James Pearson

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James' first of the grade.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CDOywd4FyEY/

[2] https://www.lasportiva.com/en/blog/post/james-pearson-talks-about-conde-de-choc-his-second-9a

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXtyTsxCTeI

References

[1] https://vimeo.com/33029521

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/02/8c+_action_in_turkey_for_james_pearson-67836

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/02/8c+_action_in_turkey_for_james_pearson-67836

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PdGxGy4H9A

References

[1] https://youtu.be/S_SmgaASssw?t=465

James' first of the grade.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/CakirknOYHd/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/C11-6JIN5hK/

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/DGOOAEXITSI/

[2] https://gripped.com/news/james-pearson-completes-long-term-bouldering-project/

[3] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGdoqNnIIkA/

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBShbXm2s-I

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2INJeANqS4/?img_index=1

James' first 8B on grit.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CXtsRyBopc_/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CX11GN2M0PA/

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2INJeANqS4/?img_index=1

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mFHAXYze_A

[2] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,6056.0.html

[3] Climb Issue 23, page 40

At the time the problem was considered to be 8B which would have made this one of the first ever flashes of an 8B boulder problem.

References

[1] https://www.8a.nu/news/8b-flash-by-james-pearson

References

[1] http://www.climbing.de/news/james-pearson-flashes-another-font-8b-36938.html

Schule des Lebens is a short, crimpy 8b on the Deliverance boulder. Due to the basic nature of the holds and most of the moves I decided that it might be possible to flash. I watched some friends trying the moves and planned out a potential sequence. The first move definitely looked like the hardest and I was incredibly nervous about pulling on knowing that the following seconds could mean success or failure. The starting holds felt really small and the necessary body position didn't appear obvious. I focused on what I thought would work, making sure that my feet were placed precisely before firing upwards for the edge. I stuck it and tightened up my core so I could move my feet. The next few moves went well and after a little bit of a fight with the last two moves I had made it to the top. My third 8b flash, fantastic.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2007/12/james_pearson_third_font_8b_flash-41442

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/letter_from_james_pearson_two_week_trip_to_ticino_in_switzerlan-676

The lack of toprope warm-up definitely gave me a little more energy, and I stuck the 7m high crux hold, though with far less margin than I would have liked. At that point, it's possible to have a quick shake on two very small but positive crimps whilst you prepare yourself for the next section, but I knew if I did that I would definitely get numbed out, so decided I was going to race the numbness to the top of the route and climb straight into the second crux. Immediately when I grabbed the first left-hand hold, I knew something was wrong, I couldn't properly feel the specific spikes under my fingers, and had to force way more than necessary to move my feet into position.

The next move is in my opinion,the most dangerous move on the route, and whilst significantly easier than the lower moves, it is still around a 7A+ boulder, with your feet high up and to the side opposing your hands on two side-pulls. Whilst falling off the lower crux is not to be advised, it is a straight fall down to the mats from an up-right position. The second crux, whilst only one and a half metres higher, is from a totally different body position, and would likely see you falling sideways away from the pads, possibly onto your back! I gave a lot of my remaining energy into controlling this move, and came far too close to the edge for my liking.

From this point the climbing becomes slightly easier with every passing move, and I’d never really considered the possibility of falling from up there. It comes as no surprise that with little feeling in your fingers you waste a lot of energy in over-controlling every hold, and I found myself in the hellish position of being both pumped, and numb, and getting worse by the second. Moves that should have been easy static pulls became focused lunges, and for the first time in many years I thought about what falling off from here might feel like! [2]

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wKNt8B1p1s

[2] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-repeats-bernd-zangerl-huge-highball-29dots-valle-dell-orco-italy.html

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPxKLP2eDo

Using a different sequence

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/more-glory-for-teenage-cover-boy.1922/

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2INJeANqS4/?img_index=1

I loved the process, unlocking the puzzle, & I also feel grateful to have found such a wonderful hard line. I've spent years searching for really hard trad routes & I know how rare they are. Rarer than hard sport lines because you need not only the holds, but also protection. And where there's gear, there are often big holds, making them easier. Bon Voyage feels like a miracle in that it has an 'only-just-there' improbable line of tiny bullet hard sandstone holds, with only just enough gear to make it safe and justifiable.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CocodAqofQ5/

[2] Interview on the Lattice Training Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/3rLiVqJKDnQbxY9fGeoGxK

[3] Careless Talk Climbing - Episode 75: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2HAuDaq2kSHM6L7vdDu6uu

[4] https://gripped.com/news/why-james-pearson-says-bon-voyage-is-e12/

Pearson initially tried the route in 2008, failed to do it, criticised the independence the line and questioned its difficulty, whilst defending the proposed E12 grade of his own route The Walk of Life (E9).

James' ascent is all the more poignant following the public scrutiny he came under due to comments made about the route in 2008, where he questioned the difficulty of Rhapsody in comparison to his first ascent of Walk of Life in Devon, initially graded E12 7a but subsequently downgraded to E9 6c by Dave Macleod. Despite dismissing Rhapsody as insignificant and claiming it to be overgraded, James didn't manage to complete the route.[…]

James claims to have acted like "an arrogant, immature kid" and the consequences of his behaviour left him feeling uncomfortable in the knowledge that he was concealing an unresolved issue. For his wife Caroline, the unfinished business of Rhapsody - "a route that I had tried just before leaving the UK, had failed on, and to make matters worse had openly criticized rather than accepting defeat" - appeared to be the underlying issue.

Regarding the difficulty of the the route, James now claims that "Rhapsody is hard, it's really hard in fact, and a giant step up from any Trad route I have done before."[2]

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/tU-_hozN1v/

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2014/09/rhapsody_e11_7a_repeat_for_james_pearson-69194

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CXJpIeVoW2j/

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/10/second_ascent_of_tribe_-worlds_hardest_trad_route-_by_james_pearson-72593

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CjQhBBGoGrI/

Prior to making the successful ascent James made a very impressive attempt after an abseil inspection, getting established on the headwall but taking the lob after getting tired from misreading the lower moves out of the break.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2022/06/james_pearson_climbs_lexicon_e11_7a-73070

Despite the difficult weather conditions, I had a wonderful day up there. The situation of Maidens Bluff, high up on the bank overlooking the North Sea is pretty spectacular, but what made the day really special was everybody rallying together and having a good time. As a teenager, I had a poster of Neil Gresham, climbing Equilibrium in my bedroom, and Steve McClure is, well, he is Steve McClure. It’s obviously pretty cool to get to climb with some of your childhood heroes, but more importantly than that just like Chris Hudgins, they are simply really great people. That makes all the difference on the day. [1]

James suggested it was easier than E11 without proposing a specific grade. [3]

References

[1] https://www.climber.co.uk/news/james-pearson-makes-second-ascent-of-immortal-north-york-moors/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2XjOK-NPCS/

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2abcTWtoJz/?img_index=1

[4] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2cvx-lNEqZ/

The long awaited second ascent.

Over the days to come, I realised that linking things together would be a lot harder, but inversely my feelings about the protection gradually improved. It’s a very intimidating place to climb, and you often have to deal with less than perfect conditions. In general, it’s really easy to overgrip and waste energy on the route, and the key to eventually being able to link everything together was just spending time up there and allowing myself to slowly feel more comfortable and confident.

...

Apart from the bottom of the route being a lot wetter than ideal, forcing some last-minute sequence changes, and generally taking a lot more time than expected to place all of the gear, especially the aforementioned top cluster, which really tired me out by the time everything was in place, the lead went surprisingly smooth. I didn’t feel as fresh as I would have liked in order to make the top boulder feel relatively easy, but I also had a little margin still to give. [2]

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C-I5sSquqx9/

[2] Interview for Climber magazine, August 2024 https://www.climber.co.uk/news/james-pearson-talks-in-depth-about-the-second-ascent-of-echo-wall/

[3] Interview with Xa White for UKClimbing.com, August 2024 https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2024/08/james_pearson_on_his_repeat_of_echo_wall-73763

[4] https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_I19lHoCgi/

[5] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2024/08/james_pearson_shares_thoughts_on_echo_wall_suggests_hard_e11-73773

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2bdROeVsH4?t=458

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2005/03/equilibrium_gets_its_third_ascent-16083

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/B-9FM2vjWDg/

First trad ascent.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/05/a_denti_stretti_-_trad_8b+_for_james_pearson-68043

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CLCimhGFVUI/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwjIPP6oj1c

Notably James did not place a side runner in Brook's Crack and placed all the gear in the flake on lead. This is potentially the first ascent in this style since the flake broke. To facilitate this style, James started up the first few moves of Dynamics of Change so it would not be possible to place the runners in Brooks Crack. [2]

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CwdIroBtUpX/=

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2023/08/james_pearson_climbs_parthian_shot_e10_6c-73439

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jmQsLive7E

A very impressive second go effort. James tried it ground up and fell off, then went to the top. He did the route next go.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/DNGWAgfoFmT/?img_index=1

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/08/james_pearson_makes_ascent_of_what_we_do_in_the_shadows_e10_7a-74023

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2bdROeVsH4?t=20

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXosd-POHE

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIm8saj4Cr8

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxIhHb8TePA

[2] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-leads-the-walk-of-life-e12-7a.html

[3] Interview with PlanetMountain, October 2008 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-interview-after-the-walk-of-life.html

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2009/02/gerty_berwick_repeated_by_james_pearson-46075

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6ifxbMxU0k

James came very close to flashing the route, dropping the easier moves after the crux.

References

[1] https://jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com/2011/05/muy-caliente-e10-flash-so-close.html

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/12/italian_e9_ground-up_for_pearson-68605

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfBWM6LxP3M

Caroline Ciavaldini:

And yesterday, Something's Burning Flash for James. Ok, that was a very precise flash, I showed him every beta, every gear. I wouldn't have let him try the route without preparation otherwise, as the gear is super precise, and not wonderfull at all. Anyway, He didn't fall, flashing is first E9 ever!!!! Thanks Charlie [Woodburn] for having had the vision for such a great route!

Neil Gresham:

James Pearson's ascent of Something's Burning E9 surely represents the next level in trad climbing. Having been on this route, I'm just blown away that anyone could possess the strength, skill and nerve to flash it. Truly landmark.

Charlie Woodburn:

It's a very very impressive ascent. But I've gotta say that with font 8b strength I'm not really that surprised. Bold trad climbing has been crying out for someone to combine that level of strength with savvy tactics and serious ambition for a long time. I think its awesome that James has actually stepped up to do the honours. Respect.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2014/09/james_pearson_flashes_pembroke_e9-69151

[2] https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cl3_AgMo-RW/

Harder Faster always represented the epitome of what a hard grit route is. The climbing isn't too bad, but it's hard enough that you never feel in control and especially the style of the climbing, just being on those open slopers at the top. If something goes wrong you can't just pull harder to get out of the situation, you just hope it doesn't go wrong! [4]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/12/hard_grit_repeats_by_james_pearson_and_caroline_ciavaldini-72675

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CJVkwj-FiUr/

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gygJgiXGxOk

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYA6r86JALU

References

[1] https://www.climber.co.uk/news/james-pearson-repeats-prisoners-of-the-sun-e10-and-olwen-e9/

James gave the route a good flash go after watching Caroline Ciavaldini working the line, falling off the last hard move (though still with some tricky climbing to go).

I almost backed off from the middle of the lower (potentially dangerous) runout, but eventually made it through to the underthings and good gear that mark the beginning of the upper wall and crux of the route. I had a really good fight, using mostly Caroline’s beta, but having to freestyle a couple of moves that just didn’t quite fit me. I stuck the final hard move with a giant scream, but I was so boxed I fell trying to sort my feet out. It might technically be the last really hard move on the route, but the route is definitely not over at this point. There are still two moves to go before you get to the really good holds, and I think I would’ve surely fallen here, even if I had gotten my feet into position. Actually, on my next attempt, I was about as close as I could get to falling on these very moves. [1]

References

[1] https://www.climber.co.uk/news/james-pearson-repeats-prisoners-of-the-sun-e10-and-olwen-e9/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz6VtgEjqQg

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C0cFAfdNY8H/

I was still a little apprehensive about trying it on the lead, as a fall could have pretty nasty consequences. It feels very much like a Grit route, where it's really, really short, but there's only a small section which is particularly dangerous. However, you can very quickly do one move too many and go from feeling very safe, to suddenly realising that if you make a mistake you're going to hit the floor. [1]

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2024/10/james_pearson_makes_first_repeat_of_shikantaza-73811

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOe_pqQ8Auk

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIjOJiu-GHI

Just a couple of skyhooks. After hold breakage making the top moves harder.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2bdROeVsH4?t=283

Climbed with a single slider for protection and no pads.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbNm_qB016c

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10607.msg175969.html#msg175969

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hta8V7tPHU

[2] https://jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com/2011/03/return-of-jedi.html

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KABdGxanQLc?t=105

Flashed, having done From a Distance before.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KABdGxanQLc?t=65

[2] https://jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com/2011/04/point-blank.html

References

[1] https://jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com/2011/04/daddy-cool-e8-flash.html

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KABdGxanQLc?t=45

[2] https://jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com/2011/04/dusk-till-dawn-e8-flash.html

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CKjz6qzFLY

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2016/04/the_quarryman_e8_7a_for_james_pearson-70407

References

[1] https://jamespearsonclimbing.blogspot.com/2011/04/pembroke.html