A recent chance meeting with John Gaskins this week gave us the opportunity to probe the world's strongest climbing enigma on his recent comings and goings. As you may be aware, after the shabby treatment he received at the hands of Markus Bock and others a few years back, John had taken a step back from the limelight and his intense climbing regime - obviously losing much of his faith in his fellow climbing brethren - to concentrate more time on his family and the more accommodating sport of running. Over the last year or two he has "dabbled" in and out of the sport in which he made his name, re-climbing such lines as Cloning Technology (8a+) and adding the odd endurance link to his local limestone crags, but for the most part he's flown under the radar and stuck to endurance ground, that whilst hardcore for most, is at a relatively modest level by his old standards. On meeting John this week I couldn't help but notice the fact that he looked physically much stronger compared with our last meeting some 9 or 10 months back - forearms that could power a jackhammer anyone? On commenting as such to him he stated that he had recently put his campus board back up, been back on his training board and even been out and about "a bit" over the previous winter and spring. John's most notable ascent over the last few months would have to be a new 8b+(?) at Woodwell, in the shape of a reverse of Anesthesia (see image below). This starts at the far right of the buttress and traverses leftward to a point a couple of hand moves right of the original start, before climbing up to the break – a 7c/+ in its own right! John wouldn't actual comment on the grade other than saying it was significantly harder than the original. Also of note John repeated Greg Chapman's fine gritstone test piece, Outer Reach (8a) at Thorn Crag. A line which over the last couple of years has seen attempts from a number of strong climbers, but until now rebuffed all comers.
Like they have now, you mean?
You don't feel that's a tad vicarious?
Why don't you camp outside his house? Maybe you'll get a glimspe of him; maybe you will get the chance to touch him.
