I’ve met a few climbers over the years and one with whom I always enjoy a conversation is Saxon Johns from Sydney, Australia. In his day Saxon cranked like a wild man and as hard as any climber in the land.
You wouldn’t know it by listening to him, he doesn’t blow his own trumpet. Saxon is supportive of everyone around him and puts others first. It doesn’t take long to get a measure of the man; he’s talented yet uncomplicated, he loves his wife and loves his life. He is a gentleman of the modern climbing era and a great example to other climbers. You can’t find a better man. One of his mates, Dave Hughes said this about Saxon.
You wouldn’t know it by listening to him, he doesn’t blow his own trumpet. Saxon is supportive of everyone around him and puts others first. It doesn’t take long to get a measure of the man; he’s talented yet uncomplicated, he loves his wife and loves his life. He is a gentleman of the modern climbing era and a great example to other climbers. You can’t find a better man. One of his mates, Dave Hughes said this about Saxon.
I’ve known Saxon for thirty years. In the last few years he's decided trail running and being with his wife are more important than climbing (weirdo!), but before then he was a psyched and gifted as climber particularly in the 90s. He trained very hard, and that showed in his climbing. Saxon is a good friend who has helped me through some hard times."
From getting to know Saxon it’s clear he is a good guy, but what about his climbing? He was clearly driven as a lad in the ninety’s and the naughties crushing routes like a sledge hammer. Other climbers watched him swing effortlessly from sloper to sloper. Zac Vertrees, a contemporary Blue Mountains climber, shared this of Saxon:
I started climbing in ‘95 and competed against Saxon in climbing competitions and would bump into him at the Glen. He lived just up the road and would run down in his thongs and climb my projects in them. He was super strong and a mighty smooth climber. He was very different to Garth [Miller]. The two of them were streets ahead of other climbers of that time and Saxon had a subtle competitive vibe."
Well that was a relief, I thought - I now knew there was bit of rivalry, a bit of competitive tension with his climbing buddies. Yeah baby, maybe there was hope for some dirt after all?
I dug some more but came up with squat. I thought I had come close when Lee Cujes shared the following, “I know Saxon very well and I’ll do you one better Dave and supply you with a word that sums Saxon up in my eyes; Cerebral.”
I totally got Lee’s one word explanation. Saxon was a focused climber tinkering on the edge of tomorrow who didn’t understand how to idle his engine. He was super psyched to climb and did not dabble in sex, drugs or ugly. He was a clean skin of send.
I came to the conclusion that Saxon Johns is a good egg, born to rescue sick puppies, make a million and give a bunch of it to the poor. Listening to the l-o-v-e that went out when peeps spoke of their time with Saxon, I even began to wonder if he would bolt a route for me? I’m getting distracted, so let’s raise the curtain on Saxon Johns and his show stopping, hard hitting, skin splitting, Centennial Glenn classic - Better Than Life.
Now folks, “On with the show!”
I dug some more but came up with squat. I thought I had come close when Lee Cujes shared the following, “I know Saxon very well and I’ll do you one better Dave and supply you with a word that sums Saxon up in my eyes; Cerebral.”
I totally got Lee’s one word explanation. Saxon was a focused climber tinkering on the edge of tomorrow who didn’t understand how to idle his engine. He was super psyched to climb and did not dabble in sex, drugs or ugly. He was a clean skin of send.
I came to the conclusion that Saxon Johns is a good egg, born to rescue sick puppies, make a million and give a bunch of it to the poor. Listening to the l-o-v-e that went out when peeps spoke of their time with Saxon, I even began to wonder if he would bolt a route for me? I’m getting distracted, so let’s raise the curtain on Saxon Johns and his show stopping, hard hitting, skin splitting, Centennial Glenn classic - Better Than Life.
Now folks, “On with the show!”
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Saxon has grown up (as we all have had to do) and has had to put on the raincoat of modern living; a real job, a hefty mortgage, and well, responsibilities. To his credit he takes it all in his stride and still gets out regularly as a Common Climber.
It was his birthday recently and I thought I would surprise him. I asked him to pen some memories of the first ascent of his Blue Mountains test piece, "Better Than Life" (32/5.14a). Without him knowing I asked a couple of his mates, James Holbrook and Dave Hughes to give their take on Saxon’s effort. Why stop with the ice cream? I ferreted out a couple of current shoulder popping rock god’s to share their perspective on this mega hard route to add icing to the story. I wanted to begin with Saxon’s take on his climbing Magnus Opus, "Better Than Life." Saxon shares his memories of the Climb: Centennial Glen was always a special place for me. When I first saw the Main Wall tucked back in the waterfall eroded cove, I was transfixed. For those not in the know, the Glen is situated below Blackheath in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. |
Dallas McMillan leading a nearby climb at The Glen called Burnie Crawley
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So it transpired that in 1995, with idling petrol drill in tow, I hand traversed across the horizontal at the top of the wall and placed a directional above a particularly blank section of wall in the dead centre of the face.
A short walk from the station and a stone’s throw from Mum’s holiday cottage, The Glen had already experienced its first ascent hey-day and was settling into middle age as a sport climber’s refuge from the sun and rain. Routes like Madge McDonald (25, 5.12b) and Trix Roughly (26, 5.12c) were test pieces for those pushing these grades, protected by some of the early examples of epoxied ring bolts.
Rainy days would often find keen climbers lobbing off these bulging routes, they became a bit of an indoor gym before indoor gyms opened their doors.
I had a number of party tricks up my sleeve, including soloing up Bernie Crawley (24, 5.12a) and down the neighbouring Nev Luvs Trix (22, 5.11c) and climbing Pass the Sausages (26, 5.12c) without bolts, which in this case involved clipping a fixed piton half way up the route.
Of course not all the fun was had down at the crag. Up on Gordon Avenue Mum’s empty cottage became a climbers’ den with sleeping mats strewn across the living room floor. Craig Morton spent one night swatting spiders that he was sure were crawling across his face and Peter Martin’s red wine and mushroom chunder was unforgettable too. Particularly memorable was the “graffiti” wallpaper in the bathroom with sayings like “Tolkein is hobbit-forming” and “Be a Lert, the world needs Lerts."
The project I had bolted in the centre of the Main Wall became a bit of an obsession for me. To find a line of natural and minimal edges, slopers, flakes and pockets up such a revered wall was very special. Over the course of a few days spread over months I coerced belayers to help and gradually worked out the most efficient sequence. With three tiny left hand pockets to crimp my skin was getting shredded and I resorted to a tactic I had read about in an army history book – the use of super glue for fixing skin together.
Saxon Johns on "Better than Life," one of the first 32/5.14a climbs in Australia.
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A few weekends into the process saw me tying into the sharp end for redpoints. One of the early moves was a big jump to a sloper and I found this low-percentage, so I devised a more static heel-toe sequence leading into the crux bulge. This bulge was a real piece of work - cranking onto the gently overhanging face from a pair of tiny two finger pockets to a tricky but unrelenting sequence continued up the wall to the anchors. |
As much as I enjoy the flow of climbing, no matter what the grade I have always been drawn to raw difficulty, to find out what I can achieve physically and mentally within the safe realm of sport climbing. So, I attacked this climb with renewed gusto, knowing that I wasn’t pathetically failing, rather being tested by perhaps the hardest climb I had been on to date.
Eventually, on a chilly mountains morning, I stuck that final slopey rail and continued through to the anchors of what I then named “Better Than Life” [which in time has settled at grade 32, 5.14a]. It almost seemed anticlimactic to have spent so many weekends of rollercoaster efforts to finally get the send! My fingers were more superglue than skin and ached, deep, into the bones.
With a failed fifteen day siege of “Punks in the Gym” (32, 5.14a, Mount Arapiles) still in my memory, it was great to succeed on something that I was obviously so keen on. Don’t get me wrong, the other routes I’ve completed since have been special, but this was a first ascent.
Being the first person to feel these holds and attempt the climb elevated this climb to a special chapter in my nostalgia tomes.
Appearing in the classic Aussie climbing video, “Comin’ At Ya Hyper,” the route had a PR make-over. The climb became more popular and I would often see it chalked up as I walked underneath the wall. Oddly, on all the occasions I have walked past, I have yet to see anyone on the climb, so maybe it hasn’t quite reached classic status - yet.
Every time I heard of a repeat I was stoked for the successful climber, particularly Garth Miller’s cutting edge onsight a couple of years later. And when I heard about local teens Ben and Lee Cossey’s ascents, I knew they would be names to look out for. Since then it has had a fair number of repeats that I have heard of.
When the video footage of the climb appeared on Youtube (best beta source in history) this year, I watched it with a wistful smile, “BTL” had entered the 21st Century. When I shared it to my friends I was blown away by all the positive comments. Others recognised how special this climb was to me and it meant a lot to see others challenged by it."
When Saxon sent me this text I was drawn by his reference to Garth Miller. I made some calls and found my way to Garth’s ear and this is what he had to say of those times with Saxon.
Garth Miller on Saxon and his climb:
Garth Miller on Saxon and his climb:
When I look back to when Saxon and I regularly climbed together he was a lot stronger, he did the routes faster than me, we were very competitive [Those two? No way. Lol. DB] and this environment set the scene for me, as the underdog, the chaser. Saxon propelled me forward to reach my own climbing dreams to be a professional climber. He was my motivation to climb “Better Than Life.”
It is a remarkable feeling to complete a new route at the edge of your ability and often it’s a memory you savour as a climber. You would want to after the friends, lovers and good times that you sacrifice to complete these things. Sometimes the achievement can become inflated in the climber’s mind after the completion of a first ascent. I sourced a friend of Saxon to give his take on Saxons achievement.
James Holbrook's perspective of Saxon’s achievement:
James Holbrook's perspective of Saxon’s achievement:
It feels a bit like a bridesmaid enviously describing a wedding of the past.
I recall belaying Sax on “Better than life” as a somewhat tricky undertaking owing to a number of factors: the difficulty, his technique, the snake, and the hypnotic hair.
Tricky, because it was harder than Sax let on, and something he may actually fall off, it was then approached with his trademark, nonchalant style – meaning you didn’t know he was going to fall until airborne. There was no grunting, screaming or carry on, just cheerful, focused modesty. All the grunting, screaming and tears were supplied by your humble belayer, especially when a brown snake appeared at the base of the climb with Sax aloft, it eventually slithered off but is remembered “fondly” whenever I/we reminisce.
I don’t think we, the spectators, really understood what we were witnessing. This was and still is an important achievement in Australian climbing. I’m no historian but I think it was one of the earliest climbs of that calibre in the country, and it’s great seeing that is recognised.
Because back then, with the absence of bluster, it was just part of hanging out with Saxon."
From a journalistic perspective I had figured this killer climber with a name like a Viking would strike fear into climbers and eat dragons for dinner. Instead the deeper I dug the more soul I found. I have a degree in theology, I have studied divinity and I started to think. “Could this be the Messiah – The Send God from Valhalla?” I needed to dig deeper and get Indiana on this guy. In theology I was taught to go to the source so I sought out a gladiator who had recently done battle with “Better Than Life” and her name was Leah Dempsey.
Leah Dempsey Reports on her battle with "Better"
Leah Dempsey Reports on her battle with "Better"
Leah Dempsey on "Better Than Life" (32/5.14a). Photo By: Simon Carter
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Better Than Life had always been a route I'd dreamed of climbing. It’s long been a test piece of hard Blue Mountains climbing, which involves long bouldery moves between brutally small holds. For some reason this had great appeal to me and I was eager for the day that I'd be strong enough to try it. I made the smart decision to try the climb for the first time in summer, and un-surprisingly the moves felt unimaginably difficult. I’d been warned of how bad the holds on this thing were but I just couldn’t conceive ever being able to string even a handful of the moves together (without blowing a pulley for that matter). A couple of friends had said in the past how much they considered this route to be very much my style, so of course it was a bit of a blow to the ego to be utterly shut down by it. |
I learned some invaluable lessons trying this route, most importantly that it takes more than strength alone to climb hard. This route taught me how to get creative with movement and body position, and what seems impossible at first can be achieved if the climb invokes enough passion and determination.'
Leah Dempsey on "Better Than Life" (32/5.14a). Photo By: Simon Carter
Leah’s recent ascent of the route sounded similar to most other climbers who had shredded tips and struck a deal with the devil to succeed on this thing or had found ethereal powers like Saxon did in the dark ages of sport climbing.
Either way, to stick and tick “Better Than Life” gives you something else (I am told), that being, a feeling of absolute bliss. The struggle is so intense, the pain so unyielding and the moves so agile that to make the chains is to find Nirvana – hence the name of the climb. What could be better?
Listening to Saxon share his mega send at the apex of his climbing career was a hoot. This man just loves climbing, enjoys everything it has to give and cares deeply for the people who play in high places. Saxon is the King of the Glen and a Prince of the Blue Mountains.
“Better Than Life” is a classic addition to the great climbs that criss-cross the sandstone walls, caves and aretes from Leura to the Wolgan Valley. Climbing them make us better equipped to face the day to day lives we find ourselves in. Those routes tell our stories.
The last words Saxon left me with from his “Better Than Life” experience was the following:
Either way, to stick and tick “Better Than Life” gives you something else (I am told), that being, a feeling of absolute bliss. The struggle is so intense, the pain so unyielding and the moves so agile that to make the chains is to find Nirvana – hence the name of the climb. What could be better?
Listening to Saxon share his mega send at the apex of his climbing career was a hoot. This man just loves climbing, enjoys everything it has to give and cares deeply for the people who play in high places. Saxon is the King of the Glen and a Prince of the Blue Mountains.
“Better Than Life” is a classic addition to the great climbs that criss-cross the sandstone walls, caves and aretes from Leura to the Wolgan Valley. Climbing them make us better equipped to face the day to day lives we find ourselves in. Those routes tell our stories.
The last words Saxon left me with from his “Better Than Life” experience was the following:
I wondered what would be next and would I ever find another climb so dear to my heart?
I don’t know Saxon but one thing I do know is that Denby (Saxon’s wife and climbing partner) would be hard pressed to find a better man and the climbing Community in Australia is better for your contribution. Merry Christmas mate. Oh, Saxon, speaking of Christmas, do you have a brother called Jesus by any chance?