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NEWS/ARTICLE: Jerry Moffatt’s Revelations - Master's Wall

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 Jack Geldard 12 Jan 2009
In this exclusive extract from Jerry Moffatt's new book Revelations, the man himself describes the first ascent of his Cloggy test piece Master's Wall.

"I lay-backed higher up the flakes and was soon a long way above the one good nut. I began to feel totally out of control. My feet smeared on little holds I hadn't taken the trouble to clean fully while my fingers crimped desperately on barely-adequate flakes. By now, I was facing a monster fall, perhaps even hitting the ground. I carried on, terrified."

Read More: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1574
 Al Evans 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:
Brilliant article, I guess many of todays young climbers cannot understand the fuss,awe and esteem that even Great Wall was held in the early days, I was in Wendy's when the third ascent was done and somebody came running in shouting 'Masters Wall has just been climbed by Dave' (not sure now which Dave it was, maybe Dave Potts?). That was the third ascent.
Its good that Jerry named his route Masters Wall, an obvious e-trip but an excellent re-writing of a flaw by Pete.
 Colin Moody 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Al Evans:
I took a dark photo of the second ascent.

http://web.me.com/colinmoody/Site/FA.html#9
 The sharp end 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

As someone inspired by the feats of Moffatt this book was well overdue - ordered a copy already! Good to see V-outdoor website too. Looking forward to receiving it later this month.
 French Erick 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Colin Moody:
Very amusing the title of "best rockclimber in the world". Whislt I have no doubt he was at the cutting edge, and his routes are a testimony to the fact, I had never heard of him before I move to the UK (much to the incredulity of my British climbing partners).
And I read the French mags from around 1991.

Each country is very self-centred and rarely gives news from what's going on abroad if none of their nationals are involved... as I still find out when I go home (most ascents in France by French folks are untold in the UK).

It is, totally normal, I hasten to say. There's enough to report in one's country... however, titles like this one always seem very biased.
A bit like the baseball "world" championship (who the f*ck plays baseball but the Americans!?)
 Ian McNeill 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Colin Moody:

I think we were on White slab that day ?

Was Mike Thomas belaying Stuart ?
 Shani 12 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick:

IIRC in about 1990, Vertical had a 'Top 100' most influential climbers in the world and the No.1 spot was taken by Jerry Moffatt.

The baseball "World Series" is actually named after a newspaper called 'The World', rather than being an indication of the sports geographical sphere of influence.

Bonjour.
 ericoides 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
> (In reply to French Erick)

> The baseball "World Series" is actually named after a newspaper called 'The World', rather than being an indication of the sports geographical sphere of influence.


Er, no it isn't
http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp
 Shani 12 Jan 2009
In reply to ericoides:

Sacrez bleu!

I got that from a Christopher Hitchens lecture! Reckon I will email him to tidy this matter up!

Cheers for the info.
 French Erick 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
Well, it could be... but at that time in France they were bashing our ears with Patrick edlinger and people like arnaud petit who were rising stars (although not quite at their apex but my memory is not bombproof) and I, and my pals too, had never heard of Jerry.
As a matter of fact, some of my pals back home still don't know about him or quite a few British climbers (they never heard of Jo Brown, Don Whillance...I kid you not!).
 ericoides 12 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick:
> (In reply to Shani)
> (they never heard of...Don Whillance...I kid you not!).

He's just a hybrid

 John2 12 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick: To be fair to JM, who is not the owner of the world's smallest ego, he did travel around the States and Europe repeating many of the hardest routes and putting up hard routes of his own (e.g. The Face in the southern Frankenjura). I think he came second or third in the final of the first world climbing championship, also.
 Shani 12 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick:

In contrast, in England from about 1984 onwards we seemed to be in awe of the French - Isobel Pattisier, Didier Rabidout, Marc Le Menestral and it carried on in to the 1990s with Fabien Mazeur (excuse my spelling).

I have a video from a climbing competition in Leeds in 1988 (ish) featuring Didier and Isobel (IIRC). Didier was well strong!
 Shani 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:

In retrospect, I don't think the English were supporting Pattisier exclusively for her climbing!
 Adam Long 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
> (In reply to French Erick)
>
> In contrast, in England from about 1984 onwards we seemed to be in awe of the French - Isobel Pattisier, Didier Rabidout, Marc Le Menestral and it carried on in to the 1990s with Fabien Mazeur (excuse my spelling).
>
> I have a video from a climbing competition in Leeds in 1988 (ish) featuring Didier and Isobel (IIRC). Didier was well strong!

Yeah but who won?!

 Shani 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Adam L:

Moffatt! The crowd went wild.....!
Removed User 12 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick: What about Moon, in light of his somewhat controversial route names on French crags?
 Colin Moody 12 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick:

I climbed in the Calanques in 1984, when I said I was from Scotland the French asked if I climbed with Jerry Moffat. I think he had just freed some routes in the Verdon and was a bit of a hero to them.
 Colin Moody 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Ian McNeill:

Grant Farquhar was belaying that day.
Kipper 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
> (In reply to French Erick)
>
> - Isobel Pattisier....

Get the name right! http://fcorpet.free.fr/Denis/M/Grimpeuses/Isabelle-Patissier-Alpi-Rando-nov...

Kipper 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Kipper:
> (In reply to Shani)
> [...]
>
> Get the name right! http://fcorpet.free.fr/Denis/M/Grimpeuses/Isabelle-Patissier-Alpi-Rando-nov...

Currently 22nd in Dakar 2009, but she's lost that youthful look http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/RIDERS/us/equipage/338.html

 French Erick 12 Jan 2009
In reply to Colin Moody:
> (In reply to French Erick)
>
> I climbed in the Calanques in 1984, when I said I was from Scotland the French asked if I climbed with Jerry Moffat. I think he had just freed some routes in the Verdon and was a bit of a hero to them.

Way before my time my friend... I was 5!!!
 Shani 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Kipper:
> (In reply to Kipper)
> [...]
>
> Currently 22nd in Dakar 2009, but she's lost that youthful look http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/RIDERS/us/equipage/338.html

That can't be her! She looks like she has been ridden hard and put away wet.
 dbturner 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
> (In reply to French Erick)
>
> In contrast, in England from about 1984 onwards we seemed to be in awe of the French - Isobel Pattisier, Didier Rabidout, Marc Le Menestral and it carried on in to the 1990s with Fabien Mazeur (excuse my spelling).
>
> I have a video from a climbing competition in Leeds in 1988 (ish) featuring Didier and Isobel (IIRC). Didier was well strong!

And I remember the older Le Menestral (Anthoine) soloing Jerry's route Revelations in about 1984/5 (one I was saving for a flash at the time - ho, ho!)
 Jon Read 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani: That is no way to talk of a lady (or anyone) in public, for posterity, don't forget Shani.
 Shani 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Jon Read:

T'was but a joke and meant to be tongue in cheek.
Sorry for any offence caused.
 Niall Grimes 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani: Indeed, Jon. For anyone who remembers those golden-brown emaciated legs, the pink shorts, that tiny flash of white underwear, there will always be a special place for Isabelle.
In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC:

Brings back memories - I was there! I believe JM so far lost control of himself at one point as to observe, 'F&ck it. Where's the nick? F&ck it.'. Not quite Tilman. Sorry to see he doesn't mention sharing my belay while freeing Pistolero the day before, though.

In reply to French E, though, JM did have a decent claim to be the best climber in the world some time around 1986-8, although one has to concede that Antoine le M pissed on his fire a bit.

jcm
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Actually I think it was the day after.

Interesting he regards the crux as being relatively in control, actually. That wasn't my memory at all, assuming that the crux was the bit he'd worked well enough to know there ought to be a nick somewhere. I'm very surprised to see him say he didn't do much preparation of the lower section; he seemed to us to be doing an awful lot (we were camping there for a week and he was three or four days working it, which seemed an enormous amount of preparation to us at the time).

I remember seeing him solo GW and CA as well. Impressed the hell out of me at the time; the first thing I ever saw something that high and that hard soloed.

Some trivia for you - the day JM did Master's Johnny D fell off while following Great Wall. You can see him in the background of the picture in the last Cloggy guide.

jcm
 UKB Shark 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes:

For fantasy's sake lets remember her at her best:

http://www.listphile.com/9bCLIMBERS/Isabelle_Patissier

Full marks for anyone who can track down the one of her bouldering in the gold leotard.
mick o the north 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes: Grimer you naughty boy ! anyway i can top trump that i saw her petit pois at Volx .
 whispering nic 13 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
They did a top 30 edition in '88 (I have a copy in my hand)
Moffat was 24th.

Edlinger was number 1, Berhault second and Isabelle la belle was 16th. Sorry Jerry.
 Michael Ryan 13 Jan 2009
In reply to mick o the north:

Excuse me young man. We'll have less of that please.
In reply to Simon Lee:

I particularly like the one of her in her pyjamas.

jcm
 UKB Shark 13 Jan 2009
 Shani 14 Jan 2009
In reply to whispering nic:

I will have to dig through the old mags to find the position. IIRC OTE picked up on the story.
 Shani 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Simon Lee:
> (In reply to Niall Grimes)
>
> For fantasy's sake lets remember her at her best:
>
> http://www.listphile.com/9bCLIMBERS/Isabelle_Patissier
>
> Full marks for anyone who can track down the one of her bouldering in the gold leotard.

My god! What a photo!
 TonyG 14 Jan 2009
In reply to French Erick:
> A bit like the baseball "world" championship (who the f*ck plays baseball but the Americans!?)

Baseball is pretty much the national sport out here in Japan.

Nothing to do with the thread though, so please proceed...

Tony

In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: back on topic (ish), I liked Jerry's comment about John Redhead;
"the thing that impressed me was how shrewd and prepared he was about things.".
The first time I spoke to him, I was just in the middle of the crux of Ivy Sepulchre and Redhead was attempting the second ascent of Hall Of Warriors. He was obviously struggling, and couldn't find a nut small enough to protect the crux. He asked me if I had a Rock 1, which I had, I threw it to him (from a rather inconvenient position, it has to be said) and he caught it (which was impressive). He quickly placed it and scrabbled over the crux move, describing it as "desperate" (it looked it). I had to find him after he'd finished the climb, as he'd forgotten that I'd lent him the Rock (no "thanks" either). I said that it looked a hard route, and he claimed that it was desperate since Paul Williams had broken a crucial hold when seconding the FA. That was news to PW who I bumped into a couple of weeks later!

 seagull 14 Jan 2009
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:
> (In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC)

> In reply to French E, though, JM did have a decent claim to be the best climber in the world some time around 1986-8, although one has to concede that Antoine le M pissed on his fire a bit.
>
> jcm

Timeline's a bit f***ed up there John. The Revelations solo (still one of the most outrageous bits of climbing ever) came well before Jerry's injury, comeback and spanking of all the hardest routes at Buoux in amazingly quick style. It was around then that he became very well known in France and had good reason to be regarded as the best in the World. Wasn't it?

 Niall Grimes 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Andy Stephenson: I must admit a bias, but when doing the book, it seemed obvious that he was the best around. In 1983/84 he went to America and flashed two of the hardest routes and did second ascents of another two, went to Germany and did all the hardest routes there without falling off a single one, added his own to raise the top level there, went to France, repeated the hardest route, and raised significantly the level of on-sighting and flashing, by about 2 grades, went to Japan and flashed the hardest route there, went to America and flashed The Pheonix.

Later won loads of comps, repeated the hardest sport climbs in USA and France, added world cutting-edge boulder problems. That's a very broad range of achievements. It's a great story.
 TobyA 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes: Shani is right. I was in my mid adolescence at the time Mme. Patissier's height of fame, a period when there weren't many women who I didn't find in some way attractive. But I never got the fuss with her beyond a) her being a brilliant climber and b) her willingness to climb in swimsuits for no adequately explained reason beyond the most obvious. Great climber, yes; pretty face - not to me anyway. On the other hand, Catherine Destivelle was (and still is) genuinely attractive and never looked unhealthily thin. Plus she could climb the Eiger north face solo, and a woman with ice axes definitely does it for me!
 UKB Shark 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes:

Got any juicy anecdotes for us that didnt make the book ?
mick o the north 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Simon Lee: May be in the book but i have a great memory of him turning up at Pen Trwyn late in the day after hitching from Sheffield . We were making tea in the cave when he turned up complete with dyed hair and earrings . He asked if we had seen Andy Pollit and we pointed him to LPT where they were trying the recently added Statement of Youth . Within an hour he had repeated it then finished off the day jumping off the top of the Pigeon cave 50 ft or so into the sea ! Legend . Im afraid rocksrars just arent the same anymore .
 UKB Shark 14 Jan 2009
In reply to mick o the north:

Word was that the Pigeon Cave jump was regularly done by local yoofs but JM took some time psyche up for it - including chalking up ( I may have made that bit up)
 Colin Moody 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes:

Is Darius (High Tor) in the book? I was told things didn't go well.
 teddy 14 Jan 2009
In reply to Colin Moody:
> (In reply to Niall Grimes)
>
> Is Darius (High Tor) in the book? I was told things didn't go well.

Are you thinking of the incident when he nearly bought it when his belay failed on the top of Lyme Cryme and he got pulled over the edge of the crag, a lone peg holding his fall?
 Colin Moody 14 Jan 2009
In reply to teddy:

I think so.
 Niall Grimes 15 Jan 2009
In reply to Colin Moody:

Yeah, Statement is in. On his way, as he was starting his hitch hike over, Ben Moon told him "It's hard, Jerry, it took me five days tio do it, but if you get good conditions you might do it in three days."

"Oh might I?"

And the Darius stuff is in too.
mick o the north 15 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes: Cheers Niall . Some years later he arrived on a very crowded catwalk at Malham after being off the scene for some time ( injured ? ) After he warmed up he did raindogs having been on it briefly a while before . Then on to an on sight of attempt of Baboo which he walked up . I asked him how he found it " ok there were some big holds then a couple of small ones then big ones again ! .

Then onto Zoolook which i had just redpointed after 3 days of effort . Lowering off Jerry asked me to leave the quickdraws on but id left one off (too hard for me to clip ) and had taken a good 40 ft fall in the process .
He went for the onsight doing every move wrong clawing and fighting every move eventually slapping one on for the thank god jug at the top , looking at the monster fall . The whole crag was silent as he turned and announced " that was hell !

Still with enegy to spare it was on to Predator 8b for a quick play . After a short session he top roped it in one and realised he could have redpointed it easily . I think this was around 1989 ?
 Niall Grimes 15 Jan 2009
In reply to mick o the north: Wow, brilliant stuff Mick. I suppose one of the cool things about Jerry is that there are lots of stories like this about him, both climbing and non-climbing, that makes him seem like a legend.
In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: Can't wait for the book to arrive. One of my best climbing moments was after bumping into Jerry at Tremadoc in April 1981. He'd just climbed the route we were heading for and we asked what it was like. "Hard, very hard".

He was already a legend by then, so that was enough to be psyched up completely. Having seen him effortlessly drift, solo, up Pickpocket at Stoney recently, we were now attempting a route he called "hard".

I was only seconding the crux pitch but managed it first try, no falls on the route by either of us. I was so pleased, that I didn't mind the twanged middle finger tendon at all...but sometimes it's better not to be TOO psyched up.
Kipper 20 Jan 2009
In reply to Shani:
> (In reply to Kipper)
> [...]
>
> That can't be her! She looks like she has been ridden hard and put away wet.

Finished 17th - http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/LIVE/us/1400/classement/CGA.html
 Mick Ward 27 Jan 2009
In reply to mick o the north:

> (In reply to Simon Lee) May be in the book but i have a great memory of him turning up at Pen Trwyn late in the day after hitching from Sheffield ... we pointed him to LPT where they were trying the recently added Statement of Youth . Within an hour he had repeated it...

My memory (which can be defective!) of the day was that Jerry and Andy went on Statement in the morning, bolt to bolting their way up - which seemed quite naughty at the time - how times change! As I recall, Jerry wanted to come back later on, for what we'd now term the redpoint. As he couldn't be arsed bringing his sac to and fro, he left it attached to something (the first bolt?) We took the piss out of him, maintaining that it would get soaked by the incoming tide. I think he realised he might have made a faux pas but his pride wouldn't allow him to remove it.

As it happened, the tide was gentle and the sac didn't get soaked - jammy sod! He came back that evening and did Statement. Brilliant effort, as Ben was reputed to have spent 7 or 8 days on it (which was also a brilliant and futuristic effort). Instead of staying to watch history in the making, we had, of course, gone to the pub.

And that's all I can remember...

Mick

 Niall Grimes 27 Jan 2009
In reply to Mick Ward: Apart from the fact that Jerry comes up smelling of roses, he remembers it slightly differently, Mick. He recalls it as being one of the last routes he ever climbed yo-yo.
 Niall Grimes 27 Jan 2009
In reply to Mick Ward: PS - not to say his memory's right and yours is wrong, btw
 Mick Ward 27 Jan 2009
In reply to Niall Grimes:

Hey, who knows? Bottom line is he put in a fantastic performance that day... and many other days too.

Mick

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