James Pearson repeats Elder Statesman at Curbar

Making the most of a short visit to England after his trip to Turkey James Pearson checked in on Curbar Edge to try a route he had attempted a few years ago: The Elder Statesman, the arête left of the classic Elder Crack which although well-protected offers some truly bizarre moves. The route was first ascended by Steve McClure in 2004 and at the time McClure used three ropes to protect himself, as can be seen in the video below. Steve Dunning made a quick repeat the same year but since then the route has not been climbed.

"When I first tried it a long time ago I could almost do it but failed" Pearson explained to Planetmountain "This time I was very surprised to find some moves a lot harder than I had remembered. It soon turned out that a crucial pebble foothold had broken and nobody had climbed it since. The weather was good so I had a few attempts on the abseil rope last Thursday, figured out a method, and then climbed it on Friday. Super cool, crazy double sideways slap... very fun!"