Paul Pritchard makes first ascent of 'Jean', first trad lead in 25 years

25 years after the horrendous climbing accident on the Totem Pole in Tasmania that left him desperately battling for his life and subsequently hemiplegic, Paul Pritchard has made an utterly remarkable, totally inspirational return to trad climbing with the first ascent of a new climb close to his home at Hobart. The route is called "Jean", after his mother who passed away recently, and marks the first time Pritchard has tied in to the live end of the rope on a trad climb since his life-changing, traumatic brain injury.

Pritchard broke the news yesterday, explaining "Climbing with any disability is hard. With hemiplegia and only half your body working, it feels twice as hard. The fact that it was vertical made it harder again. Trying to climb a vertical face with one hand means that the rock is always trying to force you off. So you have to climb very dynamically."

The climb, though short, packs a punch but in all honesty the technical difficulties are quite simply irrelevant. Like so many of his other amazing achievements, "Jean" stands testament to Pritchard's indomitable, inspirational spirit. Planetmountain checked in with the man himself to find out more.

Paul, in that photo of you on the top of the route you look ecstatic! How much does this mean to you?
It means a whole lot. Prior to my accident my entire life had been about trad climbing at Gogarth and alpine routes in the big mountains. I was an adventurous soul before my brain injury and so I always wanted to get back (as much as is possible with half a body) to the cliff. Don’t get me wrong, sport climbing is amazing but there is something special about leaving the cliff as you find it, a lighter touch. So my favourite thing is traditional climbing.

Can you tell us a bit about the route?
It's at my local crag - 100m away from my house - I sometimes put my harness on in my kitchen! The cliff itself is called Devils Corner and is part of a 3.5km sea cliff near Hobart, Tasmania. It’s a vertical crack so it's protected with cams. However, I could only place these in places where I could take my only hand off. Consequently I had to run it out a little bit. But I made sure my pro was bomber!

We're sure you did! This may sound silly but... how hard was it?
I have my own grading system - the H grade for Hemiplegia - a brain injury specific condition where one half of the body has paralysis. It would be easy for you or any other climber, maybe 4 or 5, but for me my H grade was about a modest 7a, but 7a runout. And my spastic body does not fall well.

Hmm, yes... So what was your style of ascent?
It was my very first go at "headpointing". Back in the day I would climb very much onsight. Just walk up to a cliff and climb it. This got me into some scrapes especially at Gogarth where there is a fair amount of loose rock.

So in this case it was an interesting process, knowing all the moves. I even led it a couple of times on a top rope to make sure I could wedge myself into the corner and place a cam. Actually, I even invented a new move - The Bum Scun - sitting on a matchbox ledge with my feet dangling free whilst placing a Dragon Cam!

That sounds terrifying. How in control were you? Was fear an element?
When I get nervous my body starts to get spastic - I get a very big physical response to fear. Consequently, I have to meditate every day just to walk down the street without falling on my face - honestly.

That must be very difficult indeed!
I knew I had to be very calm to lead this route. On one particular move my spastic body wouldn’t allow me to bend my knee and I had to have three tries. Luckily the cam was by my waist. I meditated at the base of the climb and visualised myself with supple limbs. And then did it. Much like how I used to climb my hardest climbs really.

Paul we're deeply impressed
You know, sitting on top of the cliff, I had an incredible sense of déjà vu. It was as if I had been here before. And in a sense I had!