James Pearson seems to be reaching a new peak at age 40, sending The Finnish Line (8C) and Legacy (9a) in Rocklands. Interestingly, the 40-year-old, who has one of the most impressive trad tick lists in the world, says he has almost stopped training and climbs outdoors just when he feels like it. Here is his story about sending the 9a route as a highball boulder.

”First, a bit of history. Dave Graham originally spotted this line — a ten-metre wall of immaculate streaked black and gold Rocklands sandstone — pretty early in the area's development. His instinct was to climb it as a highball: no rope, just pads and friends. For one reason or another he never got around to it, and some years later the line was bolted by ZA local Sean Maasch and offered to Fred Nicole, who began projecting it every season. After five years or so Fred was getting very close — he'd even fallen once after the crux — but had been hindered by injury. At the time the route was considered a “closed project", a practice fairly normal in certain circles back in the day, though much less common today. Then in 2019, Giuliano Cameroni asked Fred's permission to try it, and made the first ascent (with a rope) after three days of work. Fred followed just a few days later, and Giuliano insisted they share the credit, naming the route Legacy — Africa's first 9a. Since then Paul Robinson and Paige Claassen have also repeated it, also on a rope, but interestingly both noting that the line felt more like a boulder problem than a route. Paige's 2023 write-up ended with something like: "I can only imagine someone will boulder this someday."

I came to Rocklands this trip with a head full of highball ideas, and after sending The Finnish Line (8C) early on, started wondering what might be next. I spoke to Keenan Takahashi, who was working some other highball projects nearby, and after hearing what he had to say about Legacy I went to take a look for myself. Standing below the wall for the first time, my first thought was: it's big, but it totally goes.

Before I go further, I want to be clear: the way Fred, Giuliano, Paul and Paige climbed this isn't just "valid" — it's clearly the more sensible approach, given the height, the landing, and the fragile nature of the holds up high. Doing it without a rope meant a serious logistical mission: hiking in a mountain of pads, rounding up friends willing to stand beneath a fairly consequential fall, and committing to all of that in a place where getting injured would be a very bad idea. But Dave's original vision for the line felt like unfinished business, and it matched something in how I like to climb. Climbing doesn't have one correct format — it's always a mix of local ethics and personal preference.

The opening four moves are definitely the crux: small, slick holds with intense, snatchy moves right off the deck. I worked those out on the first day, then checked the upper wall on a static line. The moves above are more straightforward in comparison, but surprisingly sustained on sharp, fragile crimps — with the hardest coming right at the top. I had to find a compromise between efficiency and minimising any outward force on the holds to avoid snapping anything. The last move is the trickiest in this regard. The easiest way is a big drop-knee off the right-hand side-pull, allowing a static move to the final jug — very controlled, but if the hold went you'd fly sideways off the wall, well clear of the pads. I chose to climb it front-on instead, feet low, going for the top jug with the other hand. Slightly harder, but a fall from there would at least be predictable — hopefully feet first into the upper nest of pads.

On day two I went back up on my own and tried the upper wall above some pads, just to get a feel for being up there. I started climbing and jumping off, taking progressively bigger falls, letting the exposure become normal. By the end of the session I felt comfortable enough to know that if I could get through the start, there was a real chance I'd go to the top. A few days later — a little warm, but with a good wind — a group of friends hiked in every pad they could find and arranged themselves below. There was a lot of laughing and messing around while we got everything sorted, which was exactly what I needed to keep the tension low. I talked them through the sketchiest parts, told them there was a real chance the bottom boulder might take me all day — or might not go at all. Then I put my shoes on, pulled on, and climbed to the top. The feelings on the upper wall were exactly what I'd hoped for — calm, focused, and completely present. The noise from below only reached me on the top-out. It felt like finishing a sentence that someone else had started. Thanks to everyone that made it possible: Keenan Takahashi, Martin Käble, Ethan Pringle.”

Can you tell us more how you prepared for this trip getting this boulder peak?
Strangely, it seems like the less I train, the better I get! For example I didn’t climb or train at all this winter, I just skied, and when I came back to my projects in the spring, I sent a lot of them!!!

Honestly, I don’t really know what is happening. I was training semi regularly up until I climbed Echo wall a couple of years ago. After that I felt like I wanted a bit of a break so I took the summer off and in the autumn surprised myself by sending some long-term projects. I decided to continue the rhythm of just climbing outside whenever I felt like it, and doing other stuff when I didn’t, and it still seems to be working 🤣

I spoke to my Trainer Ollie about it and he doesn’t really understand the ear, but told me if the machine isn’t broken, then don’t try to fix it!

Radek Votocek has completed Gritty Shaker (9a) in Salzburger Land. This was the tenth 9a for the 24-year-old Czech who sent his first only 16 months ago.

Can you tell us more about the ascent?
Gritty Shaker is a beautiful, powerful and technical route on sharp holds, established by Austrian climber Jakob Kronberger. It is located in the stunning mountain scenery of the Salzburg Alps. It is about 25 metres long, and its crux is in the final third of the climb. I’ve been trying to send this project since spring, but it wasn’t until this weekend, when the rock was finally perfectly dry, that everything came together and I managed to complete a beautiful ascent.

Benn Wheeler and Noah Wheeler, with three 9A’s to his name, have sent Gateway (8C) in Mount Blue Sky. Little brother Benn doing his first 8C, after eight 8B+’, comments.

”It was a great moment sending back to back, we both did it in 2 days and had a similar progression. The boulder fits my style perfectly. We shared some beta but used a slightly different methods, as his arms are shorter. I’m around the same height but have 4 inches [10 cm] in wingspan.”

Matteo Marobin, with two 9a+’ under his belt, has completed Jungle Boogie (9a+) in Céüse. The 21-year-old sent his first 9a at age 17.

Can you give us the full story of the ascent?
After sending Three Degrees of Separation at the end of summer 2024, I wanted more: a harder, more beautiful, more iconic route. I'd become addicted to the process of working a route and to the happiness felt after the send. Living in Toulouse (3h30 from Oliana) and being quite a fan of Chris Sharma, Fight or Flight seemed like an obvious choice in my mind. I won't lie, I was immediately won over. To my eyes it’s the holy grail, but I knew it was going to be a long-term project: only 6 ascents since Chris Sharma freed it in 2011, and no ascent since 2018. Stefano Ghisolfi even concluded that, in his eyes, it was the hardest 9b in the world.

So when I went back to Céüse in June 2025, my goal was to send Biographie within 3 months before going back to university in September, but I very quickly realized I wasn't strong enough on two-finger pockets. On top of that there were already 4 people trying it, which I'm not a fan of. Conversely, I love being the only one trying a route because it's in those moments that I feel like I can build a connection with it.

So I went to check out Jungle Boogie. It's true it destroys your skin — I've never climbed anything so brutal on the skin — but I realized it was 90% crimps, that the moves were really cool, and that the effort suited me well: 35 moves all at the same intensity. Pure power endurance! And the cherry on the cake, I was completely alone on it! The story could finally begin. What's more, when I looked at who had sent the route (Adam Ondra, Sachi Amma, Stefano Ghisolfi, Stefano Carnati, Alex Megos, Nico Pelorson, Jonathan Siegrist, and Min Young Lee), it made me dream. I really wanted to add my name alongside those climbing legends.

I quickly found beta that worked well for me. The hardest part was definitely managing my skin: I had to limit myself to two attempts a day, take more rest days than usual, and do only short trips so my skin could heal. Since I quickly felt good on the route, I thought it would come together fairly fast (and I probably wasn't the only one to think so, since one day someone climbing a 7b to the left told me he was going home the next day and couldn't wait to see the news on 8a.nu). Well, it ended up taking a bit longer than expected. From mid-July to mid-August, I kept falling at the same move and started thinking I simply wasn't strong enough to do it from the ground. It took Yannick Flohé coming to belay me to finally get past that move.

On the last day of my last trip of the 2025 season, hopes were high. The only dark cloud was that a storm was forecast for the end of the day. I needed to time my attempt just before the storm to take advantage of the wind, but not too late either, so as not to get caught in the rain. I put in my run 5 minutes too late, and the attempt ended in a win for the weather — even though I'd finally managed to get past that last hard move. I climbed back down from the cliff in the rain, drove back to Toulouse overnight, and by the time I arrived for class the next morning I found out it had been moved to 4pm. In short, I really needed a vacation.

Back in Céüse in early June, I took a few days to rework the sections and improve some beta; the feel for it came back very quickly. I reached a point where there was no randomness left in the route at all. When I put in runs, I could control 100% of the parameters, and it's the first time I've reached that level of mastery. I knew it was just a matter of time.

This Saturday, July 4th, I finally managed to line everything up and put in the right run. I did have a small scare though, since my brother, who was filming, accidentally put his foot on the foothold I needed to reach the final jug. Fortunately, a "your foot" was enough for him to understand I needed that hold. I gave it everything and managed to stop myself in the final jug. The 7b slab that follows went well, although with only 3 bolts over 25 meters of climbing it doesn't exactly inspire confidence about falling.

Afterwards, we went to celebrate the send at the Crux with all the climbers from the cliff, and we finally drank the 1.5L bottle of Justerini & Brooks I'd bought the year before, in reference to the route's initials (JB).

Ana Belen Argudo, with 50+ routes 8c to 9a under her harness, has sent Volando Voy 8c (+). ”The route has only a few ascents, the firsts said around 8c 8c/+ but I think that compared with the others 8c’s in Cuenca Volando Voy it’s a solid 8c+ (in my opinion😊)” (c) Javi Pec

Can you tell us more about the trip and the most memorable ascents?
We spent two months in Cuenca because our van broke down and while we were sorting everything out, we decided to bivouac there since it’s a comfortable place, close to the city, where we can be completely self-sufficient.

During this trip, I managed to send also Bodhisattva 8c (+) and four 8c’s: Nuria (8c), Dioses del Pan Frito (8c), La Espada de Damocles (8c) and Punch on ire (8c).

Austin Hoyt, who did his first 8C+ last December, has completed Creature From the Black Lagoon (8C+) in Upper Chaos. ”Getting shit done!!!! Tried a bit on my first mission out here a few weeks ago, by the end of the trip I had done the moves but links were pretty minimal. Once I got back to NY, I couldn’t shake the feeling of thinking I could do it. Maybe it was silly but I said fuck it and booked a ticket back. It fucking payed off!!!! At the beginning of the summer I said “I’m gonna go do creature”, and then I did it. Pretty hyped on this one, feels like a new hard style unlocked for me! Plus, it’s way cooler in person!”

Can you give us more details of the story behind the ascent?
At the start of summer I drove out from NY and tried it for two weeks. At the end of that trip, I had gotten close-ish but nothing major yet. As I drove back home, to a competition I qualified for, I decided if I made money at the comp I’d fly back and try creature again!

A few days later I was on a flight to Denver! On my first day back Noah helped me come up with some new beta and the links got bigger. On my 7th day of trying it, I finally climbed through the crux and to the top! No punts! Excited to finish this one up as it’s not particularly my style, almost the opposite I’d say… onto the next project! Some stuff in New York and Vermont that’s gonna be next level dope.

Laura Rogora, who last Thursday onsighted her third 8c+, visited Valnerina this weekend, where she each day sent an 8c, as well as, onsighted 8b and 8b+. Over the last 12 months, the Italian has onsighted 13 routes graded 8b+ and above. Only Adam Ondra has a more impressive annual onsight ticklist in the history of climbing. (c) Marco Marotta

Can you tell us more about the hectic weekend and the most memorable ascent?
After landing back from Barcelona, Marco took me straight to Il Bunker, a new crag in Valnerina that he’s developing, to try a project bolted by Mauro Calibani.

The route starts with a sustained 7c/7c+ section before reaching the crux, where you have to fight your way out of a steep roof. On my first go, I figured out the moves and found the right beta. On my second attempt, I did the FA of GSF (8c) (Global Sumud Flotilla). I’d call it a soft 8c, mainly because, at least for me, there’s an active rest before the hard crux.

After that, I also onsighted Frankie’s Funk (8b+) (soft), Pink panzer (8b) (hard), and Sóle Amerigane (8a+ hard), as the light was quickly fading.

Pink Panzer was a big fight, as both the line and the sequences were much less obvious.

What about the climbing on Sunday? Were you close to falling?
M&M (8b) went quite smoothly. On Duroi (8c), I was lucky to figure out the right beta for the first crux, which wasn't easy to read. After that, it was more about resistance, with a few harder moves. Near the end, I chose the wrong direction and came quite close to falling, but I managed to recover.

Go shorty (8c) is a variant of an 8b bolted and freed by Cody Roth that adds a hard boulder after a good rest. Cody's beta was quite morpho, so I went straighter on the slopy tufas. I did it on my third go.

Alba Gómez Calatayud, who started climbing four years ago at age 21, has sent La Gioconda (8c).

Can you tell us more about the ascent and what is next?
I started trying it last week to get used to the style in Rodellar and the steep roofs, which is not the type of climbing I’m most used to. I struggled quite a bit with the first boulder, and I also fell three times near the top because of nerves and changing my beta at the last moment.

With the whole summer ahead, it’s time to keep fighting for it. Let’s see if the second pitch [9a] goes too.

Maël Musson, who did his first 9a+ this spring, and Ørjan Vaage have repeated Ride of the Valkyries (9a) in Flatanger. It is actually a mixed route where you need two ropes, put up by Leo Böe last year, since you need three cams in the 10 meter link up. Since several years it is forbidden to put up more bolts in the enormous cave. Vaage comments.

”This went down surprisingly fast. It felt like the Valkyrie boulder would be impossible with that much climbing into it, but today it felt as good as in iso! Super fun to climb the Valkyrie from the ground! Hard for me to say anything about the grade, never having done anything harder than low end 8c+, but it feels like a good step up from those routes. I used too big blue cams, one purple cam, and some nuts for the trad section. Pre placed.

Later Musson also did the second ascent of Adam Ondra’s Art of Flight (8c+) and here is his story behind the ascents.
”The goal of this trip to Flatanger was to climb the first part of Change,[Change P1 (9a+)], with the idea of eventually starting to try the second part in the coming years. Last year I was already very close to doing P1, but during my final attempt I had an accident in Change. Since the route is basically at ground level, I fell on my back while clipping the fourth quickdraw.

This year I felt really good on all the hard climbing, but whenever I had to put in real attempts, I would tense up as soon as I had to clip a draw. I was going into the route with fear, and it quickly became unpleasant and not very motivating. I soon felt like trying something else. Ride of the Valkyrie was perfect for a quick project.

It consists of climbing The Valkyrie, a classic 8c in the cave — with the particularity of starting directly in the middle of a roof, so you have to ascend a static rope to reach the beginning — starting from Nordic Flower 8b+ then linking the two parts through a crack that you have to protect with cams. This crack section isn’t really hard, but the last move is a small dyno that’s pretty scary because it’s quite runout.

The real difficulty of the route is that The Valkyrie is an intense 8c, with a first crux around 7C/+ bloc, followed by several 7A+/B bloc sections. When I was climbing just the 8c, I didn’t need to be particularly precise or clean: if I was fresh, I could simply pull a bit harder and everything worked out. But adding 45 meters of 8b+/c to get there meant I couldn’t afford to climb those sections “however”. I had to be exact, efficient, and not waste anything.

Even though I didn’t spend a huge amount of time on the route, the process felt quite long because it was frustrating. I kept falling on the same move, feeling completely fresh, with the impression that I was just waiting for the attempt where my fingers and feet would land perfectly on the holds. Usually I like long routes because you feel real progress throughout the process. In Ride, I felt like I could have done it on my first try… or not done it at all before the end of the trip.

During the last days of the trip, I managed to climb Art of Flight, proposed at 8c+/9a by Adam Ondra in 2013 but never repeated. It took me two tries; with kneepads, 8c+ feels right. This variation is really cool and deserve to be climb. I think it could become a classic👍🏻”

Stefano Ghisolfi, who in 2026 previously has done five 8C’s and one 9b, has done the first ascent of P.I.G. (8C) in Gottardo / Gotthardpass. (c) Jorge Diaz-Rullo

Can you tell us more about your first ascent?
I started trying Quiet Storm which is an 8B+ already established from Francesco Berardino, then I climbed another 8A on the left of it. It seemed logical to connect the 2, starting from the left, connecting to the start of the 8B+ and also addind another 8A called Rosa Maialino on the right, but with a good kneebar rest before. It is a long traverse, so fit my style well, and very fun.

What does the name stand for?
The name comes from the last section, which is called Rosa Maialino (8A) which means pink pig, and so the project was named project Pig at the beginning, and then P.I.G.