James Pearson makes long-awaited second ascent of Echo Wall on Ben Nevis
Copia link
1 / 5
James Pearson archive
Doding the rain drops and the mighty Scottish midges, yesterday England's James Pearson made the long-awaited second ascent of Echo Wall on Ben Nevis in Scotland. The route in question was established by Dave MacLeod in 2008; at the time, the Scotsman did not put forward a grade, fuelling speculation that it might well be one of the hardest trad climbs in the world. MacLeod's ascent had come about after two years of preparation, which had included the free solo of the 8b+ sport climb Darwin Dixit at Margalef, before establishing Don't Die of Ignorance, one of the hardest winter climbs in Scotland.
Two years after establishing the world's first E11, Rhapsody at Dumbarton Rock, Echo Wall represented a unique challenge: 70m of moves up a huge arête, protected by marginal gear and an almost unprotected boulder at the end of the upper crux with nasty groundfall potential. To make matters worse, the climb was located on a remote mountain which provides only very few days of good conditions.
With all these ingredients, it is unsurprising that Echo Wall had received precious little attention during the last 16 years. What is surprising however is the speed with which James Pearson has now made the second ascent.
The 31-year-old travelled to Scotland towards the end of July and after sussing out the logistics of working the route on his own, quickly started deciphering the moves and checking the gear. He was joined by his wife Caroline Ciavaldini and two days ago he made a clean ascent of the route, with pre-placed gear and with the top placement backed up on the static rope. Yesterday, after just 6 days of effort and despite far from ideal conditions, he returned to the route and placed all gear on lead. Echo Wall has finally seen the attention it deserves, from one of the most experienced trad climbers out there.
More information about Pearson's ascent will follow in due course.
View this post on Instagram
