Dylan Jones / Highland Outdoors

 www.djonesmedia.com / www.highland-outdoors.com

Trad master and overall crusher James Pearson rolled in fashionably late to the New River Boulder Bounty, and immediately sent the ASCEND / Organic project —a striking 30-foot, standalone boulder that blends the line between highball and free solo. The $1,000 cash reward was the cherry on top for James and his partner, Caroline Ciavaldini, who also nabbed the second female ascent of The Greatest Show on Earth, a 5.13a trad testpiece that was freed by Lynn Hill in the late 1980s.

I “sat down” with James on his way back to Europe to catch up over email and talk about their incredible trip to the New. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

James, congrats on bringing in the bounty on the ASCEND / Organic project! How does it feel?

Thanks a lot! It feels great, although pretty surreal. I never imagined I’d see my name on a list of bouldering accomplishments next to Jimmy Web… well, at least not now; I’m getting old!

How did you hear about the Boulder Bounty? Did you travel to the New specifically to compete in the competition?

I heard about the Boulder bounty from Mike Williams earlier this year when we were contemplating returning to the New for some more of its world-class trad. The original plan was to bring Toru Nakajima with us, and Mike mentioned the Boulder Bounty for him as a way to offset the cost of his trip. Sadly, Toru never made it out, but we still decided to head up to the New after sending my project near Chattanooga. The Boulder Bounty was never on my mind, but after seeing that the big highball project still remained, I became curious.

What are your thoughts on the Boulder Bounty? What was unique about it?

I thought the Boulder Bounty was a really smart way to take Bouldering in the New to where you want it to be. The New has two huge assets: the first being practically unlimited, barely touched bouldering potential; the second being a super motivated and community of local climbers, all committed to the development of the area they love. Add to that some bounty from a collection of great partners, and you have a recipe to entice climbers from all across the states  to come and develop some cutting edge boulders and put NRG bouldering on the map.

Have you climbed at the New River Gorge before? What were your thoughts on the bouldering in West Virginia?

Yeah, we first visited the NRG this February looking for hard, new trad routes. Caroline and myself spent a week hiking around picking off some of the obvious projects, but I knew we had barely scratched the surface. [That list includes Eye of the Beholder (5.13d R), Not Just a Pretty Face (5.13d R),and The Irrelevance of Everything (5.14a R) – Ed.] We decided to come back later in the year to hopefully make the most of the crisp autumn conditions, and to climb some of the other great looking routes you guys have. I’d looked briefly through the immense bouldering guide and secretly hoped to be able to check some of it out. I love bouldering and, once upon a time, it was even my main focus, but Caro has never been the biggest fan. Luckily for us, the weather was perfect—almost too perfect—and some days were just too cold to climb routes. We got out bouldering a couple of times to places like the Meadow and Cotton Top, as well as obviously down in the dries, and Caro had an awesome time!  I guess that says it all about the quality of the rock you guys have over there!

I think it’s safe to say that you showed up as a dark horse in this competition. Would you describe yourself as a boulderer?

I wouldn’t have even considered myself in the race, but I’ll be the first to sign up for a ridiculous plan and this one fit the bill perfectly. I bouldered a lot when I was younger, but somehow I always found myself moving back to trad. I still boulder from time to time to try to keep in shape for my trad projects, but as long as I can boulder V11 fairly comfortably, that’s more than enough for all the routes I’m doing with a rope.

Some of the world’s strongest boulderers weren’t able to take that project down. Do your think your experience as a trad climber gave you the edge on this one?

I like to think that they were all being nice, and leaving it for someone like me…  they sure did have plenty of other shorter things to go at. But, realistically, I think it was due to several factors. The long walk in meant it was pretty hard to get enough pads down there unless the whole group was motivated (or you have a loving wife). The first few days of the comp seemed fairly hot and humid, so I imagine those tiny crimps would have felt even worse when Jimmy first tried it. Perhaps he wanted to save his skin and come back to it later, and then… well… once he had $5,000 in his pocket [Jimmy Webb sent five of the projects, resulting in a cash prize of 5K—Ed.], maybe it didn’t seem so important any more?  I’m sure there are also a ton of strong climbers capable of sending that thing that just wouldn’t take the risk, and that’s totally cool. I grew up doing bold, dangerous routes where falling was not an option. I deal fairly well with the fear and pressure of that environment, and, in most cases, I climb better because of it. I wouldn’t want anyone to go up that thing thinking they might fall near the top, or even acknowledging the fact that they might be nervous and shaky! When I climbed it I was on lock down, I knew (well, there is always a chance) that I would be fine at the top.

What was your process with this ascent? Did you work any of the moves before your send attempt? How many attempts did you make on this line? What was the crux of the line? How was the top out?

When I realized that boulder was still unclimbed, I was curious to check it out, so I ran down to the Dries one rainy evening with a rope and some loose directions from Mike Williams hoping to take a look. The top was fairly easy, if a little committing with a very high heelhook, but the holds just below were very small. It was hard to get in place due to the steepness of the face, but I managed to get an idea of a sequence that might work before I franticly pulled my rope and started the journey back. Mike had joked with me that I’d have an adventure down there, and sure as sure, he was right!  

Regarding the actual ascent, Caro and I made an epic hour-and-a-half-long slog through the river boulders with as many pads as we could carry. We made it with five pads, including a Mondo, so I was fairly happy, but she still had to move them around a little while I climbed. I warmed up by climbing the bottom a few times and checked out the last moves once again on a rope, conscious of the sun moving on to the face and so rushing as much as possible. I made my first real try from the floor and, to my surprise, passed the crux and stuck the jug. After a couple of minutes chilling on the jug trying to get some feeling back in my numb fingers, I set off for the last boulder moves to the top. There is a perfect jug just up and left, so the actual top out is pretty chill,

This boulder blends the line between highball and free solo. How do you view this line? Should it have a few bolts added, or should it remain a highball boulder?  

In my opinion, this boulder is a bit too high to be considered a highball. My definition of highball boulder is one where, although you might be scared, and although you might have to be careful, you are still bouldering and that means you are OK to fall. This boulder is a highball to the good holds, and then becomes a free solo. It’s not a very long or high solo, but there are a few moves where you should really not fall, so a solo nonetheless.

Does it need bolts? Clearly not. Would it be better with bolts? I don’t know. Would more people climb it with bolts? Almost certainly. The fact that it’s in a river bed that is prone to flooding would make me steer clear of adding any bolts. Thankfully, it’s that river bed that makes it possible and justifiable as a boulder-solo, as that perfectly flat sandy landing is so easy to pad out.

Is this line a classic?

I think the line is pretty awesome, mainly for the fact it is the only way to climb up that amazing face. The first crack is a really unique feature and the upper boulder is really cool. The worst thing about the whole problem is actually the crux section, as the holds are a little painful  They are not especially sharp, just small, so you can’t really class that as a negative, but if they were a bit bigger you’d have a pretty damn awesome V8!

What’s the story behind the name “Dirty Sexy Money?”

I’d be lying if I said the $1000 wasn’t a motivating factor in getting on this thing, so the name refers in some way to my willingness to sell my safety, and my soul. Still, as I said before, when I set off for the climb I was sure that, save for some natural catastrophe or rogue eagle attack, I wouldn’t fall on the last boulder. Would I have ever gone down there if the bounty had been $500? What about $100, or even nothing at all? I’ll never be able to answer that, but I think by the time I was ready to get on the thing and make an attempt, it was no longer about the money, but simply wondering If I had it in me.

A thousand bucks for an FA isn’t too shabby. What do you plan to do with your bounty?

Oh, there are a lot of things to do with the money, and I’d like to say that I have something special in mind, but in all reality it will go into the same dark hole where all our money goes… never to be seen again. Still, I really can’t complain! $1000 that you never expected is awesome, and our money hole pays for incredible climbing trips around the world to awesome places like the New River Gorge! It’s an incredible chance we have, and we do our best to make the most out of it, knowing that it won’t last forever.

I also wanted to give a HUGE congrats to Caroline for nabbing the second female ascent of The Greatest Show on Earth—that’s an epic accomplishment. How is she feeling after that send?

She’s pretty happy. It was the main route she wanted to climb on this trip after first laying her eyes on it earlier in the year. She also got quite a bit more of a battle than she expected, so it’s always cool to finish off something after a good fight! You really feel like you have earned it.

What was her process with that route? Was it onsight?

She attempted to on-sight the line and both of us were pretty surprised when she fell in the roof. We’d imagined that the difficulties lay in the beautiful upper corner, but for her it was most definitely not the case.

Following up Lynn Hill on an ascent is a big deal. Does Caroline plan to come back to the New to get historic female ascents of any other classics?

Indeed, what a cool thing to do! I’m sure she’d love to do more, but Caro’s forte lies with big, steep endurance routes, and not with the tiny crimps and delicate moves of the New. She really struggles with reach in a lot of the routes, and is definitely not climbing in her comfort zone. That’s not to say she doesn’t love it there, and I’m sure we’ll be back in the not too distant future.

Thanks so much for your time, James and Caroline, and congrats on a successful trip to the New! We hope to catch you back in West Virgnia and wish you the best in your travels. Keep crushing!