DAVE MACLEOD

elite multi-disclipinary climber

 

Dave Macleod

"I started climbing in 1993 at Dumbarton Rock and spent three years working my way through most of the boulder problems here. By age 18 I was repeating the hardest established routes in Scotland and started to open new routes of my own.

 

In 1998 I started studying Sport Science and getting an understanding of

how to improve more quickly. By 2002 I had begun to established myself as

an all-round climber, breaking new grades in Scotland in all climbing disciplines.

 

Since finishing my Sport Science MSc I have been climbing much more and working

as a writer, coach and lecturer, trying to push my all round climbing as far as it can

go. I currently live in Lochaber with my wife Claire and my cat pusspuss.

 

These days I continue to climb at a world standard in as many climbing disciplines

as I can, mostly climbing new routes. Right now you'll find me on Ben Nevis a lot"

 

The best place to find out all about Dave is on his fantastic website www.davemacleod.com where you'll find his blog, training notes, information on his latest projects, online shop and much more.

 

Dave's Climbing Resume

 

2008

  • July - First ascent of Echo Wall, Ben Nevis, 'Harder than Rhapsody'
  • March – First free ascent of Don’t Die of Ignorance XI, 11 Ben Nevis.
  • Feb – Free solo of Darwin Dixit 8c, Margalef. The first solo of an 8c.

 

2007

  • November – Repeated A’Muerte 9a, Siurana, Spain.
  • September - Repeats of hardest Lake District climbs; If Six Was Nine E9, Caution E8, Dawes Rides E8, Impact Day E8.
  • August – 1st ascent of To Hell and Back E10, Cairngorm.
  • July - 1st ascent of Ring of Steall 8c+, Glen Nevis.
  • June - 3rd ascent of Trauma E9 7a, North Wales.
  • May – 1st ascent of Metalcore 8c+, Scotland’s first 8c+ and hardest sport route –again!
  • February – 1st ascent of Sanction V13, Dumbarton Rock. Scotland’s hardest boulder problem.
  • February – 1st ascent of Isami VIII,8 Ben Nevis on the BMC international winter meet.
  • January – Ascent of L’Odi Social 8c+, Siurana, Spain.  

 

2006

  • September - 1st ascent of Bodyswerve 8c, Scotland’s second 8c and hardest sport climb at the time.
  • July - 2nd ascent of Divided Years E10 7a, Mourne Mountains, Ireland.  
  • April - 1st ascent of Rhapsody E11 7a, possibly the world's hardest trad route.

 

2005

  • Feb - 1st ascent of The Hurting XI,11, Scotland’s first XI.

 

2004

  • June - 1st ascent of The Gathering, E8 6b on The Cioch, Cuillin Ridge, Skye. The hardest route on Skye. 
  • May - 1st ascent of Happiness in Slavery, F8b+, Dumbuck , Scotland. Scotland's first 8b+ sport route.
  • April -  1st ascent of Snipe Shadow 8b, Glen Ogle . Working on several hard sport & boulder projects?
  • Mar -  redpointed Chronique de la Haine 8c, Ceuse . Second Scot to climb 8c.
  • Feb - Serre Moi Fort Font 8a+, Chironico , Switzerland plus three Font 8as. FA of Firestarter Font 8a, Dumbarton Rock.
  • Feb - 1st ascent of The Catherdal X ,10 , The Cobbler. Hardest Scottish winter route? F8c 
  • Jan - redpointed Vertical Limit M12, Uschinen , Switzerland in 5 tries. 6 other M10s redpointed 1st try.

 

2003

  • Nov - 1st place in 2nd Mountain Equipment dry tooling competition, Glasgow.
  • Aug - 2nd ascent of Too Fast Too Furious D12, Birnam Quarry in 4 tries.
  • July - 2nd ascent of Merchant of Menace 8b/8b+, Balmashanner Quarry
  • July - Several repeats & 1st ascents of sport routes; Solitaire 8b, Tolerance 8b, The Niche 8a+.
  • June - 1st ascent and then solo ascent of Hurlyburly 8b, Birnam Quarry. Hardest solo ever done in UK ?
  • March - redpointed Question d' Equilibre 8b+ at Ceuse and several onsights of 7c+.
  • Feb - Onsight 2nd ascent of The Demon IX ,9 in Coire an Lochain. Ist ever onsight of Scottish winter IX.
  • Feb - 2nd ascent of Happy Tyroleans IX ,10 in Coire an Lochain .

 

2002

  • Dec - 1st ascent of Holdfast E9 7a, Glen Nevis . Scotland 's third and hardest E9.
  • Oct - 1st ascent of The Fugue E9 6c, Arrochar, Scotland.
  • Oct - 2nd ascent of The Duel IX,9 Glen Coe, Scotland.
  • Sep - 2nd ascent of 'Evil Twin' Font 8a+.

 

2001

  • Aug - expedition to Italian Dolomites ascents of Squirrel's Ridge IX and Yellow Wall IX+ on the Tre Cime de Laveredo.
  • Winter - 1st Scottish climber to climb 3 ice climbs graded VIII in a single season.

 

2000

  • Aug - Onsight ascents of rock climbs graded E7. This is the highest grade yet onsighted in the UK.
  • Almost 100 first ascents of rock and ice climbs throughout Scotland at the highest levels of difficulty.
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