Commenting about the difficulty on his blog, James said:

"HXS 7a explains as much, or as little as you need to know. In other money it is perhaps F8a+ to toprope and would be a fierce little offering with a couple of bolts – from the floor to the ledge it is slap slap slap, no time to stop and chalk! With enough pads and big balls you could possibly consider the bottom section a highball boulder, but the top of the route is pretty far from the floor and still has a tricky move. I chose to take a rope and place some (bad) gear..."

James has recently had a personal best in sport climbing too - with an ascent of the F8c+ route called Love 2.1 at the granite venue of the Zillertal in Austria.

James described the route for UKC:

"2.1 is the logical extension to 2.0, which makes a 90deg turn to finish up the line of weakness after the 20m of 8c.  2.1 continues directly up the wall, via a final 7c boulder, to a delicate slopey exit at the very top of the cliff.  The thing that made this really interesting for me, was how much easier Love 2.0 now felt than when I made my ascent last year.  A multi day and multi try siege, became a first try effort climbed in (relative) control.  Its nice to see how effective a structured training program can be, and puts me in good spirits for my return to England next month to try my project..."

James also flashed 2 F8b's on a recent trip to Croatia, his favourite was a route called Avatar:

"I was particularly pleased with my flash of Avatar, an amazing route at the steep cascade of Pandora.  Long and steep, no sneaky no-hands rests, and the crux at the very, very top.  If the pump finds you, there is no escape, and with an original grade of 8b/+, it was certainly a fight to remember." he told UKC.

Good luck with the project in the UK James... wherever it is!

VIDEO: James Pearson climbing Return of the Jedi - HXS 7a

You can keep up to date with James on his new website: www.realbigpimp.in

James Pearson is sponsored by Wild Country, Five Ten, The North Face, Adidas Eyewear