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42-506: Indian Face is a 45-metre (148 ft) traditional climbing route on the rhyolite "Great Wall" of the East Buttress of Clogwyn Du'r Arddu , in Wales. When English climber Johnny Dawes completed the first free ascent of the route on 4 October 1986, it was graded E9 6c or (5.13a X) , the first-ever E9-graded route, and was considered one of the hardest traditional climbing routes in

84-468: A first free ascent (FFA). The previously controversial practices of hangdogging (i.e. practicing on an abseil rope), and headpointing (i.e. practicing on a top rope ) are now accepted by the leading traditional climbers. Traditional climbers subsequently introduced the derived term ' greenpointing ' (or the Grünpunkt movement, as a play on the sport climbing Rotpunkt movement), to describe making

126-450: A normal equivalent "adjectival grade"; for example, for the technical grade of "6a", the normal "adjectival grade" is "E4". Where the "adjectival grade" is lower than normal , for example, E3 6a (or even E2 6a), that means the route is much safer and easier to protect. When the "adjectival grade" is higher than normal , for example, E5 6a (or even E6 6a), that means the route is more dangerous and harder to protect. For example, one of

168-512: A sport climbing grade for the "technical difficulty", and an additional "risk grade" to reflect how hard the lead climber will find protecting the route as they ascend. Some sport grading systems, particularly the French system (e.g. ... 6b, 6c, 7a, 7b, 7c, ...), offer no additional "risk grade", and are thus less likely to be used as traditional climbing grades (but may be quoted alongside one). The most dominant grading system for traditional climbing

210-448: A " run out " – means that any fall will be larger and will place more pressure on the existing placements to hold the fall. Famous extreme traditional climbs such as Master's Edge (E7 6c) and Gaia (E8 6c) have notorious run-outs, where even if the protection holds, the falling climber has a high chance of hitting the ground, as spectacularly shown in the opening sequence of the 1998 British climbing film, Hard Grit . To reflect

252-413: A "crucible" of British traditional climbing , with many of Britain's leading climbers creating notable routes on its buttresses. The most challenging section is the sheer and imposing slab of the "Great Wall" on the East Buttress. In 1980, enigmatic British climber and artist John Redhead—who freed Britain's first-ever E7-graded route, The Bells The Bells (E7 6c)—attempted to onsight a new route on

294-425: A new traditional route at the same level as the men with Meltdown also at 8c+  (5.14c). In 2019, Jacopo Larcher created what is considered the first 9a  (5.14d) graded traditional route with Tribe . Traditional climbing (or "Trad" climbing), is a form of free climbing (i.e. no artificial or mechanical device can be used to aid progression, unlike with aid climbing ), which is performed in pairs where

336-440: A notable example. At this time, French climbers such as Patrick Edlinger began to pre-drill permanent masonry bolts into the almost "blank" faces of Buoux and Verdon for protection (but not as artificial aid); this became known as sport climbing. It led to a dramatic increase in climbing standards – all future new grade milestones would be set on sport climbing routes. The increased safety of pre-drilled bolts also led to

378-457: Is graded 5.14a R. One of the most detailed, and still widely used, traditional grading systems is the British E-grade (e.g. ... VS 4c, HVS 5a, E1 5b, E2 5c, E4 6a, ...). Two grades are quoted; the first being the "adjectival grade", and the second being the "technical grade". The interplay between the two grades reflects the "risk grade" of the route. For each "technical grade", there is

420-569: Is really hard, the gear now too far away, death real and looming, and it's too much to remember"; and Neil Gresham said of his second repeat, also in 1994: "For a split second of complete tranquility, I actually don't mind giving in. I resign myself to defeat and prepare for the unimaginable". In 2020, Britain's strongest climber, Steve McClure , who climbed Rhapsody (E11), said: "Routes like Harder Faster , Indian Face , The Bells The Bells and Meshuga just fill me with dread, and I have absolutely no drive to do them at all." Indian Face marked

462-449: Is related to the quality of the protection placements. Where these placements are considered good and will hold the climber in the event of a major fall, they are called " bomb-proof " (i.e. they behave just like pre-drilled bolts). However, when the placements are poor, and there is uncertainty that they will hold in the event of a major fall – risking a " zipper-fall " – they are described as "thin". For example, when Johnny Dawes freed

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504-535: Is the American system (e.g. ... 5.9, 5.10a, 5.10b, 5.10c, 5.10d, 5.11a, ...), which for traditional routes can add the "suffix" of " R " for risk of serious injury in any fall, or " X " for routes where a fall at a particular place, could be fatal (i.e. a " chop route "). For example, a famous but serious extreme North American traditional climb is Sonnie Trotter 's 2007 route, The Path in Lake Louise, Alberta , which

546-483: The lead climber places climbing protection into the climbing route as they ascend. After the lead climber has reached the top, the second climber (or belayer ) removes this temporary climbing protection as they climb the route. Some consider the hammering in of pitons while climbing the route, as long as they are only for climbing protection and not to aid progression, to also be traditional climbing. Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing that has

588-602: The Indian Face (2011). Indian Face retains an intimidating reputation amongst climbers. In 2012, Climbing described it as "Indian Face, E9 6c, 150 feet of technical, 5.13a death". The 2013 North Wales Climbs guidebook touts Indian Face as "the route of the 1980s", adding, "Seven repeats in the quarter of a century since it was first climbed and no onsight ascent, despite routes with bigger E-grades receiving more attention, tells you all you need to know." In 2004, Nick Dixon said of his first repeat in 1994: "The upper wall

630-491: The blanker right-hand side of "Great Wall". After several serious and nearly fatal falls, he abseiled down to drill a bolt at his high point of 80-feet; he called this route Tormented Ejaculation and left it ungraded. In 1983, British climber Jerry Moffatt chopped the bolt while abseiling; he then climbed past it but avoided the blanker groove to the left (what would later become Indian Face ), veering right to create Master's Wall , which he graded E7 6b. Moffatt found

672-635: The bolt was solely to protect moves leftwards into the finest unclimbed groove on the Great Wall [Indian Face] and NOT to go right [Master's Wall] which was merely an escape". In 1984, Redhead freed Margins of the Mind (E8 6c), further left of Master's Wall , which is considered the second-ever E8-grade in Britain after Dave Cuthbertson's 1983 ascent of Requiem in Scotland. On 4 October 1986, Johnny Dawes followed up

714-403: The climb terrifying, later saying: "At that time to be respected, you really had to be putting up really scary new routes. That was where it was at, in Britain at least. Master's Wall is probably where I risked most." In 1984, Redhead repeated Master's Wall and told the authors of Welsh Rock (1986) that he felt Tormented Ejaculation was the crux of Master's Wall and "... the placement of

756-477: The climbing protection already pre-bolted into the route (i.e. the lead climber just clips their rope into quickdraws attached to the bolts); sport climbing is therefore a much safer, and less stressful, form of free climbing. Traditional climbing differs from free solo climbing where no climbing protection is used whatsoever. With the greater popularity of sport climbing, traditional climbing evolved to embrace some of its redpointing techniques in making

798-456: The crack itself – and the lead climber will carry a lot more equipment to secure their safety. Two main classes of protection are used in traditional climbing, namely: "passive" and "active". Passive protection devices include nuts , hexcentrics and tricams , and are metal shapes attached to wires or slings , which can be inserted into cracks and fissures in the rock that will act like temporary sport climbing bolts (to which quickdraws and

840-406: The development and popularity of competition climbing and the emergence of the "professional" rock climber. Sport climbing then became—and remains—the most popular form of rock climbing. Traditional returned to prominence when in 2003, Swiss climber Didier Berthod greenpointed the bolted sport climb Greenspit (E9, 5.14, 8b) to create one of the hardest traditional crack climbing routes in

882-654: The development of "active" traditional climbing protection in the 1970s—called spring-loaded camming devices (SLCDs, or "friends")—the grades of technical difficulty that traditional climbers could safely undertake increased dramatically, and new grade milestones were set on new traditional climbing routes. However, by the mid-1980s, the leading traditional climbers were again facing technical challenges with minimal possibilities for traditional climbing protection (i.e. tiny or no cracks whatsoever in which to insert SLCDs), that required them to accept significant personal risks – Johnny Dawes 's 1986 ascent of Indian Face being

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924-400: The early 1980s, leading European traditional climbers like Jerry Moffatt and Wolfgang Güllich changed to sport climbing, in which all future new grade milestones would be established. Moffatt's last major traditional FFA was Master's Wall (E7 6b) in 1984, where he said afterward: "At that time to be respected, you really had to be putting up really scary new [traditional] routes. That

966-429: The first free ascent of a pre-bolted sport-climb, but only using "traditional protection". As 20th-century rock climbers began to free climb (i.e. avoiding any form of aid), they often used traditional climbing techniques for protection. Early traditional climbers relied on crude, and often unreliable, forms of homemade "passive" climbing protection such as pieces of metal or chockstones attached to slings . With

1008-502: The first half of Master's Wall , but before the (then removed) bolt of Tormented Ejaculation , he entered the lefthand groove to make the first free ascent of Indian Face , the first-ever E9-graded rock climb in Britain. Dawes's ascent of Indian Face was considered to be the hardest and most dangerous traditional route in the world, and his feat was reported by the wider non-climbing media. The 1989 guidebook described it as "a pitch of such appalling difficulty as to be almost beyond

1050-408: The focus on traditional climbing had passed to sport climbing. Indian Face has been ascended by: Traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing ) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places the protection equipment while ascending the route ; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber (or belayer ) then removes

1092-724: The following traditional routes are considered to be some of the hardest-ever ascended: A number of notable films have been made focused on traditional climbing including: Climbing (magazine) Each year, Climbing gives out a number of awards, called the Golden Pitons . Award categories include: Sport Climbing, Breakout Performance, Climber of the Year, Rusty Piton, Lifetime Achievement, Comeback, Alpine, Boldest Move, and Competition. 40°01′27″N 105°13′31″W  /  40.024304°N 105.225206°W  / 40.024304; -105.225206 This climbing -related article

1134-660: The greater risk of traditional climbing routes over sport climbing routes, an additional grade is often added to the route's grade of technical difficulty (i.e. how hard are the individual moves) to reflect the risks. In the United Kingdom, this is known as the "adjectival" grade (Diff, VDiff, HS, VS, HVS, E1 to E11). In the United States, it takes the form of a suffix (PG – be careful, R – fall will cause injury, R/X – fall will cause serious injury, X – fall likely to be fatal). The grading of traditional climbing routes starts with

1176-562: The lead climber needs to carry, and insert, protection devices as they climb the route. The choice of equipment carried will depend on the type of route being attempted. Some of the most difficult and dangerous traditional routes (e.g. Indian Face or Master's Edge ) offer very little opportunity to insert protection into the rock, and thus the lead climber carries very little protective equipment. Classic traditional climbs often involve crack climbing (e.g. Separate Reality ) that offers greater opportunity for inserting protection – into

1218-431: The leading sport climbers who began to repeat—and create—major traditional routes (e.g. Ethan Pringle with BlackBeard's Tears and Beth Rodden with Meltdown ). In 2023, when British climber James Pearson created one of the world's first E12 'trad' routes with Bon Voyage , the first repeat was by sport climbing legend, Adam Ondra . Traditional climbing requires more rock climbing equipment than sport climbing as

1260-669: The most famous and dangerous extreme British traditional climbs is Johnny Dawes ' 1986 route, Indian Face , which is graded E9 6c (instead of the normal E7 6c), or 5.13a X under the American system. Before the emergence of sport climbing in the early 1980s, almost all new grade milestones in rock climbing were set by traditional climbers. By the end of the 1970s, male traditional climbers were climbing to 5.13a  (7c+) with Toni Yaniro  [ fr ] 's Grand Illusion , while female traditional climbers were climbing to 5.12d  (7c), with Lynn Hill on Ophir Broke . During

1302-485: The painting was removed, and repairs were made to the rock face. Redhead was openly critical of the " headpointing " techniques employed by Dawes, Moffat, and other ascensionists, notwithstanding criticisms of his own placement of a bolt at Clogwyn. Dawes's ascent, his rivalry with Redhead, and the repeats are the subject of documentaries, including E9 6c (1997), Johnny Dawes and the Story of Indian Face (2006), and Return to

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1344-498: The protection equipment as they climb the route. Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing where the protection equipment is pre-drilled into the rock in the form of bolts . Traditional climbing carries a much higher level of risk than bolted sport climbing as the climber may not have placed the protection equipment correctly as they try to ascend the route, or there may be few opportunities to insert satisfactory protection (e.g. on very difficult routes). Traditional climbing

1386-504: The realms of human comprehension". In 2011, Dawes said: "As you set off it's best to consider yourself already dead. You just do it". Shortly after Dawes's ascent, a key flake of rock came loose while John Redhead was cleaning the route. Redhead presented the flake to Dawes, who refused it, and Redhead painted a picture of dueling climbers on the scarred rock that the broken flake had left behind. The event caused an uproar in British climbing;

1428-421: The rope can be clipped into). Active protection consists of spring-loaded camming devices (or "friends"), which are cams that dynamically adjust to the size of the crack or fissure in the rock, but also act like temporary sport climbing bolts. The traditional climber has two key concerns, or areas of risk, when placing the protection equipment while they are leading the traditional route. The first concern

1470-402: The strongest female traditional climbers (e.g. Beth Rodden , Hazel Findlay and Barbara Zangerl ) at 9a  (5.14d) versus 8c+  (5.14c). In contrast, the strongest male sport climbers (e.g. Adam Ondra and Seb Bouin ) were climbing two notches above the strongest female sport climbers (e.g. Angela Eiter and Laura Rogora ) at 9c  (5.15d) versus 9b  (5.15b) As of 2024,

1512-522: The traditional climb Indian Face (E9 6c) in 1986, the protection was so thin, Dawes assumed if he fell, the protection would rip out, and he would fall to the ground. The other concern is the distance between the protection placements. Where there are many protection placements with small gaps between them (e.g. 2 to 3 metres), then any fall will be short and less onerous; even if one placement fails/rips-out, there are more placements that might still hold. However, large gaps between placements – known as

1554-409: The twilight of traditional climbing as the main focus for the best British climbers; many were moving to sport climbing , with pre-fixed bolts for climbing protection . Jerry Moffatt and climbing partner Ben Moon would abandon traditional climbing and set major new worldwide grade milestones in sport climbing, becoming two of the world's strongest climbers of the late 1980s to early 1990s. Dawes

1596-461: The world. Indian Face is still considered one of the world's most intimidating traditional climbs, and even decades after its first ascent, it is rarely repeated. The ascent was an historic moment in the transition from traditional climbing as the dominant form of extreme rock climbing (in Britain, and elsewhere), to the safer form of sport climbing , which became the focus for the leading climbers. Clogwyn Du'r Arddu has long been considered

1638-462: The world. In 2006, Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter greenpointed The Path (E9, 5.14a R, 8b+) to create one of the world's hardest traditional climbs at the time. Trotter, and other leading 'trad' climbers such as Dave MacLeod , led a resurgence in traditional climbing by creating new grade milestones on routes such as Cobra Crack (E10, 5.14b, 8c) and Rhapsody (E11, 5.14c R/X, 8c+). The increased prominence of traditional climbing attracted

1680-641: Was once the dominant form of free climbing but since the mid-1980s, sport climbing — and its related form of competition climbing — became more popular, and all subsequent grade milestones from 8a+  (5.13c) onwards were on sport climbing routes. From the early 2000s, there was a resurgence in interest in traditional climbing as climbers began greenpointing sport routes (e.g. Greenspit and The Path at 8b+), and setting new milestones for traditional routes (e.g. Cobra Crack at 8c  (5.14b) by Sonnie Trotter , and Rhapsody at 8c+  (5.14c) by Dave MacLeod ). Female climber Beth Rodden created

1722-450: Was unwilling to undertake the intensive plyometric training techniques (e.g. the campus board ) that Moffatt and Moon adopted, but he would still free further notable traditional climbs, such as Gaia (E8 6c), End of the Affair (E8 6c) and The Quarryman (E8 7a). Climbers like Dave MacLeod would create even-harder traditional climbs, such as Rhapsody in 2006, the world's first E11, but

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1764-500: Was where it was at, in Britain at least. Master's Wall is probably where I risked most". While the status of traditional climbing waned during the rise of the safer disciplines of sport climbing (and its related sport of competition climbing ), and latterly bouldering , contemporary traditional climbers continued to set new "traditional climbing" grade milestones. By 2024, the strongest male traditional climbers (e.g. Jacopo Larcher and James Pearson) were climbing just one notch above

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