UKC

In this interview with Dave MacLeod we get the full details of his new E11 route on Hoy.

Illustrated with superb video grabs from the forthcoming film by Hotaches, this interview gives a real flavour of this multi-pitch sandstone epic!

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=62956

In reply to UKC News: There's typo in answer 11 I think. "little less waking" should probably read "little less walking".

Great route and effort, can't wait to see the film!

Ronny

In reply to ronnyadsetts: Thanks! Now corrected.

Jack

In reply to ronnyadsetts:

Noticed that too but thought Dave might mean both 'a little less walking' and 'a little less waking up early'! Both would seem richly deserved.

Great interview and photos Jack.

In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor:

>"because of nibbling injuries"

Broken tooth or run-in with bothy mouse?

In reply to UKC News:

"Dave MacLeod after finishing the route - already getting fat???"

Great picture caption

In reply to UKC News: I have now added a topo of the route to the base of this article.

Thanks to Mark Reeves for the photo.

Jack

In reply to UKC News:

I didn't know Ed Drummond was ill. That's sad news.

Fantastic picture of DM cutting loose on the top(?) pitch!

jcm

In reply to UKC News:


Brilliant!

In reply to UKC News: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Having looked at that route from the ferry OMG!!!!!!!!

In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor:


Jack, good article, think it should be feet instead of metres in para 4 no?

In reply to jonny2vests:

450m is correct: look at the topo at the end of the article!

In reply to UKC News: Epic! Dave is a national treasure. A great ambassador for our wee country and the awesome variety of rock and landscape it possesses! Great article, thanks.

Excellent stuff! Go on dave!

In reply to UKC News:

jeez, what a great article. epic climb (fcuk its huge - look at the lengths of those pitches) and great gristley writing. no messing about gay understatement or posturing bullshit. solid climbing by solid people on a solid route. very british.

best article ive seen in a fair while. lots of real answers to real questions.
love the response to Q.7 - all that about running out soft placements with long extensions to what im gathering is the full extent of the rope (wonder if they took an 80m and blagged belays with it too, alpine style?).

only the brits would climb like this (what dude? theres no starbucks and cliff bars on that crusty face.

good one.

Is it just me or is that runout on the picture where he is dangling rather huge, like 7 or 8 meters or more, probably just a trick of the camera. I don't know much about this guy (other than a few online articles) but what I have read he seems a bit nuts, not sure if he is super gutsy, insane or flutters between the two. Super climber which ever it is!

In reply to UKC News:

Great interview Jack. I'm sure Andy T has blogged, but it would be fascinating to have some words on the adventure from his persepctive. Brilliant achievement all round.

Jim

In reply to Dominicandave:

A very cool headed climber is what he is. Someone who knows that an 8 metre run out with 300m of exposure is a lot safer than an 8 metre run out 16m up !

In reply to Dominicandave:


Hmm...

As Jerry Moffatt wrote of John Redhead, '...the thing that impressed me was how shrewd and prepared he was about things.'

Mick

In reply to Dominicandave:



Not nuts at all. Well prepared, assess the risks, knows his limitations, then goes for it.



One of the best.

In reply to Mick Ward:

Sorry Mick, was echoing what you said really. There is a great chapter about Dave in Arno's book (Espresso Lessons) about Dave (and in Dave's book) that many should read, whatever level we climb at, about risk and preparation.

In reply to Mick Ward: There are old climbers and bold climbers but no old bold and stupid climbers. Wait, I can think of a few,... Oh but they are not bold.

Hmm, no quick draws, just Long Johns

Here is a video of Dave and Andy on the 4 pitch E5 6a Mucklehouse Wall on Orkney:
http://mtnequipment.blogspot.com/2011/07/mucklehouse-wall-e5-6a-orkney-vide...
Check out Andy's camtastic belay!

In reply to UKC News: Great article, effort.

In reply to ice.solo: Was the 'gay' comment really necessary?

In reply to Pinhead27:

wasnt intended to have any anti-homosexual connotation.

replace with 'over-exaggerated jocularity'.

In reply to UKC News:

That's a very well written article and interview. Looking forward to seeing the film when it comes out. Great effort again by Dave and Andy, and also the support crew.

In reply to ice.solo:

Gay is after all an English word that had nothing at all to do with homosexuality until recently.

In reply to UKC News:

That left arete is obviously a huge remaining prize ... or has it already been done?

In reply to jon:


The late 19th century is recently? Come on Jon, everyone knows the word is used dismissively in that sense, even by people who probably aren't really homophobic at all but just aren't thinking much - which would seem to be the case here.

One of my best mates and climbing partners is gay, so I'm happy to take umbrage for him, even if he seems to have a pretty thick skin to these sort of things.

In reply to TobyA:

Yes it may be used dismissively, but you missed the point of my post Toby. I wasn't commenting on Mr Solo's original post, just lamenting the loss of another English word to wrong usage and the absurdity of political correctness. Now, unlike you, I've no idea when the word gay started to be used to describe homosexuality, but I can tell you that when I was at school it could be, and was used in its proper sense, and with no reference to its meaning nowadays. At the time, the word of choice for homosexuality was queer.

In reply to jon: Toby derived his information from an undocumented claim on Wikipedia. Like you, when I was at school I never heard the word gay used to mean homosexual - I would estimate that it was in the mid seventies that I first heard that usage.

In reply to UKC News: Regardless of origin of current use it does seem to me that when I hear Gay used as a derogatory term it relates to homosexuality and in tern denigrates homosexuality. I think it's a shame that he word currently is used in this way but it is and as such to use it is (In my opinion) homophobic even if not intended to be.
There are many words which are taboo in because of there oppressive connotations. Strikes me to many people are casually homophobic and accepting of homophobia in a way that other discrimination is not accepted.
I'm sure Ice.Solo did not mean any offence as he stated.

Back to the original point Very nice one Dave and Andy.

In reply to puppythedog: I would have thought gay a considerably less derogatory term than, for instance, queer. In fact, my impression was that its use in this sense was an early form of political correctness.

In reply to John2: New thread now if anyone wants to further discuss this interesting sideline: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=466832 but we can leave this one for more congratulations to Dave and Andy for their remarkable climb!

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Big John is loosely based around the arete but there isn't a route that takes the arete in its entirety - get on it!

In reply to UKC News: Exclusive behind the scenes video content here - http://tinyurl.com/6avsnkj

In reply to UKC News:
this is a bit happy!

In reply to jc545staffy:

"this is a bit happy"!

This seems strangely to sum up climbing: -

Gay as a Lark in the sunshine of spring,
Floating and singing upon the wing;
Sporting in pleasure beneath a fair sky,
Happy forever, - just so am I,
So, so, so am I,
So, so, so am I,
Bright is the sunshine lighting my way;
Fair is the moonlight as cheerful as day.

Refrain:
Joyful and happy, oh then let me live
Sharing the pleasures that life can give,
Free as a birdling let loose from the ark,
Cheerful and merry “Gay as a Lark.”

Idly I squander the moments away,
Dreaming and scheming the live long day,
Never, oh never, to murmur and sigh,
Pining and whining? oh no, not I,
No, no, no not I,
No, no, no not I,
Let me be merry, let me be gay,
Life is too precious to fritter away.

Refrain:

In reply to Pinhead27: Is Fiona your 'beard'? *wink*
Cheers
Sherlock