On 23 June, James McHaffie soloed 100 Extreme climbs, racking up an incredible total of 160 E points, 2,976m of rock climbing and making it to Oddfellows in Keswick for last orders. Sarah Stirling catches up with him and gets a first look at his tick list.
I got up at 2.45am, so I had a reasonable night’s sleep. I wanted to tank it through and get down for last orders. I began climbing at 3.40am, by headtorch as it was still dark. Central Buttress on Scafell (E1 5b) was the first route and I finished on Angel’s Highway (E1 5a) at Castle Rock around 22.15pm.The hardest climb was probably Rogue Herries (E4 6a) on Goats Crag in Borrowdale, which was route 90. Cut-throat, an E3 6a next to Gillette Direct on Neckband Crag, was also quite hard.I was chuffed to do Thirlmere Eliminate and Harlots Face as part of the final five climbs as well. I got the idea from Ron Fawcett’s Peak epic. He soloed 100 grit Extremes in a day in 1986 . I wanted to do 100 solos to pay homage to the Lakes, as Ron had to the Peak.
When you go out and do three or four good routes, that’s a good day, isn’t it? Now imagine doing that times 20 or 30-fold. That’s the way I look at it. Doing as many great climbs in a day is what I was after.
It’s also relatively novel in Britain, in terms of a mountain passage. And the challenge suited me, being mountain endurance-based.The timing for the day was extremely lucky. It had been warm and dry for ages and was a quiet weekday. It was also close to the longest day of the year, so there was plenty of light.The crags I visited took a logical, fairly straight path through some of the bigger classic cliffs in the Lakes. I started on Scafell then went to Piers Gill Crag, Undercarriage Buttress, Flat Crags, Neckband, Gimmer, Cove, Bright Beck, Sergeant Crag Slabs, Heron, Bleak How, Fat Charlies, Goat, Grange, Shepherds, Reecastle, Little Goat and Castle Rock.The route list was what I was happy to solo and what was clean. Starting on Central Buttress was a mark of respect for Siegfried Herford, amongst many others who died in World War I, two years after his first ascent of Central Buttress.When I finished I had a bottle of Cumberland Ale at the crag with my mates. Then we went for another one in the Oddfellows in Keswick.The Lakes is where I was brought up and where I did most of my soloing. I feel at home and love being in the hills there. 80% or so of the climbing I did in the late 90s was solo, and most of it in the Lakes.I don’t enjoy soloing as much as I once did. But if I categorised myself as a climber, ‘soloist’ is certainly what I’d come under as much as ‘trad climber’.I’m a considerably more nervous and cautious soloist than I used to be, even though I was doing routes I could second in my trainers with a blindfold on. I was better at soloing when I was younger, but I’m stronger now. Although I’ve lost a lot of confidence I know I can hang on hard!I tried not to think very much. Many of the routes I’d done before. I concentrated on good balance and efficiency so as not to get too knackered.If I became nervous I tried to blank my mind as much as possible, as the moves for a very experienced climber should be done unconsciously. If I’m struggling when soloing then positive affirmation is next. If that fails I back off.You get more done and develop good technique when soloing. Also, you don’t need a partner - in rural areas where there are few climbers this can be a big asset.I’d not recommend soloing though. Although everyone who lead-climbs does it to some degree, there are always going to be moments when falling off is a very bad idea. Even people who demonise soloing will be in those positions at some points.There are very few soloists who have died due to technical difficulty - most die on routes that are easy for them when they aren’t concentrating. I strongly believe that driving is very much more dangerous, with many more factors that could kill you.Look at old pictures of Joe Brown on Tensor (E2 6a at Tremadog) and Pete Crew on Erosion Groove Direct (E2 5c at Carreg Wastad, Gwynedd). They’re as near as damn it soloing on hard routes in shit footwear. Doug Shaw, Ron Fawcett, Catherine Destivelle, Eric Jones, Pete Livesey, Ron Fawcett, Peter Croft. They all soloed a massive array of hard climbing.My top five Lakes ticks are:
Central Buttress, Scafell (E1 5b)
Bitter Oasis, Goat Crags, Borrowdale (E4 5c)
Troutdale Pinnacle, Black Crag, Borrowdale (S)
Overhanging Bastion, Castle Rock of Triermain (VS 5a)
Central Pillar, Esk Buttress, Dow Crag (E2 5b)
Adam Hocking had organised a few friends to come out and I was very impressed with his organisation and support. Adam, Simon Gee, Steve Ashworth, Jago and Richard, Henry Iddon, Maxine Willett and Nicole MacGregor - lots of people were around at various stages during the day. And Julian, a friend who stashed a rope for me.I don’t have any specifics plans for the future right now but I’ll see how I feel in a week or two.
James McHaffie is a BMC ambassador
Read more on his blog
READ: the routes list
1. Central Buttress E1 5B Scafell Crag
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