and the attitude that the leader shouldn't fall prevailed for years after bolts arrived. Remember, the people that put these routes up are those old guys you see at the gym who always maintain three points of contact with the wall and never move faster than a reptile in winter. Their whole approach was based around the reliable, soundly-executed climbing sequence, not the powerscream and dyno through the crux approach. It is the change in values from 'the leader doesn't fall' to 'the leader falls more often than not' that makes old school routes seem dangerous. Play your old school cards right though and if nothing else next time you dyno through the crux on a steep and epicly-hard modern route to find yourself toxicly pumped on the final vertical headwall and about to blow your onsight, you will be able to channel the death-route fear and trick yourself into not being allowed to fall. Hold on. Let’s play pretend you’re the first ascensionist. The old guys will be quick to proclaim “onsight is the best style”, but they are often a little more reticent about what “best style” they did many of their climbs in. When it comes to something scary, chances are they pre-inspected it, they might have top-roped it before leading or even yo-yoed to work it with lower risk. Rap into the route, clean the spider webs from the holds and check the bolts and supplementary gear placements. You might find that although it looks run-out from the ground the hard bits are all protected by the bolts and the climbing between the bolts is actually a lot easier (those old guys had some cunning). Downclimbing is not a dirty word. Try old school routes at a grade where you know you have something in reserve and are solid. This doesn't mean usually-redpoints-within five-tries solid, it means usually-onsights-and-can-downclimb-outof-danger-or-difficulty solid. Assessing danger on the fly, retreating to stances, knowing when to go for it, these are critical tools in the climber’s kit. Superhero yourself. Finally, if the route is still a scary proposition even after preinspection, cleaning and top-roping, don't despair, you'll feel a lot braver once you've donned a pair of lycra tights. It's no coincidence that superheroes wear lycra.
RIGHT: A real character of the era, apparently the perfectionist Bill McLeod saved his best tights for the hardest ascents. Here he is on the mega-slab Adios Gringos (25) at Castle Hill proving the tights were only a part of his finest ensembles, each costume item is clearly chosen with deliberate care. Simon Middlemass