Indian Face

Clogwyn Du'r Arddu has long been considered a "crucible" of British traditional climbing, with many of Britain's leading climbers creating notable routes on its buttresses. The most challenging section is the sheer and imposing slab of the "Great Wall" on the East Buttress.{{cite aaj | article_id=12197353401 | title=Clogwyn Du'r Arddu: The Black Cliff | first=Alan | last=Rubin | year=1973 | volume=18 | issue=47 | page=534 | access-date=15 January 2022}}

In 1980, enigmatic British climber and artist John Redhead{{cite web | newspaper=The Guardian | date=24 August 2012 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/24/climbing-mountains-john-redhead-liverpool-artist | first=John | last=Appleby | accessdate=14 February 2023 | title=John Redhead: portrait of a climbing artist}}—who freed Britain's first-ever E7-graded route, The Bells The Bells (E7 6c){{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | date=24 July 2009 | accessdate=14 February 2023 | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/gogarth-rock-climbing-in-wales.html | title=Gogarth rock climbing in Wales | quote=The controversial but undeniably brilliant John Redhead left his mark on the infamous North Stack Wall during the 1980's, creating a series of life-threatening routes; his worrying "The Bells The Bells" E7 6b was Britain's first E7, and it waited a staggering 6 years for its first repeat at the hands of Andy Pollitt}}—attempted to onsight a new route on the blanker right-hand side of "Great Wall". After several serious and nearly fatal falls, he abseiled down to drill a bolt at his high point of 80-feet; he called this route Tormented Ejaculation and left it ungraded.{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbing | url=http://www.katherinemillett.com/PDFs/Wales.pdf | accessdate=10 February 2023 | date=15 March 2001 | issue=201 | title=It's How You Play the Game | first=Katherine |last=Millett | page=72-79 }}

In 1983, British climber Jerry Moffatt chopped the bolt while abseiling; he then climbed past it but avoided the blanker groove to the left (what would later become Indian Face), veering right to create Master's Wall,{{efn|Moffatt called his route "Master's Wall" in honour of the British climbing pioneer Joe Brown, after whom that part of Cloggy's East Buttress was nicknamed.{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | first=Niall | last=Grimes | date=12 January 2009 | accessdate= 16 January 2022 | title=Jerry Moffatt?s Revelations - Master's Wall | url = https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/jerry_moffatts_revelations_-_masters_wall-1574}}}} which he graded E7 6b.{{efn|name=MW|In 2018, James 'Caff' McHaffie repeated Master's Wall (the second person to do so after Leo Houlding in 1996) and said of it: "'I'd done more than 200 routes of E7-9 [including Indian Face in 2013] and this bastard felt amongst the most serious few leads I'd ever done" and "From reading into Jerry's account of his ascent I'm pretty sure this is where he went and I'll just throw it out there and say I think he did an E9 in 1983".{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2018/07/james_mchaffie_becomes_the_master-71632 | first=Nathalie | last=Berry | title=James McHaffie becomes The Master | accessdate=16 January 2022}} Later in 2021, McHaffie said that he felt that Moffatt's route was "massively under-graded".{{cite web | website=British Mountaineering Council | first=Peter | last=Burnside | title=Caff completes Extreme Rock | date=8 June 2021 | accessdate=17 January 2022 | url =https://www.thebmc.co.uk/caff-james-mchaffie-completes-extreme-rock}}}} Moffatt found the climb terrifying, later saying: "At that time to be respected, you really had to be putting up really scary new routes. That was where it was at, in Britain at least. Master's Wall is probably where I risked most."{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain.com | title=Jerry Moffatt Interview| url= https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/jerry-moffatt-interview.html | first1=Nicholas | last1=Hobley | first2=Niall |last2=Grimes | date=26 February 2009| accessdate=14 January 2022 }}

In 1984, Redhead repeated Master's Wall and told the authors of Welsh Rock (1986) that he felt Tormented Ejaculation was the crux of Master's Wall and "... the placement of the bolt was solely to protect moves leftwards into the finest unclimbed groove on the Great Wall [Indian Face] and NOT to go right [Master's Wall] which was merely an escape".{{cite book | title=Welsh Rock: One Hundred Years of Climbing In North Wales | first1=Trevor | last1=Jones | first2=Geoff |last2=Milburn | date=April 1986 | isbn=978-0951111406 | publisher=Pic Publications}} In 1984, Redhead freed Margins of the Mind (E8 6c),{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/books-press/on-sight-by-alastair-lee.html | first=Nicholas | last=Holoby | date=23 August 2008 | accessdate=26 February 2023 | title=On sight by Alastair Lee | quote=Neil Dickson on John Redhead's masterpiece 'Margins of the Mind' E8 6c, belayed by Redhead himself}} further left of Master's Wall, which is considered the second-ever E8-grade in Britain after Dave Cuthbertson's 1983 ascent of Requiem in Scotland.{{cite web | magazine=UKClimbing | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/andy_pollitt+john_redhead_-_who_shot_jr-9925 | title=Andy Pollitt & John Redhead - Who Shot JR? | first=Nathalie | last=Berry | date=23 November 2017 | accessdate=26 February 2017 | quote=So, Margins of the Mind. So-called first E8.}}

On 4 October 1986, Johnny Dawes followed up the first half of Master's Wall, but before the (then removed) bolt of Tormented Ejaculation, he entered the lefthand groove to make the first free ascent of Indian Face, the first-ever E9-graded rock climb in Britain. Dawes's ascent of Indian Face was considered to be the hardest and most dangerous traditional route in the world, and his feat was reported by the wider non-climbing media. The 1989 guidebook described it as "a pitch of such appalling difficulty as to be almost beyond the realms of human comprehension". In 2011, Dawes said: "As you set off it's best to consider yourself already dead. You just do it".{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/johnny-dawes-the-rock-climbing-interview.html | date=23 December 2012 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | title=Johnny Dawes - the rock climbing interview | first=Nicholas |last=Hobley}}

Shortly after Dawes's ascent, a key flake of rock came loose while John Redhead was cleaning the route. Redhead presented the flake to Dawes, who refused it, and Redhead painted a picture of dueling climbers on the scarred rock that the broken flake had left behind. The event caused an uproar in British climbing; the painting was removed, and repairs were made to the rock face. Redhead was openly critical of the "headpointing" techniques employed by Dawes, Moffat, and other ascensionists, notwithstanding criticisms of his own placement of a bolt at Clogwyn.

Dawes's ascent, his rivalry with Redhead, and the repeats are the subject of documentaries, including E9 6c (1997), Johnny Dawes and the Story of Indian Face (2006), and Return to the Indian Face (2011).

Indian Face retains an intimidating reputation amongst climbers. In 2012, Climbing described it as "Indian Face, E9 6c, 150 feet of technical, 5.13a death".{{cite web | magazine=Climbing | title=The Full Johnny Dawes Interview | first=Matt | last=Samet | date=28 February 2012 | accessdate=10 February 2023 | url=https://www.climbing.com/news/the-full-johnny-dawes-interview/}}

The 2013 North Wales Climbs guidebook touts Indian Face as "the route of the 1980s", adding, "Seven repeats in the quarter of a century since it was first climbed and no onsight ascent, despite routes with bigger E-grades receiving more attention, tells you all you need to know."{{cite book | title=North Wales Climbs | publisher=Rockfax | date=2013 | accessdate=10 February 2023 | url=https://rockfax.com/wp-content/uploads/intros/north-wales-climbs-preview.pdf | first3=Jack | last3=Geldard | first1=Mark | last1=Reeves | first2=Mark | last2=Glaister | page=140-141 | quote=Indian Face, E9 6c, FFA J. Dawes, 4.10.1986. Indian Face has established itself as the route of the 1980s. Seven repeats in the quarter of a century since it was first climbed and no on-sight ascent, despite routes with bigger E-grades receiving more attention tells you all you need to know. We haven't really included this route so you should actually go and climb it, more to show you where it goes. If you are keen to make an ascent, track down one of the previous ascensionists to get their beta. | isbn= 978-1873341827 | chapter=Clogwyn Du'r Arddu East Buttress}} In 2004, Nick Dixon said of his first repeat in 1994: "The upper wall is really hard, the gear now too far away, death real and looming, and it's too much to remember";{{cite web | website=British Mountaineering Council | title=Big Issues 2: Ethics (Case Study of Indian Face) | date=6 November 2004 | first=Niall | last=Gresham | accessdate=10 February 2023 | url=https://www.thebmc.co.uk/big-issues-2-ethics}} and Neil Gresham said of his second repeat, also in 1994: "For a split second of complete tranquility, I actually don't mind giving in. I resign myself to defeat and prepare for the unimaginable". In 2020, Britain's strongest climber, Steve McClure, who climbed Rhapsody (E11), said: "Routes like Harder Faster, Indian Face, The Bells The Bells and Meshuga just fill me with dread, and I have absolutely no drive to do them at all."{{cite web | website=British Mountaineering Council | date=4 October 2020 | last=Sterling | first=Sarah | url=https://www.thebmc.co.uk/interview-steve-mcclure-and-lexicon-e11 | title=Interview: Steve McClure, the second ascent of Lexicon E11 7a and that fall | accessdate=13 January 2022}}

Indian Face marked the twilight of traditional climbing as the main focus for the best British climbers; many were moving to sport climbing, with pre-fixed bolts for climbing protection. Jerry Moffatt and climbing partner Ben Moon would abandon traditional climbing and set major new worldwide grade milestones in sport climbing, becoming two of the world's strongest climbers of the late 1980s to early 1990s. Dawes was unwilling to undertake the intensive plyometric training techniques (e.g. the campus board) that Moffatt and Moon adopted, but he would still free further notable traditional climbs, such as Gaia (E8 6c), End of the Affair (E8 6c) and The Quarryman (E8 7a). Climbers like Dave MacLeod would create even-harder traditional climbs, such as Rhapsody in 2006, the world's first E11, but the focus on traditional climbing had passed to sport climbing.

Indian Face has been ascended by:{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/the-indian-face-johnny-dawes-story-of-britains-first-e9.html | title=The Indian Face by Johnny Dawes, the story of Britain's first E9 | date=1 June 2020 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}

• 1st. Johnny Dawes on 4 October 1986.{{cite news | newspaper=The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/dec/22/archive-johnny-dawes-indian-face-1986 | title=25 October 1986: Johnny Dawes climbs the Indian Face | date=22 December 2011 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | first=Richard | last=Nelson}}
• 2nd. Nick Dixon in 1994.
• 3rd. Neil Gresham in 1994 (a few days after Nick Dixon).
• 4th. Dave MacLeod in 2010.{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/the-indian-face-repeated-by-dave-macleod.html | date=29 June 2010 | accessdate=10 February 2023 | title=The Indian Face repeated by Dave MacLeod}}
• 5th. James McHaffie in 2013.{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-mchaffie-repeats-the-indian-face-at-cloggy.html | title=James McHaffie repeats The Indian Face at Cloggy | date=11 July 2013 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}{{cite web | website=UKClimbing | date=8 September 2013 | accessdate=10 February 2023 | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/return_to_indian_face_by_james_mchaffie-5736 | title=Return to Indian Face | first=James | last=McHaffie}}
• 6th. Calum Muskett in 2013 (same day).
• 7th. George Ullrich in 2013 (same day).{{cite web | magazine=Climbing |url=https://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/ullrich-and-muskett-climb-indian-face-e9-6c5-13ax/ | title=Ullrich and Muskett Climb Indian Face (E9 6c/5.13a X) | date=17 July 2013 | first=Duncan | last=Campbell | accessdate=10 February 2023}}
• 8th. Angus Kille in 2018.{{cite web | magazine=Gripped Magazine | url=https://gripped.com/profiles/the-story-of-britains-first-e9-by-johnny-dawes/ | title=The Story of Britain's First E9 by Johnny Dawes | date=1 June 2020 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}{{citation | website=UKClimbing | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2018/07/indian_face_e9_6c_by_angus_kille-71634 | title=Indian Face E9 6c by Angus Kille | date=6 July 2018 | first=Nathalie | last=Berry | accessdate=10 February 2023}}
• 9th. Morus Sanderson in 2023.{{cite web | magazine=UKClimbing | url= https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2023/08/morus_sanderson_climbs_indian_face_e9_6c-73423 | date=17 August 2023 | accessdate=2 October 2023 | first=Xa | last=White | title=Morus Sanderson climbs Indian Face, E9 6c}}

• Short documentary on the rivalry between John Redhead and Johnny Dawes on the Indian Face: {{cite AV media | title=E9 6c | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=1997| publisher=BBC Productions | people=Dominic Clemence (director) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/e9-6c-1997 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}{{cite web | magazine=UKClimbing | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/01/dawes_and_redhead_-_e9_6c-67747 | title=Dave MacLeod climbing the Indian Face E9 6c | first=Jack| last=Geldhard| date=18 January 2013| accessdate=10 February 2023}}{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/e9-6c-the-video-of-john-redhead-and-johnny-dawes.html | title=E9 6c, the video of John Redhead and Johnny Dawes | date=16 January 2013 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}

• Documentary on Johnny Dawes' 1986 ascent of Indian Face: {{cite AV media | title=Johnny Dawes & The story of Indian Face | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=2006| publisher=Hughes Prod | people=Alun Hughes (director), Jim Perrin (writer) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/johnny-dawes-the-story-of-indian-face-2006 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/videos/johnny-dawes-and-the-story-of-indian-face-the-uks-first-e9-climb/ | date=3 June 2020 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | title=Johnny Dawes and the Story of Indian Face: the UK's First E9 Climb | author=Editorial }}{{cite web | magazine=Rock & Ice | title=The Story of the Indian Face: The UK's First E9 | first=Alun | last=Hughes | date=2 June 2020 | accessdate=10 February 2023 | url=https://www.rockandice.com/videos/climbing/the-story-of-the-indian-face-the-uks-first-e9/}}

• Short documentary on Dave MacLeod's 2010 repeat of Indian Face: {{cite AV media | title=Return to Indian Face E9 | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=2011| publisher=Hot Aches Prod. | people=Paul Diffley (director) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/return-to-indian-face-2011 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}{{cite web | magazine=UKClimbing | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/03/dave_macleod_climbing_the_indian_face_e9_6c-71905 | title=Dave MacLeod climbing the Indian Face E9 6c | first=Nick | last=Brown | date=29 March 2019 | accessdate=10 February 2023}}

{{notelist}}

• History of rock climbing
• Rhapsody (climb), British E11-graded traditional climbing route from 2006
• Master's Edge, E7 6c-graded traditional climbing route at Millstone Quarry, Peak District, England

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | title=Full of Myself | author=Johnny Dawes | date=2011 | isbn=978-0957030800}}
• {{cite book | title=Extreme rock: Great British rock climbs | author=Ken Wilson | last2=Newman | first2=Bernard | publisher=Diadem Books | date=1987 | isbn=978-0906371367}}

• [https://www.climbing.com/videos/johnny-dawes-and-the-story-of-indian-face-the-uks-first-e9-climb/ VIDEO: Johnny Dawes and the Story of Indian Face: the UK's First E9 Climb], Climbing (June 2020)
• [https://www.desnivel.com/video/dave-macleod-indian-face-e9/ VIDEO: Dave MacLeod, Indian Face E9], Desnivel (April 2019)
• [https://eveningsends.com/the-day-i-sent-indian-face-2/ The Day I Sent Indian Face], Angus Kille (Evening Sends, November 2018)
• [https://rockfax.com/wp-content/uploads/intros/north-wales-climbs-preview.pdf PREVIEW: North Wales Climbs (2013). Clogwyn Du'r Arddu], (Rockfax Guidebooks, pages 135-235)

Category:Traditional climbing routes

Category:Cliffs of Snowdonia

Category:Climbing in the United Kingdom