Johnny Dawes

File:Johnny Dawes on sights Regalo da Babbo Natale F7b at the granite crag Lucertole al Sole, Lotzorai.JPG, Sardinia. 2009]]

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 slab climbing routes in the slate quarries of Llanberis (e.g. The Quarryman, The Very Big and the Very Small, and Dawes of Perception), to the face routes on 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,{{efn|The exact date is per the official guidebook to Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, and also used by the British Mountaineering Council.{{cite web | website=British Mountaineering Council | url=https://www.thebmc.co.uk/hold-the-line-niall-grimes-olympics | title=Hold the line | first=Niall | last=Grimes | date=30 July 2021 | accessdate=15 January 2022}}}} the first E9-graded traditional rock route in Britain,{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain.com | 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}} and at the time, considered to be the hardest and most dangerous traditional route in the world.{{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}} The guidebook described it as "A pitch of such appalling difficulty as to be almost beyond the realms of human comprehension".{{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 }} 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.{{cite magazine | magazine=Rock & Ice | url=https://www.rockandice.com/videos/climbing/the-story-of-the-indian-face-the-uks-first-e9/ | first=Alun | last=Hughes | date=2 June 2020 | title=The Story of the Indian Face: The UK's First E9 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}

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.{{cite web |last1=The Mount Everest Foundation |title=Meru Shark's Fin 1993 |url=https://www.mef.org.uk/expeditions/meru-sharks-fin-1993 |website=The Mount Everest Foundation |publisher=The Mount Everest Foundation |access-date=14 November 2022}} An autobiographical account of his climbing, Full of Myself, was published in 2011.{{cite book |last1=Dawes |first1=Johnny |title=Full of Myself |date=2011 |publisher=Johnny Dawes Books |isbn=0957030800}}

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,{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | first=Ed | last=Douglas | date=4 November 2011 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | url= https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/publications/other_publications/johnny_dawes_-_full_of_myself-4205 | title=Johnny Dawes - Full of Myself Review }} as well as the 2015 climbing series, No Handed Climbing,{{cite web | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/johnny-dawes-no-handed-climbing.html | title=Johnny Dawes no handed climbing | website=PlanetMountain.com | date=15 April 2015 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}{{cite magazine | magazine=Rock & Ice | url=https://www.rockandice.com/videos/climbing/no-handed-climbing/ | date=20 April 2021 | accessdate=12 January 2022 | title=Johnny Dawes: No Handed Climbing }}{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/videos/video-johnny-dawes-no-handed-climbing-2/ | date=20 April 2021 | accessdate=12 January 2022 | title=Video: Johnny Dawes No-Handed Climbing 2 }} and other "no-hands",{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/publications/other_publications/johnny_dawes_-_full_of_myself-4205 | title=Hands free at the Roaches with Johnny Dawes | first=Nick | last=Brown | date=15 March 2019 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}{{cite web | website=Gripped.com | url=https://gripped.com/profiles/watch-johnny-dawes-walk-five-pitch-5-5/ | title=Watch Johnny Dawes Walk-Up Five-Pitch 5.5 | date=30 November 2017 | accessdate=9 January 2022}} and "no-feet" videos.{{cite magazine | magazine=Rock & Ice | url=https://www.rockandice.com/videos/climbing/johnny-dawes-climbing-in-roller-blades/ | title=Johnny Dawes Climbing in Roller Blades | accessdate=12 January 2022 | date=5 May 2018}}

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.{{cite news | newspaper=Irish Times | first=Michael | last=Sever | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/dancing-on-the-edge-of-vertigo-1.550687 | quote=The various approaches to rock climbers’ ever-present dilemmas evolve into schools of thought within climbing, with some adopting a highly physical approach and others, such as Johnny Dawes (the “nutty professor” of climbing), a more psychological approach. |date=11 October 2012 | accessdate=10 January 2022 | title=Dancing on the edge of vertigo}}{{cite magazine | magazine=Climber Magazine | first=Neil | last=Graham | title=A Masterclass Beyond the Edge | date=January 2001 | accessdate=10 January 2022 | quote=No one doubts Johnny Dawes' radical and unorthodox approach to climbing; the problem is that few people understand it! The 'nutty professor' of modern climbing, who thinks in patterns and moves in waves is also renowned for speaking in riddles | url=http://indoorsout.co.uk/index.htm#climb_dawes_coach.htm}}{{cite book | title=Peak Rock – The History, The Routes, The Climbers | first1=Phil |last1=Kelly | first2=Graham | last2=Hoey | first3=Giles | last3=Barker | date=2013 | isbn=978-1906148720}} 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".{{cite web | website=JohnHorscroft | title=Interview with Johnny Dawes | url=http://www.johnhorscroft.co.uk/portfolio/climbing/-/johnny-dawes-a-storm-in-a-teacup/ | date=6 February 2019 | accessdate=11 January 2022}}

Dawes is widely considered a legend of British rock climbing,{{cite magazine | magazine=Smithsonian | first=Samantha | last=Larson | date=16 April 2015 | accessdate=8 January 2022 | title="Look Ma, No Hands!" A Rock Climber Scales Cliffs Without Using His Hands | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/look-ma-no-hands-rock-climber-scales-cliffs-without-using-them-180955017/}} and one of the most influential figures in British rock climbing history.{{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}} 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.{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/news/the-full-johnny-dawes-interview/ | first=Matt | last=Samet | date=27 September 2007 | accessdate=10 January 2022 | title=The Full Johnny Dawes Interview}} 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".{{cite news | newspaper=The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/dec/21/johnny-dawes-interview-rock-climbing | first=Peter | last=Beaumont | date=3 January 2012 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | title=Johnny Dawes: 'It's about doing something that's fun… and impossible'}} 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).

Dawes was born in 1964 in Birmingham,{{cite web | website=Media Wales | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/how-real-life-spiderman-johnny-dawes-2037245 | title=How the real-life Spiderman Johnny Dawes scaled Wales' toughest cliff face | date=8 January 2012 | first=James | last=McCarthy | accessdate=8 January 2022}} into a wealthy family, whose parents were part of the 1960s British motor racing scene.{{cite book | title=On the Roof of the World (The Guardian's anthology of climbing articles)| first=Richard | last=Nelsson | isbn=978-0852651209 | date=2009 | publisher=Guardian Books | pp=198–200}} 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 {{climbing grade|8b+}}.

File:Johnny Dawes on Poetry Pink.jpg, North Wales ]]

• 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).{{cite book |last1=Sharples |first1=Keith |title=Eastern Gritstone: Froggart |date=1991 |publisher=British Mountaineering Council |isbn=0-903908-86-7 |edition=1st}}
• 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.{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain.com | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/video-sean-mccoll-climbing-gaia-at-black-rocks.html | title=Video: Sean McColl climbing Gaia at Black Rocks | date=17 March 2016 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}{{cite web | website=Gripped.com | title=Watch Sean McColl on Classic Grit Route Gaia E8 6c | date=6 June 2021 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | url=https://gripped.com/video/watch-sean-mccoll-on-classic-grit-route-gaia-e8-6c/}}
• 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,{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain.com | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/the-quarrymen-climbers-james-pearson-johnny-dawes.html | title=The Quarrymen, featuring climbers James Pearson and Johnny Dawes | date=18 February 2019 | accessdate=9 January 2022}} and its notorious Groove pitch features in the 1986 climbing film, Stone Monkey. Dawes soon added the Fire Escape alternative finish (E7 6c).{{cite web | website=PlanetMounain.com | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/caroline-ciavaldini-makes-first-female-ascent-of-the-quarryman-in-wales.html | title=Caroline Ciavaldini makes first female ascent of The Quarryman in Wales | date=14 October 2018 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}
• 1986: Conan the Librarian (E7 6b), Gogarth North Stack. First ascent, with Bob Dury.{{cite book |last1=Panton |first1=Simon |title=Gogarth North |date=2008 |publisher=Ground Up |isbn=978-0-9554417-1-4}}
• 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";{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/mission_impossible_british_climbings_great_challenges-11472 | first=Grant | last=Farquhar | title=Mission Impossible: British Climbing's Great Challenges | date=30 November 2018 | accessdate=9 January 2022}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Gripped |title=Johnny Dawes’ 1987 Route Finally Repeated |url=https://gripped.com/news/johnny-dawes-1987-route-finally-repeated/ |website=Gripped Magazine |access-date=6 April 2023}}
• 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.{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/premier_posts/the_80's_birth_of_extreme_by_alun_hughes-269979 | title=The 80's: Birth of Extreme by Alun Hughes | accessdate=9 January 2022 | date=November 2007}}
• 1990: The Very Big & the Very Small {{climbing grade|8b+}}, Rainbow Slab Area, Dinorwic quarry, Llanberis. First ascent. Only 3-bolts, hardest slate route at time; rarely repeated; Dawes believes grade is 8c.{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2018/12/johnny_dawes_on_climbing_back_to_8b+-71790 | title=Johnny Dawes on Climbing Back to 8b+ | first=Nathalie | last=Berry | date=3 December 2018 | accessdate=9 January 2022}}
• 1994: Angel's Share (E8 7a) or {{boulder grade|7C}}, Black Rocks. First ascent. Gritstone slab at E8 7a without bouldering pads, or a {{boulder grade|7C}} boulder with pads.{{cite web | website=British Mountaineering Council | url=https://www.thebmc.co.uk/katy-whittaker-two-johnny-dawes-hard-slab-climbs-in-a-day | first=Hazel | last=Findlay | date=1 March 2012 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | title=Katy Whittaker: two Johnny Dawes hard slab climbs in a day}}
• 1995: Face Mecca (E9 6c), Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, Snowdonia. Second ascent. FFA Nick Dixon in 1989.{{cite web | website=UKClimbing.com | url= https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/facing_the_indian_by_johnny_dawes-5754 | first=Johnny | last=Dawes | date=2 September 2013 | accessdate=9 January 2022 | title=Facing The Indian}}{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbr | url=https://www.climber.co.uk/news/james-mchaffie-repeats-face-mecca-e9/ | date=7 June 2016 | title=James McHaffie repeats Face Mecca (E9) | accessdate=11 January 2022}}
• 2003: Drummond Base (E8 6c), Curbar Edge. First ascent.

• Peak Rock – The History, The Routes, The Climbers, (Phil Kelly, Graham Hoey, Giles Barker), 2013. {{ISBN| 978-1906148720}}.
• Full of Myself (Johnny Dawes), 2011. {{ISBN| 978-0957030800}}.

• Best Forgotten Art (1996) A history of crack climbing in Britain, directed by Johnny Dawes
• Documentary on The Quarryman (E8 7a): {{cite AV media | title=The Quarrymen| asin= | type=Motion picture| date=2019| publisher= | people=Hart, Neil (director) | url= https://gripped.com/profiles/watch-the-quarryman-film-about-classic-hard-grit-route/}}
• Documentary on The Indian Face (E9 6c): {{cite AV media | title=Johnny Dawes & The story of Indian Face | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=2006| publisher=Hughes Prod | people=Hughes, Alun (director) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/johnny-dawes-the-story-of-indian-face-2006 }}
• Documentary on the hardest gritstone routes in Peak District: {{cite AV media | title=Hard Grit | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=1998| publisher=Slackjaw Film | people=Heap, Richard (director) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/hard-grit-1998 }}
• Documentary on leading UK climbers: {{cite AV media | title=The Climbers | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=1988| publisher=BBC | people=Sid Perou (director) | url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/the-climbers-1988 }}
• Documentary on Dawes, Ben Moon and Jerry Moffatt: {{cite AV media | title=The 80s: Birth of Extreme | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=1988| publisher=Hughes Film | people=Hughes, Alun (director) | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/ben-moon-jerry-moffatt-johnny-dawes-film-80s-birth-of-extreme.html }}
• Documentary on Dawes' technique: {{cite AV media | title=Stone Monkey: Portrait of a rock climber | asin= | type=Motion picture| date=1988| publisher=Hughes Film | people=Williams, Huw (director) | url= https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/stone-monkey-1988 }}

• History of rock climbing
• List of first ascents (sport climbing)
• Dave MacLeod, Scottish traditional climber
• Sonnie Trotter, Canadian traditional climber
• Rock climbing in the Peak District

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.theguardian.com/travel/video/2012/jan/01/johnny-dawes-climber-interview-video Johnny Dawes, rock climber: 'You've got to mess about'], The Guardian (video interview, 2012)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100420175305/http://www.johnnydawes.com/aboutjohnny.htm Johnny Dawes], Old website of Johnny Dawes (archived, 2013)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190527064426/http://www.climbandmore.com/climbing,200,0,1,climbers.html Johnny Dawes (1983–2003)], ClimbandMore.com (archived, 2019)
• [https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/filmography/johnny-dawes Johnny Dawes Filmography], MNTN Film Database (January 2022)
• [https://www.frictioneering.co.uk/ Johnny Dawes, Frictioneering]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawes, Johnny}}

Category:1964 births

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at Uppingham School

Category:British rock climbers

Category:Free soloists

Category:Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands

Category:English male non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century English male writers

Category:English non-fiction outdoors writers

Category:Trad climbers

Category:Climbing and mountaineering writers