New routing history.

 My first ever new climb was on The Suspension Bridge Buttress at the Avon Gorge, October 22nd 1972. I climbed it with my old friend Pete Cresswell and we called it Josie Dansak after my girlfriend and an Indian meal I quite liked. The name has changed over the years to Jos'e Dansack but I don't know why.

My second new climb was to be more significant. It was on Fly Wall at Wintours Leap in the Wye Valley and took a bit of effort just to get to it through the undergrowth. Nowadays there is a path along the bottom. The date recorded for the first ascent is April 22nd 1974 with Pete Cresswell again but in truth the complete ascent took me 3 attempts with 3 different people. This was a 3/4 pitch climb (on-sight) and I called it Josie and the Fly. The name changed again to Jos'e. 

First ascents were made on-sight back then even on loose limestone. Today I would still prefer to make a first ascent on-sight but on limestone that's not always possible. 

Although I have always enjoyed repeating routes exploring for new climbs became an obsession. In 1979 I moved to Blackwood in South East Wales and was amazed but pleased that there was so much unclimbed rock. I now have over 100 climbs in South East Wales plus more on Gower and Pembroke. During my time in South Wales I met other climbers with the same passion. Pat Littlejohn, John Harwood, Andy Sharp, Pete Lewis, Gary Lewis and many others. It was in the 80's that I met and climbed some new routes with Gary Gibson. I had the pleasure and privilage of climbing with Pat and Gary sometimes in the same week. Pat on weekends and Gary mid-week. They are very different but great enthusiasts. 

I have always looked for new climbs in The Wye Valley and Forest of Dean (I can think of 2 interesting bits of unclimbed rock at Wintours Leap and Symonds Yat) but there are 2 places that captured my imagination and always will. The first is Cornwall with its rugged and beautiful coastline. With Dave Hope, Pete Cresswell and Roger Lanchbury we made dozens of amazing discoveries. They weren't always great climbs but they were always great adventures. We even had to swim for one of them. Dave and I are still finding wonderful new climbs on the coast to this day.

The second place and without a doubt the most inspiring is the Alps. To be more accurate the Italian side of the Mont Blanc range. My first new climb in the Alps was on the West face of the Blaitiere on the French side with Martin Crook. There are many climbs in this area now, mostly from Piola but ours was the first. 

A few years later with Dave and Pete we made the first ascent of a small (150mt) but beautiful face at the foot of the South Ridge of the Aiguille Noire de Peutery. It was E3 and we called it Grand Design. Piola has since added 2 more climbs to this face. The following year Pete and I climbed a new route on the West face of the Gruetta. Due to the poor weather it took us 3 attempts over 2 weeks but we finally got it. It had pitches of E2  

and E3 and gave 2000 feet of climbing. We didn't name this one and it became known as the British route.

To be continued