Trip Report
Chalkstorm - E3 Hands Free with Johnny Dawes!

by Bald Eagle
Monday January 28, 2019 1:20am
top left corner top right corner
Johnny Dawes on Chalkstorm E3 hands free at the Roaches
Johnny Dawes on Chalkstorm E3 hands free at the Roaches
Credit: Bald Eagle
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Warmest greetings SuperTopoists from a cold but sunny day in the UK!

Here's a New Years offering of a wee video about the original and inimitable Stone Monkey, Johnny Dawes and his attempt to try a hands free "walk" up a classic gritstone climb called Chalkstorm. For a normal trad ascent the climb is graded E3 5c, about 5.10 or so in US money, and the route is located at the beautiful venue called the Roaches in the Peak District.

top left corner top right corner
The Roaches
The Roaches
Credit: Bald Eagle
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Featuring aerial footage of one of the greatest gritstone crags with one of the UK's greatest ever climbers so sit back and marvel at some jedi balance, ninja footwork and magician movement!

[Click to View YouTube Video]

All constructive feedback welcome, please feel free to share and hopefully it will brighten up your day accompanied with a brew and biscuit!

Happy Climbing! :-)

Dave




  Trip Report Views: 2,335
Bald Eagle 		About the Author
Bald Eagle is a trad climber from the UK who likes to boldly go where quite a few people have been before... :-)

Comments
i-b-goB

Big Wall climber
Nutty
  Jan 28, 2019 - 07:27am PT
Can't touch it, great!
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  Jan 28, 2019 - 05:21pm PT
ye ha 2019! greetings right back at you, ya'

Did I remember to tell that this punter & I had a strange non-meeting of the minds years ago on the way to a "High-Tea"?
I'm sure I took the time the last time to give it a good effort.
A Razzing if you will. It was/is tongue-in-cheek & meant to be cheeky,
Of all the nerve 'a cheeky bastard' his was a well-deserved
(& diverse) reputation...
anyway, I'm sure I said something rude about his & my girth
It strikes me he'd strike me if I said it within his reach.
all good . . .
Still:
I wish he'd reach up and pull down a clod of earth


Heres the one: almost a must watch; a necessary precursor
Published on Jan 4, 2012

https://youtu.be/NfhZFGQv7Ew
looks easy from here

climber
Santa Cruzish
  Jan 28, 2019 - 11:08am PT
Great form! I was expecting some belly-slithering shenanigans (which still would have been impressive), but I was blown away by this. I don't think anything above his knees ever touched the rock.
jogill

climber
Colorado
  Jan 29, 2019 - 03:04pm PT
Fun. No-hands boulder problems have been around forever. I recall Eckenstein mentions them in Great Britain in the 1890s.

On climbs, Bob Williams and I made the first no-hands ascents of the Needle in Estes Park in the 1960s (no top rope)- Scary - but only 5.0 to 5.4, depending on who you ask. Nowhere near the difficulty of Johnny's ascent.





Keep it up, Johnny!
moacman

Trad climber
Montuckyian Via Canada Eh!
  Jan 28, 2019 - 02:59pm PT
Hey Bald Eagle. Very nicely done as per use......Johnny's still doing pretty good himself....Thanks for sharing...

Stevo
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 29, 2019 - 01:00am PT
Can't touch it, great!

Thanks MC i-d-goB muchly appreciated! :-) Cheers Dave
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 29, 2019 - 01:00am PT
Thanks again Bald Eagle.

Dawes is a quirky inspiration, as always!

DMT

Thanks a million DMT! :-) Cheers Dave
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 29, 2019 - 01:09am PT
ye ha 2019! greetings right back at you, ya'

Did I remember to tell that this punter & I had a strange non-meeting of the minds years ago on the way to a "High-Tea"?
I'm sure I took the time the last time to give it a good effort.
A Razzing if you will. It was/is tongue-in-cheek & meant to be cheeky,
Of all the nerve 'a cheeky bastard' his was a well-deserved
(& diverse) reputation...
anyway, I'm sure I said something rude about his & my girth
It strikes me he'd strike me if I said it within his reach.
all good . . .
Still:
I wish he'd reach up and pull down a clod of earth


Heres the one: almost a must watch; a necessary precursor
Published on Jan 4, 2012

https://youtu.be/NfhZFGQv7Ew

Heya Gnome thanks for taking the time to post as always and that Guardian vid with Johnny is ace and well worth a look!

Ironically since I shot the Roaches video in June 2018, Johnny has lost a lot of weight and managed to climb an 8b+ slab route at La Pedriza in Spain a few months ago which is pretty amazing! However when he popped by my house a few weeks ago to narrate the voice-over we drank far too much vino tinto so I may be partly responsible for his sports grade dropping recently... ;-)
Cheers Dave
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 29, 2019 - 01:11am PT
Great form! I was expecting some belly-slithering shenanigans (which still would have been impressive), but I was blown away by this. I don't think anything above his knees ever touched the rock.

Many thanks looks easy and I really appreciate your appreciation! :-)
Cheers Dave
Andy Fielding

Trad climber
UK
  Jan 29, 2019 - 12:02pm PT
Out of curiosity, why is the area called the Roaches?

Supposedly comes from the French for the rocks (Les Roches)
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 30, 2019 - 01:04am PT
Fun. No-hands boulder problems have been around forever. I recall Eckenstein mentions them in Great Britain in the 1890s.

On climbs, Bob Williams and I made the first no-hands ascents of the Needle in Estes Park in the 1960s (no top rope)- Scary - but only 5.0 to 5.4, depending on who you ask. Nowhere near the difficulty of Johnny's ascent.

Keep it up, Johnny!

Hey jogill a cool image and very nice story so many thanks for your input! :-) Cheers Dave
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 30, 2019 - 01:05am PT
Hey Bald Eagle. Very nicely done as per use......Johnny's still doing pretty good himself....Thanks for sharing...

Stevo

Hey stevo thanks a million for your positive vibes! And a happy wednesday to you! :-) Cheers Dave
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
  Jan 30, 2019 - 03:27am PT
I knew Johhny had great balance, but wow...he looked like he was strolling to his local to have a pint with the lads!
And E3 5C is more like 5:11a than 5:10.
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 30, 2019 - 12:10pm PT
I knew Johhny had great balance, but wow...he looked like he was strolling to his local to have a pint with the lads!
And E3 5C is more like 5:11a than 5:10.

Thanks a million donini and Johnny did a great job on Chalkstorm whilst I could barely get up using all 4 of my paws! And rather than stroll to the local hostelry, the lads, ladies and I had a few celebratory pints and BBQ at the Don Whillans Memorial hut we were staying in a just a stone's throw away from the climb... :-) Cheers Dave
Ps thanks for the grade correction!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Jan 30, 2019 - 12:57pm PT
Baldie, do you have to sign that nutter out of his home? Bloody ‘ell, like an E3 isn’t hard enough? That said, if you keep at this you stand evens of making me a believer in drones.

OMG! Bournemouth go one up on Chelsea! Bugger the Blues! 😆

So, one last thing, could you put a word in with your mates to lay low around LHR when I come in for the FA Cup Final? Appreciate it! 😉
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Jan 31, 2019 - 04:35am PT
Baldie, do you have to sign that nutter out of his home? Bloody ‘ell, like an E3 isn’t hard enough? That said, if you keep at this you stand evens of making me a believer in drones.

OMG! Bournemouth go one up on Chelsea! Bugger the Blues! 😆

So, one last thing, could you put a word in with your mates to lay low around LHR when I come in for the FA Cup Final? Appreciate it! 😉

Hey Reilly actually both of us are only let out of the cuckoo's nest on very special occasions by Nurse Ratched after medication time!

And I'll see if a drone formation display spelling "Reilly Woz Here" can be arranged to welcome you to LHR just before May 18th! Just for your benefit... ;-)

Cheers Baldy
Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
  Feb 2, 2019 - 08:41am PT
Awesome. I've only been to the grit once about 30 yrs. ago (Stanage and Millstone). They are amazing crags. Dawes is an interested dude. Fascinated by physical movement.
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Feb 4, 2019 - 06:59am PT
Awesome. I've only been to the grit once about 30 yrs. ago (Stanage and Millstone). They are amazing crags. Dawes is an interested dude. Fascinated by physical movement.

Many thanks Fat Dad and I really appreciate your appreciation! Johnny is great fun to spend time with and has some really interesting ideas about balance and body movement! Hopefully shooting another vid with him in a few months time so watch this space... :-) Cheers Dave
WBraun

climber
  Feb 4, 2019 - 07:14am PT
Footwork is the soul of climbing.

Without it, one will fail .....
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Feb 5, 2019 - 02:20am PT
Footwork is the soul of climbing.

Without it, one will fail .....

Thanks WBraun and never was a truer word spoken! :-) Cheers Dave
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
  Feb 5, 2019 - 11:49am PT

Haha... Chalkstorm without hands. Just rename the route: Walk-in-the-park. Sick balance and high steps. Johnny's center of gravity is now so close to the ground that it's close to cheating... When do walking end up being crawling?
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Feb 6, 2019 - 01:07am PT
Haha... Chalkstorm without hands. Just rename the route: Walk-in-the-park. Sick balance and high steps. Johnny's center of gravity is now so close to the ground that it's close to cheating... When do walking end up being crawling?

Ha Marlow I was going to call the video "Walkstorm" but went with Chalkstorm - E3 Hands Free in the end! Anyway I'm hopefully filming Johnny close to cheating on an E6 "hands free" walk/crawl in the next few months so watch this space... ;-)
Cheers Dave
Go
Recent Trip Reports