James Pearson signs up to lead the Wild Country team for three more years!!
12th Jan 2012
James Pearson, one of Wild Country's top sponsees has put pen to paper and committed to the Wild Country team for another three seasons. 
James, one of the UK's top climbers has been with Wild Country for 5 years already, since his emergence as one of the brightest UK climbers in the early 00's and has cemented his strong relationship with this deal.
James will be not only helping to test and prove Wild Country's latest gear but representing Wild Country across the globe as he makes his ambitious trips to such far flung regions and Chad or Greenland (as part of the North Face team) as well as missions closer to his new home in France - and obviously flying visits to the UK.
James explained why Wild Country is such a good fit for him and why he chose to represent Wild Country:
"Being a 'local lad' born a 'stones throw' from the Wild Country factory in the Peak District it was an obvious choice to work with Wild Country. I am proud to be an ambassador for the brand and help with the testing and proving of their new gear. I am hoping to really push myself in the next few years and having the support of Wild Country (as well as my other sponsors) makes all the difference.'
James Pearson in 'blitz mode' on his Pembroke visit early in 2011...almost flashing Muy Caliente E10 7A
Richie Patterson, Wild Country Marketing Manager commented
'James has been an exceptional sponsee for Wild Country providing us with great feedback on gear as well as having an amazing appetite for rock which has resulted in some incredible ascents which we're proud to be associated with - I'm really happy that he's on board with us for the next few years.'
An Amazing Climbing History
Initially a gritstone maestro, throwing himself at E9's as a callow youth and getting up them; like The Zone E9 and Knockin On Heavens Door E9 James then proved himself in the Uk with a string of even more awesome gritstone ascents: The Groove E10, Equilibrium E10, Gerty Berwick E9, The Promise E8 - before moving one to some bigger challenges with The Walk Of Life E9.
And as well as this James was proving himself on the bouldering scene with his 'Raven Tor' strength and steely fingers getting him to the level where he added the classic Keen Roof 8a+ to Raven Tor then even managed the first ever 8b flash incredibly enough - it was easy to see his levels rising.
You can see James from a few years ago in the video below from 'Committed' by Hotaches'
An Even Brighter Future
However, for James this wasn't enough and he decided he needed more and some bigger challenges, and so in the last few years James decided to change direction and a move to Innsbruck led him to discover what 'euro-training' was all about - and humble enough to start over - he has added a new level of fitness and ability to his base level.
So in the last couple of seasons as well as now having the ability to polish off 8c's pretty quickly - read more here and see video - James' new found stamina and resilience has allowed him to start to take up multi-pitch challenges - which showed this year as his first big route Joy Division 8b fell.
James is now living in France with a host of big cliffs and limestone testpieces around so I'm sure we'll see lots of big numbers coming from him - like the 2 8c's he polished off recently - but there's more on the agenda than that and James is looking for more big routes and big walls to throw himself at.
So with loads more strength and multi-pitch ambitions we're expecting great things from James in 2012 and beyond and you can follow all his exploits here on the Wild Country website....
James climbing and nearly flashing Muy Caliente E10 in Pembroke early in 2011 - thanks to North Face for this film...
