Dave
MacLeod has been recognised as one of the best all
round climbers in the world over the past few years.
Dave is the author of the worlds hardest trad climb in
both summer and winter conditions with Rhapsody E11 7a
at Dumbarton Rock and The Hurting XI on Cairngorm. His
epic battle to complete Rhapsody with several years of
specific training followed by nine 60 foot falls were
captured in the award winning film ‘E11’ which brought
the stark dangers and psychological challenge of trad
climbing to a worldwide audience. Dave has most
impressed the world of climbing by his ability to
maintain a world class standard in bouldering, sport
climbing trad climbing and winter mountaineering
simultaneously, an balancing act only achieved by the
most committed of athletes.
Dave
attributes this ability to a mixture of huge motivation
and love for climbing and mountain landscapes with
dogged determination and an education in sport science.
In his lectures, Dave describes clearly and simply his
understanding of his own motivation and ability and how
it has developed, giving audiences a new perspective on
what mountaineering has to offer and what we can give to
mountaineering.
Some quotes from audiences:
"This was
the first time I'd seen Dave speak and his passion and
commitment to hard climbing really shone through his
quietly spoken and understated delivery. With a good mix
of stills and video there were some visual treats and as
a speaker he takes British reticence to a fine art, but
on the rock and ice reticence is the last thing you
would think of..."
“A most
enjoyable, interesting & inspirational evening”
“Inspiring, amusing, exciting and thoroughly enjoyable”
“I
noticed a lot of people saying 'I need to go climbing!'
as they were leaving the theatre - I think they were
inspired!”
“Definitely go to this- I saw him in Leeds and it was
wicked. So inspiring”
Dave
MacLeod key routes are:
Rhapsody E11 7a – The world’s first E11 trad route. F8c+
climbing a very long way above gear. 70 days work, 2
years of training and 500 feet of airtime went into the
first ascent.
(see E11 DVD in
shop now!)
The
Hurting XI,11 – The world’s first grade XI winter route.
M9/10 climbing with very poor gear.
Pressure Font 8b – Scotland’s hardest boulder problem.
This 30move roof climb took me a long time to work out.
Devastation F8c – Scotland’s hardest sport route and
first F8c.
Hurlyburly F8b free solo – Possibly the hardest solo
done in the UK.
Good
Training For Something M12- Joint first ascent with Will
Gadd.
All of
these routes are unrepeated. Here are some more of
Dave's best routes:
Winter
Defenders of the Faith IX,9 Beinn Dothaidh. onsight 1st
ascent, 2006
The Cathedral X,11 The Cobbler 1st ascent 2004
The Italian Job VIII, 9 Ben Nevis onsight 1st ascent
2006
The Demon IX, 9, Cairngorm, onsight 2003
Happy Tyroleans IX, 9 Cairngorm 2003
Trad
Divided Years, E8 6c, Mourne Mountains, 3rd ascent, 2006
Breathless E8 6c, Lake District, 3rd ascent, 2005
Achemine E9 7a, Dumbarton Rock, 1st ascent, 2001
The Fugue E9 6c, Arrochar, Scotland, 1st ascent, 2002
Holdfast E9 7a, Glen Nevis, Scotland, 1st ascent, 2002
Sport
Armstrong F8c, Frankenjura, 2005
Chronique de la Haine, F8c Ceuse, 2004
Hurlyburly F8b, Birnam Quarry, free-solo, 2003
Body Blow 8b+, The Anvil, 1st ascent 2006
Happiness in Slavery 8b+, Dumbuck, 1st ascent 2004
L-Mens 8b+, Montsant 2006
Bouldering
Perfect Crime Font 8b, first ascent, Dumbarton, 2005
Super Size Me Font 8b, second ascent, Dumbarton, 2006
Dry
tooling
Vertical Limit M11, Uschinen, Switzerland, 2004 |
