[tomtom]

SCIENCE required: When does a wall become a slab?

When it is enough from vertical that you can take both hands off... would be my personal definition...

[slackline]

When it is enough from vertical that you can take both hands off... would be my personal definition...

This count?

[Pantontino]

The Very Big And The Very Small  - which is found on Rainbow Slab.

Once again the clue is in the name...

That said, I guess it depends on which type of rock you are referring to - in the Llanberis slate quarries a 'just off' vertical wall will often be referred to as a steep wall.

[tomtom]

When it is enough from vertical that you can take both hands off... would be my personal definition...

This count?

Yup

 

[Doylo]

Managed to dig out the OTE with Dawes account of The Meltdown, from 1997:

I first bolted the Meltdown in '85. Like every great climb from me at first it was a hunch. From exploring the elements of the rock able to support body weight to the emergence of what would be (if manufactured) a crazily imaginative sequence. Just enough except for the right patches of not enough.  Nature has made it right but it now awaits restoration.
Slate is famous for the rockover yet Meltdown barely has one.  Off the top of my head i can remember ten unique moves i've never come across elsewhere. In '86 i was able to link large sections together one combination representing the hardest link i'd ever done at that point except perhaps for the pre-scarred crux of Scrittos Republic in '82. On Meltdown eight 6c moves up a dynamically climbed rib are sandwiched between an ankle height drop down involving precise rotation of the whole body and a highly compressed mantle.  This link i repeated in '90 was my best achievement of the year alongside The Very Big and The Very Small, but this time complete with the substance of the start and clipping two bolts.
This meant i'd linked up to the second crux traverse right.  The technicality of these cruxes is such that any limb's contact can fail which is unusual. The top crux is the harder, powerful like Hubble, subtle like Shirleys Shining Temple yet at the end of an horrendous sequence. Lovely. The trouble is the sequence has disappeared.
While yarding like mad at the edge of the overlap the overlap broke, the weight of a satchel full of gold, i fumbled it then watched as it rotated slowly, accelerating swiftly into obscure bits of disappointment. Some 11 years have passed since the convoluted ripples right of the first pitch of The Quarryman first attracted me. What to do now? One idea i hit upon was to remold the crux out of bronze. like a gold cap on a gangsters tooth the cast would gleam on the smooth purple overlap. I have a friend who casts bronze.  His skills combined with a stangely clear image in my mind (plus High 8 video evidence from a Stone Monkey pilot) should allow a meltdown to remould the moves of my memory.
Meltdown is unique, though only '80 high it has two crux traverses of 20' each. Each move is different to any other, tiny slivers of slate as sidepulls manifested in spookily appropriate positions, rounded micromounds for feet, set in natural perfection to limit the sweep of the hand. Clusters of three holds where three are necessary to swap hands. There is a rest before the crux which takes six moves to establish and use three footholds to enable a heel standing/hands off, possible by starring out your body.
The second crux involves using the bronze cap; this will be for six moves. A dyno into a left hand finger pointing layback (fingers straight, hand palm at 90' to them) with the right knee resting on top of the left hand. A slap into an undercling and then a leg flag move where it would be ideal if you could take off you left calf muscle. Then a full foot smear, toe pull and footless dropdown after a low, long slap onto a pinch in front of your face. Extended, a big beautiful slpey foothold comes within reach, legs and arms all crossed up, a hand off is sequentially possible. A few deft unweightings, a set up and a sideways double dyno (the easiest move on the route) and the Meltdown is complete.

Johnny Dawes

[Fiend]

 

Brilliant.

[fried]

Nice find Doylo.

[Zods Beard]

I agree, nice one Doylo, that's a great read.

Congrats to the beast who did the climbing too. Does he agree with the above description?!

[moose]

That's lovely - Dawes - a living argument for a link between physicality and personality - grace of movement allied to felicity of language.  Just as well it isn't a universal relationship - I'd be an illiterate, unable to communicate except by bellowing!

I do suspect though that Dawes' beta would only apply to him - he danced up routes partly because he had to - where mechanical crimping and campusing might suffice for stronger types.

[Johnny Brown]

Always good to see Johnny in his prime.

[dave]

fucking hell that is solid 14 carrat gold.

[cowboyhat]

Reminds me why I wore black tights in my nascent climbing days.

[Ru]

Can't believe that footage has been sat on for 25 years. Fantastic.

[SamT]

awesome, I wonder how much footage of johnny is still out there somewhere, covered in dust and cobwebs.

The move up to the overlap at 1:29, where he checks the swing with a sort of reverse foot stab behind his L leg is sublime, proper Johnny.

I remember him mentioning Moffats mood after being on the route in his book. I see why now!! 

[Bubba]

Wow, where did that appear from? Good find JB

[rainbow]

Loved watching that. Also liked the snippets of footage which appeared in the Guardian interview on the Youtube.

[slackline]

Amazing! 

[a dense loner]

Class. What an ending

[Serpico]

SCIENCE required: When does a wall become a slab?

When you can climb it but your mate can't.

[PATRuL]

Interesting that Dawes was 'thinking' about creating a new brass hold ... i'm happy he stuck to his guns and didn't! Especially with reference to the majestic Clowynn du'Arddu and the Redhead affair ... Is one to conclude from Redhead's departure to Espana (if he's still there) that he's a bolt clipper now?

Ah, the swings and roundabouts of Zebedies play park.

Beijos xxxx

[Johnny Brown]

Interesting that Dawes was 'thinking' about creating a new brass hold ... i'm happy he stuck to his guns and didn't!

I wouldn't read too much into it, he never built the vegetable car either. Not sure JR moved for the bolts either....

[SA Chris]

Careful Patrul that post actually made sense

[PATRuL]

Quite ... one is getting concerned, i must remember to polish the teapot again... however, i'm thinking of moving to a Castle soon, which ought to aid lofty concerns.
Talking of castles one went for a play at 'THe Castle' in Londium recently, like a cunning fox i signed in as K.Souza, as i'm kind of banned.  And in the midst of my play stumbled across an incredulously fantastic climbing mantra, which i proceeded to exhale at the top of my voice.  It goes "MUNCH, MUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH."  You see what it does is open the Shen Dao (back of the heart) which aids power no end and if one is prone to closing that centre (as i am) then it keeps it open, hence increasing power ten fold!

THis is the sort of info. one could pay handsomely ... (i'll accept pints, cheques and karma points ; )

[Fiend]

The second crux involves using the bronze cap; this will be for six moves. A dyno into a left hand finger pointing layback (fingers straight, hand palm at 90' to them) with the right knee resting on top of the left hand. A slap into an undercling and then a leg flag move where it would be ideal if you could take off you left calf muscle. Then a full foot smear, toe pull and footless dropdown after a low, long slap onto a pinch in front of your face. Extended, a big beautiful slpey foothold comes within reach, legs and arms all crossed up, a hand off is sequentially possible. A few deft unweightings, a set up and a sideways double dyno (the easiest move on the route) and the Meltdown is complete.

Very cool watching the video and working it out from Dawes genius description above

[mrjonathanr]

2mins32s:

What am I supposed to do there?

- Jerry

I think most people who've climbed with Johnny will have uttered those words at some point.