'Good climbers have come and gone, but the ones who have left an indelible impression on British climbing have done so with charisma and vision as opposed to raw talent. When Johnny Dawes brought this country its first E8 and E9, he did it with that touch of flare and finesse that made the numbers seem irrelevant. It was the stuff that fuelled our wildest climbing fantasies. His routes were more than just climbs, the Indian Face, Quarryman and Gaia are monuments that are etched in climbing folklore. Crucifix moves and wild dynos were compounded with tales of ladybirds, earth gods and planets. To call this man a climber would sell him short. When he's on a roll, Johnny Dawes can walk on air.

No one doubts Johnny Dawes' radical and unorthodox approach to climbing; the problem is that few people understand it! The 'nutty professor' of modern climbing, who thinks in patterns and moves in waves is also renowned for speaking in riddles. Even the most open-minded have been left baffled in the wake of his ranting. So the question I face in this month's edition of Masterclass is firstly: what exactly does Johnny do? and secondly, will it only work for him? I knew that patience, humility and a 'Beginner's mind' would be essential tools in my quest to find out. When we met in a coffee bar in Sheffield, I had no idea about where things would go. If you'd told me I'd end up in the Foundry being trained by him and improving my climbing by a grade within half an hour, I wouldn't have believed you. But then this is the essence of what Dawes teaches in his own Masterclass seminars, people just don't believe enough.'
--Excerpt from A Masterclass Beyond the Edge by Neil Gresham. 'Climber' Magazine January 2001

'...deemed by many to be one of the most technically creative climbers of all time.'
-- Neil Gresham's Training Tips Part 1: an Introduction to Climbing Technique
http://www.dmm.wales.com/dmm/pages/trtips5a.htm

Most climbers focus on building up arm strength and power, trying to keep their weight down and getting as many routes under their belts as possible in a bid to improve. But Johnny Dawes climbs on a whole different level. Johnny's most important climbing tool isn't a bulging bicep or a vice like grip, it's his brain.
 --Alex Wellings, Stratford Journal.

In a sport that never takes itself too seriously, Johnny was to excel at difficult climbs while always maintaining a healthy dose of irreverance. Despite his extraordinary ability, his gymnastic style and his ability to discover and develop audacious new climbs he has remained one of climbing's true free spirits. Never one to bow to convention, he maintained an enthusiasm for the unusual, the spectacular and sometimes the dangerous and (to many of his contemporaries) the unjustifiable. In a sport where 'control', planned movements and delicate technique are lauded characteristics, Johnny surprises everyone with leaps, springs, lunges and a fluid style that enables him to complete some of the most difficult and rarely ascended climbs in Britain.

'What I'm most proud of is the feeling that sometimes I'm completely in sync with what the rock can do, that it's almost as if it's asking something of you. It's like impersonal music - it's not written as music but some geological quirk has made it into a piece of music which, when you listen to it, makes you dance. And if you really pay attention to the dance, the harder the route gets, the more blank and featureless it is, the better and more complex is the message you get from the rock.'