MacLeod repeats Indian Face
Luke Hunt on the first pitch of A Midsummer's Night Dream E5 6a, while the blankness of Indian Face beckons to the right Photo: Si Panton
Yesterday top Scottish climber Dave MacLeod repeated Johnny Dawes’ infamous E9, Indian Face on Clogwyn Du’r Arddu. Not that you would be able to tell if you went up there today though, as last night a vicious thunderstorm ripped through the Snowdonia hills dumping a huge amount of rainfall, and in the process washing away any tell-tale chalk marks.
Dave had originally tried the line a few years back, but dismissed it as being too snappy to justify a final headpoint. However, after seeing footage of Johnny on West Indian Face (which shares ground with Indian Face) he realised that he had been trying the wrong line back in 2007.
In recent weeks reports filtered through the Llanberis scene that he had been back on the route. One night Llanberis based guide, Stu McAleese chatted to Dave at the crag:
“He explained to me how he’d gone the wrong way last time, and that he now viewed the route as a different proposition.”
With the correct line sussed Dave spent a few days looking at the protection and wiring the sequences ready for a head point ascent.
Dave returned this week keen for a shot at the legendary route. However, things did not go quite as smoothly as hoped.
After weeks and weeks of sustained dryness it seemed that a cruel shift in the weather might come just on the very day Dave was ready to do the deed. Clouds gathered over the mountains and rain seemed inevitable. Luckily the downpour held off ‘just’ long enough to allow an ascent.
A message on Dave’s twitter feed on last night said it all: “Can’t sleep; contemplating the day’s events on Cloggy.”
The ascent was captured on film by the Hot Aches crew.
Despite its high profile, the route has remained largely untouched, save for two repeats (Nick Dixon and Neil Gresham in the 90s), since Johnny first headpointed it in 1986. Although relatively ‘steady’ by top modern standards, the F7b+ climbing is said to be extremely intricate and balancey. It is also exceptionally bold; a mistake on the upper part of the route likely to end in death for the leader.
Dave’s headpoint is very impressive (especially given the threat of rain hanging in the air), but a ground up repeat is still the ultimate challenge. Adam Wainwright famously flashed the line on a top rope, but the chances of someone, however talented or unhinged, doing the same on the sharp end remain very slim. And moreover, the price for failure doesn’t bear thinking about.
Check out Dave’s blog for his thoughts on the route (including the suggestion that it is E9, albeit bottom end).
