James Pearson


Quick Info

From: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Date of birth: 15th December 1985
Age: 38 years old
Hardest Boulder (Worked): 8C
Hardest Boulder (Flash): 8A+
Hardest Sport (Worked): 9a
Hardest Trad (Worked): E12
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E8
Hardest Trad (Flash): E9
Notable Partnerships
Caroline Ciavaldini

James pearson is an all round climber from the peak district in the UK.

Growing up, James established himself with fast repeats of many hard and scary gritstone routes such as Equilibrium, at the time one of the hardest gritstone routes around, as well as putting up hard routes of his own such as The Promise at Burbage North.

As well as climbing hard trad James also repeated many hard boulder problems. Most notably in 2007 he flashed three problems in the 8A+/B range Ganymede Takeover, The Great Shark Hunt and Schule des Lebens. At the time each of these was considered 8B which would make these ascents some of the hardest flashes in the world at the time though these problems have subsequently been downgraded.

In 2008 James courted controversy when he established The Walk of Life at Dyers Lookout and gave it the unprecedented grade of E12, suggesting it was harder than any other route in the UK at the time. The route is now considered E9, and on reflection James has admitted the route was not in his style which is why it felt as hard as it did for him.

After the controversy around The Walk of Life James moved to Europe and spent a lot of time becoming a more well rounded climber. Around the same time he met his now-wife Caroline Ciavaldini. Putting his training to good use James has now repeated and established a slew of hard sport and trad routes around the world. Notable ascents include many hard onsight and flashes in Pembroke in South Wales, a repeat of Dave MacLeod's Rhapsody at Dumbarton Rock, Jacopo Larcher's Tribe and the first ascent of Le Voyage.

References

[1] Interview with Tom Randall

[2] Interview with PlanetMountain, 2008 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-climbing-interview.html

Contributors
93 contributions since 29th December 2020.
2 contributions since 6th December 2023.

Quick Info

From: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Date of birth: 15th December 1985
Age: 38 years old
Hardest Boulder (Worked): 8C
Hardest Boulder (Flash): 8A+
Hardest Sport (Worked): 9a
Hardest Trad (Worked): E12
Hardest Trad (Onsight): E8
Hardest Trad (Flash): E9
Notable Partnerships
Caroline Ciavaldini

James pearson is an all round climber from the peak district in the UK.

Growing up, James established himself with fast repeats of many hard and scary gritstone routes such as Equilibrium, at the time one of the hardest gritstone routes around, as well as putting up hard routes of his own such as The Promise at Burbage North.

As well as climbing hard trad James also repeated many hard boulder problems. Most notably in 2007 he flashed three problems in the 8A+/B range Ganymede Takeover, The Great Shark Hunt and Schule des Lebens. At the time each of these was considered 8B which would make these ascents some of the hardest flashes in the world at the time though these problems have subsequently been downgraded.

In 2008 James courted controversy when he established The Walk of Life at Dyers Lookout and gave it the unprecedented grade of E12, suggesting it was harder than any other route in the UK at the time. The route is now considered E9, and on reflection James has admitted the route was not in his style which is why it felt as hard as it did for him.

After the controversy around The Walk of Life James moved to Europe and spent a lot of time becoming a more well rounded climber. Around the same time he met his now-wife Caroline Ciavaldini. Putting his training to good use James has now repeated and established a slew of hard sport and trad routes around the world. Notable ascents include many hard onsight and flashes in Pembroke in South Wales, a repeat of Dave MacLeod's Rhapsody at Dumbarton Rock, Jacopo Larcher's Tribe and the first ascent of Le Voyage.

References

[1] Interview with Tom Randall

[2] Interview with PlanetMountain, 2008 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-climbing-interview.html

Contributors
93 contributions since 29th December 2020.
2 contributions since 6th December 2023.

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Ascents

76 recorded ascents.

This timeline is missing some ascents where the date of the ascent is unknown. Use the other tabs to view these ascents.
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Esclatamàsters 9a Lead | worked 14th Mar 2012

James' first of the grade.

Condé de Choc 9a Lead | worked 29th Jul 2020
Ça Chauffe 9a Lead | worked 2021
Le blond, la brute et le manouche 8c+ Lead | worked 2011
First ascent.

References

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

Reverrence 8c+ Lead | worked 2014
Quello Che Non c’è 8c+ Lead | worked 2011
Lover 2.1 8c+ Lead | worked 15th Mar 2011
Excalibur 8c+ Lead | worked 2012
Hydrophobie 8c+ Lead | worked 2013
Deverse Royale 8c+ Lead | worked 2014
Bronx 8c+ Lead | worked 2015
Les Mollahs du Mur 8c+ Lead | worked 2020
La Ligne Claire 8c+ Lead | worked 2020
Mind Control 8c Lead | worked Mar 2012
Inuit 8b+ Lead | worked
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Juneru 8C Boulder | worked 1st Mar 2022
Ba-Boom 8B+ Boulder | worked 2020
First ascent.
Off the Wagon 8B+ Boulder | did not finish 2008

James came very close to making the first ascent, dropping the last move with his hand on the jug.

References

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

Master and Cifuentes 8B+ Boulder | worked 2020
Rocket Science 8B+ Boulder | worked 14th Jan 2024
Le Corridor Direct assis 8B Boulder | worked 2021
First ascent.
Steppenwolf 8B Boulder | worked 19th Nov 2006
1 session.
Vecchio Leone 8B Boulder | worked 13th Feb 2007
General Disarray 8B Boulder | worked 17th Nov 2007
I Shot Sarkonazy Assis 8B Boulder | worked 2020
Queen of Heart 8B Boulder | worked 2020
Mr Tom 8B Boulder | worked 2020
The Ace 8B Boulder | worked 15th Dec 2021
Infamous 8B Boulder | worked 14th Jan 2024
Keen Roof 8A+ Boulder | worked 5th Sep 2006
Ganymede Takeover 8A+ Boulder | flash 16th Feb 2007

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

The Great Shark Hunt 8A+ Boulder | flash 5th Apr 2007
Schule des Lebens 8A+ Boulder | flash 25th Nov 2007

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

Trice 8A+ Boulder | worked 13th Dec 2007
29 Dots 8A+ Solo | worked Apr 2024
Third ascent.

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

Monoblock 8A Boulder | worked
Devon Sent 7C+ Boulder | worked 14th Jan 2024
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
Bon Voyage E12 Lead | worked Between 1st Jan 2023 and 9th Feb 2023 E12
First ascent.

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/

Power Ranger E11 Lead | worked 2017
First ascent.

References

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

Rhapsody E11 Lead | worked 24th Sep 2014
Tribe E11 Lead | worked Oct 2020
Lexicon E11 Lead | worked 11th Jun 2022

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

Immortal E11 Lead | worked 19th Jan 2024
2 sessions.

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/

Le Voyage E10 Lead | worked 2017
Equilibrium E10 Lead | worked 7th Mar 2005
A Denti Stretti E10 Lead | worked May 2013
Parthian Shot E10 Lead | worked Aug 2023

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

Echo Wall E10 Lead | worked 1st Aug 2024 E11 (hard)
Second ascent. 8 sessions. Harder than Lexicon. Easier than Bon Voyage.

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

The Groove E9 Lead | worked 2008
First ascent.

References

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

The Walk of Life E9 Lead | worked 29th Sep 2008 E12
Bonanno Pisano E9 Lead | worked 2015
First ascent.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door E9 Lead | worked 2003
The Zone E9 Lead | worked 9th Nov 2003
Trauma E9 Lead | worked Apr 2007 E9
Second ascent.

References

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

Gerty Berwick E9 Lead | worked Feb 2009
Muy Caliente! E9 Lead | ground up 2011
Second go.

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

Is Not Always Pasqua? E9 Lead | ground up Dec 2013
Something's Burning E9 Lead | flash Sep 2014

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 E9 Lead | worked 24th Dec 2020
Fourth ascent.

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

Prisoners of the Sun E9 Lead | worked Aug 2023
Olwen E9 Lead | ground up Between 15th Aug 2023 and 1st Sep 2023
Second go.

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

Couilles de Mammouth E9 (approx) Lead | worked Dec 2023
Second ascent.

References

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

Shikantaza E9 Lead | worked 26th Sep 2024 E9/E10
Second ascent.

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

The Promise E8 Lead | worked Mar 2007 E10
First ascent.

Climbed with a single slider for protection and no pads.

References

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

Return of the Jedi E8 Lead | worked 24th Dec 2010
Do You Know Where Your Children Are? E8 Lead | worked May 2011
First ascent.
End of the Affair E8 Lead | onsight 28th Nov 2008
Point Blank E8 Lead | onsight 2011
Airdrawn Dagger E8 Lead | onsight 2011
Daddy Cool E8 Lead | flash Apr 2011
Dusk Till Dawn E8 Lead | flash Apr 2011
The Quarryman E8 Lead | worked
Elder Statesman E8 Lead | worked
The Power of the Dark Side E7 Lead | worked 27th Dec 2004
From a Distance E7 Lead | onsight Apr 2011
Strawberries E7 Lead | ground up 2012
Climb Grade Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade