“I’VE LOST MY SIGHT BUT NOT MY VISION”

It was a full house at The Caban in Brynrefail last Friday when Montane sponsored athlete and GB Paraclimber Jesse Dufton shared his unique climbing story.

Jesse is best known for his trad climbing, becoming the first blind person to lead the Old Man of Hoy and on-sighting (we’re sure Jesse will pardon the pun) E3. He has also been on ski expeditions to Greenland and put up new trad routes in Morocco. Having the opportunity to listen first hand to the additional challenges he faces, the unique ways he approaches them and the humour with which he does so, made for a fascinating and humbling evening.

Despite being born severely sight impaired, his parents saw no reason to let this get in his way and climbing became a large part of his childhood. As soon as he could walk his dad took him climbing and taught him how to lead trad in Cornwall, this in-between many family trips to Fontainbleau, instilled a life-long passion for the sport. As he lost the little sight he was born with, he never considered giving up his passion and instead set about adapting how to climb without the use of his eyes. His wife, Molly is absolutely key, providing information on the rock in front of him via radio link and sharing the leads on multi-pitch routes. Sometimes, however, it’s not the route that is the hardest part of the day - the walk in can be a lot harder and can certainly be more stressful for Molly, who can see the sheer drops awaiting Jesse if he slips.

It’s fair to say we were all a little awestruck and very entertained as Jesse described how “dyno’s are out, for obvious reasons” and how finding belay stakes at the top of a route is “a bit of a nightmare”. For Jesse, every route is a trip into the unknown.

Thank you for Montane for arranging this event which raised a fantastic £250 for the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team and will be put towards helping one of our busiest UK teams build their own base.