01 Shane Ohly - Debut Arete E4 6a - Trewavas - 1994
During the winter of 1993/94 I was totally obsessed with climbing and would climb practically every day either outside, on my home wall or at Truro School climbing wall. The 16th January 1994 was a Land’s End Climbing Club (now Cornwall Climbing Club) meet at Trewavas and I met Mike Raine attempting this tasty little arête. He kindly offered me a chance on the lead, and all that winter’s training paid off as I made a seemingly overnight transition from a novice E1 leader to an E4 first ascensionist. Mike and I would go on to climb many new routes together. Photo: Mike Raine
02 Shane Ohly - Art of the Slate E5 6a - Gurnards Head - 1994
With the benefit of hindsight, this solo ascent of Art of the Slate was done for all the wrong reasons. Soon after I made the first bolt-free ascent of this controversial route, the first ascensionist claimed to have soloed the route immediately after leading it, and was suggesting that my bolt-free ascent was therefore worthless. I was annoyed with the criticism and I promptly soloed the route in response. I would go on to solo most of the routes on this cliff in the years to come. Photo: Gavin Slade
03 Shane Ohly - 14 Lives, 13 Souls E7 6c - Union Star Cove - 1995
A perfect golden granite slab stands at the centre of Union Star Cove and was an obvious line for a route, which I found compelling. Union Star Cove was where the Penlee lifeboat (RNLB Solomon Browne) was lost with all hands whilst attempting to rescue the crew of the MV Union Star in 1981. It was a major maritime disaster and 16 lives were lost. At the time of this first ascent I was under the impression that 13 lives had been lost, with the potential 14th being mine… the name makes less sense now! Photo: Shane Ohly collection
04 Shane Ohly - Frogs in a Frenzy E8 7a - St Levan's Wall - 1995
To local climbers, this line was simply known as the Leven’s Wall Project and was marked by a collection of insitu (hammered in) wires on this otherwise pristine granite wall. I was attracted to the line but once word leaked out that I was trying it, the wires mysteriously disappeared and another climber retrospectively claimed a ground breaking first ascent. With the insitu wires gone and the placements damaged, I went on to climb the route with side runners as I didn’t feel confident enough to make the second ascent on the remaining gear. Photo: Gavin Slade
05 Shane Ohly - Storms Over Africa E7 6c - Cribba Head - 1995
The debate about the grade of Storms Over Africa continues today with E5, E6 and E7 having been suggested. Originally it was graded E6 6c with a drilled peg providing some protection for the crux - committing moves which take the upper arête direct and on the left. Just at this point, it is possible to ‘escape’ right by turning the arête and I think this is the reason for the grade confusion. I had stood below this route dozens of times, staring up and wondering. Over a few visits I had bouldered out the lower moves, always leaving enough in reserve, to return to the ground. As my confidence grew the inevitable happened and I found myself more committed than I thought, after a high step, and at risk of barn-dooring off the arête… I made a desperate throw for the best looking crystal and held it. This was in the days before bouldering mats and it felt every bit like E7 6c for the ground up, onsight solo. After my ascent I removed the offending peg. Photo: Gavin Slade
06 Shane Ohly - Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre E5 6b - Truro Multi Story Car Park - 1996
It’s harder than it looks with all the holds sloping the wrong way and covered in decades of city grime. The pressure was on for a quick ascent as I could hear the police sirens approaching as I made the crux moves. We made a clean getaway! I’ve actually climbed dozens of tall buildings over the years, mostly as free solos. Some particularly memorable highlights include the Lloyds Building, Harrods and the Eiffel Tower. Photo: Norman Lomax
07 Shane Ohly - Fuji Frenzy E6 6b - Gurnards Head - 1996
Gurnard’s Head, with its strange black rock, is atypical of the popular Penwith sea cliffs that most visiting climbers head to. However, the superb climbing and quintessential coastal atmosphere of this imposing sea cliff make it well worth seeking out, with classic routes from HS to E6. In this picture I have just reached some nice huge holds after a long run out but still have the route's crux to come. Photo: Norman Lomax
08 Shane Ohly - Cribbs Cove - 1996
With so few climbers operating in Cornwall and many of my regular climbing buddies heading off to university, I found myself doing more and more soloing. In the summer of 1996, my friends and I developed many new routes around Logan Rock and Cribbs Cove. We forgot to record as many new routes as we climbed - such as the one in this picture - but had a great summer of adventure. Photo: Norman Lomax
09 Shane Ohly - Just Fits HVS 4c - Carreg-y-Barcud - 2002
The day spent soloing at Carreg-y-Barcud with my then planetFear business partner, Adrian Berry, is still clear in my mind. It was one of those stunning Pembroke summer days with calm, clear and blue seas, dazzling sunshine, fantastic routes and great company. Photo: Adrian Berry
10 Shane Ohly - Baslow Edge - 2003
The culmination of many years of soloing for both John Arran and I, was the completion of our 2003 mid summer challenge to climb 500 routes each in a day. We left Sheffield at 0300 and were climbing by 0400 at Wharncliffe, before moving on to Birchen Edge, Baslow Edge, Burbage North and finally Stanage. John climbed 536 (and could have climbed more) and I managed 502. We were both exhausted having climbed over 4800m (that’s 4 El Caps!) and averaged a minimum of one route every two minutes for over eighteen hours! Photo: Ian Parnell
11 Shane Ohly - Stomach Traverse HS 4a - Ravenstones - 2006
John Arran and I completed many mid summer challenges and in 2006 we decided to climb 'all the worse routes in the Peak District' as listed in the Esoterica section of the BMC On Peak Rock guidebook. We climbing sideways, up vertical rubble, through cliffs and up vegetation and our 16-hour day of climbing madness is featured in the Slackjaw DVD Hard XS. Photo: John Arran
