1986: Indian Face (E9 6c), Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Snowdonia. First ascent. Britain's first grade-E9, and considered the world's hardest 'trad' climb at the time; features in the 2006 climbing-film, Johnny Dawes and the Indian Face.
 * 1986: The Quarryman (E8 7a), Twll Mawr, Dinorwic quarry, Llanberis. First ascent, 4 pitches on Welsh slate, one of the hardest climbing routes at the time, now part of a 2019 climbing film, The Quarrymen, and its notorious Groove pitch features in the 1986 climbing film, Stone Monkey. Dawes soon added the Fire Escape alternative finish (E7 6c).
 * 1986: Conan the Librarian (E7 6b), Gogarth North Stack. First ascent, with Bob Dury.
 * 1986: Come to Mother (E7 6a), Gogarth South Stack. First ascent with Paul Pritchard. The route has now fallen down.
 * 1986: The Hollow Man (E8 6b), Gogarth North Stack. First ascent with Andy Pollit.
 * 1987: The Scoop (E7 6b), Strone Ulladale, Harris. First ascent with Paul Pritchard of 8 pitches of Doug Scott's 1969 grade-A5 aid climbing route; a free ascent was considered in 1984 to be one of British climbing's "great challenges"; partly shown in the 1988 film, The 80s: Birth of Extreme.
 * 1987: Coeur de Lion (E8 7a), Twll Mawr, Dinorwic quarry, Llanberis. First ascent. Unrepeated until 2015.
 * 1988: Hardback Thesaurus (E7/8 6c), Gogarth North Stack. First ascent and first onsight of an E7; is shown in the 1988 film, The 80s: Birth of Extreme.
 * 1990: The Very Big & the Very Small, Rainbow Slab Area, Dinorwic quarry, Llanberis. First ascent. Only 3-bolts, hardest slate route at time; rarely repeated; Dawes believes grade is 8c.
 * 1994: Angel's Share (E8 7a) or, Black Rocks. First ascent. Gritstone slab at E8 7a without bouldering pads, or a boulder with pads.
 * 1995: Face Mecca (E9 6c), Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Snowdonia. Second ascent. FFA Nick Dixon in 1989.
 * 2003: Drummond Base (E8 6c), Curbar Edge. First ascent.

Filmography

 * Documentary on The Quarryman (E8 7a):
 * Documentary on The Indian Face (E9 6c):
 * Documentary on the hardest gritstone routes in Peak District:
 * Documentary on leading UK climbers:
 * Documentary on Dawes, Ben Moon and Jerry Moffatt:
 * Documentary on Dawes' technique: