James Pearson E8 on sight in Pembroke....
26th Apr 2011
James Pearson sent Pembroke standards a little higher on his first visit with his twin ascents of Point Blank E8 6C and Daddy Cool E8 6b.....
He describes his ascent of Point Blank from the rest on From a Distance:
"I surveyed the line of holds leading diagonally left and began to assess my options. When the rock on this cliff is free from chalk, it's exceptionally difficult to see even a few holds ahead of you, and so on-sighting comes down to staying calm, thinking quickly, and a good helping of luck.
James on Point Blank Ph Dave Simmonite....
After the first section of climbing on Point Blank, James arranged good gear and committed to the runout:
"All I could see were the double barrel pockets 6m above, and as my only other option involved staying where I was for an indefinite period of time, I decided on pushing upwards, a little blind but full of hope. After a lot of feeling around and a few awkward moments, I found enough small edges and slopers to reach the twin pockets. Whilst good enough to relax a little, they were not jugs, nor did they take any easy gear and so I pressed on until the sanctuary of the top break finally came – perhaps 10m from the last Friend."
With his recent surge in sport climbing fitness, Pearson thinks that harder routes are possble:
"When I viewed life wearing the blinkers of a UK trad climber, on-sighting E8 was something I considered as almost godly, but now I realise it is far, far away from what is possible even at this current time, let alone in the future. Sure, there are many E8s that I wouldn't dream of attempting in this manner, climbs that whilst perhaps technically easy, are so insecure and in a deadly place, that I personally can't justify the attempt. However, there are just as many E8s and above that are well-protected but physically hard, that become possible once one's physical level surpasses a certain point. You just have to be able to hold on..."
And on his Blog he described the ascent of Daddy Cool....
I set off with an idea of the sequence that turned out to be around 50% correct. The other 50% was made up on the fly, which was fortunately not too taxing as there were several good crimps where you could stand a lot of weight on your feet. After placing a psychological friend in a vertical flared crack, and having a mini-moment with an “about to break off crimp, I arrived at the crux. A series of 3 awkward moves, the last of which was the most awkward of all lead to the sanctuary of the mid height break and much needed gear. I calmed my breathing, climbed to the last crimp, placed my right foot uncomfortably high on an uncomfortably small edge… and 2 seconds later, I was safe.
Read more about James and see videos here...
