Newsflash James Pearson makes ascent of What We Do in the Shadows, E10 7a
James Pearson has made an ascent of Robbie Phillips' What we do in the Shadows (E10 7a) at Duntelchaig, Scotland.
Jacopo Larcher and James Pearson sit down and discuss Tribe, a route that Jacopo made the first ascent of in 2019 and a contender for the hardest trad route in the world. James repeated the line in 2020 and believed it to have the hardest set of moves that he had done on a trad route.
Whilst Jacopo declined to grade the route, it's believed that the difficulty is somewhere in the 9a/9a+ region. Both ascensionists had previously climbed a selection of other outrageously difficult and dangerous lines - both of them have climbed Rhapsody (E11 7a), for instance. The pair talk about the differences between a first ascent and repeating a line, what makes the route special, and share their experience of the route.
Comments
Nice wee film that.
Whilst it's unlikely because of its logistical commitments, I'd still love to see someone else do Echo Wall. I feel like it sort of gets forgotten/sidelined in these "hardest trad route" discussions.
Though, I guess at the end of the day which is "hardest" perhaps doesn't matter too much. They're all great lines and their various ascentionists enjoyed the challenge.
It's difficult when they're both reluctant to talk about grades. Discussion of difficulty shouldn't necessarily detract from the whole experience, but I can see where they're coming from in that it shouldn't be the only question asked when someone puts up a quality new line.