Watch Johnny Dawes Walk Up Five-Pitch 5.5

Johnny Dawes was one of the U.K.’s most cutting-edge climbers in the 1980s and 1990s. His bold gritstone routes are rarely repeated and were ahead of their time.

In this video, Dawes visits Lundy Island for the first time and wants to put his balance to the test.

He decided to climb the famous five-pitch Devil’s Slide, a 120-metre 5.5, which was first climbed in 1961 by Jim Logan and Keith Lawder. Dawes walks up, never using his hands on the massive slab.

Dawes is wearing the original EB rock climbign shoes from the 1970s. He is featured in the films Stone Monkey (1986), Best Forgotten Art (1994) and Hard Grit (1998). He published his autobiography Full of Myself in 2011.

Top Climbs by Dawes
– 1986 Gaia, Black Rocks E8 6c (first ascent)
– 1986 End of the Affair, Curbar Edge E8 6c (first ascent)
– 1986 The Quarryman, Twll Mawr E8 7a (first ascent)
– Smoked Salmon, Bamford Edge E8 7b (first ascent)
– Face Mecca, Clogwyn Du’r Arddu E9 6c (second ascent)
– Angel’s share, Black Rocks E8 7a (first ascent)
– 1990 The Very Big & the Very Small 8b+/8c slab (first ascent)