James Pearson has been exploring South East Asia for the last month and a half with his girlfriend French climber Caroline Ciavaldini. With a string of impressive sports routes already ticked the pair hit particularly good form recently when they visited the Malaysian crag Bukit Keteri which Pearson describes as ‘…world class and very unique. Bulging blank bellies of white limestone occasionally dotted with giant pockets and melting tufas make for very powerful and dynamic climbing. Routes are often bouldery revolving around one specific crux section but there are a few slightly more pumpy offerings, although they are the minority.’

James Pearson Copyright The North Face

Pearson managed a redpoint of the crag's hardest route Nix fuer Lutscher (8c+) and a contender for the hardest route in South East Asia. He described the process on his blog ‘It can be quite down heartening when the first time you try a route, you find it almost impossible to comprehend how you move to the next bolt. Gradually over time you start to understand the sequence and what the route asks from you, and as your muscles and mind start to memorise the moves, the magic starts to happen.’

Ciavaldini redpointed the very steep Mata Timur (8b+) which motivated Pearson to attempt a flash ‘Watching Caroline figure out and then execute the complex moves on Mata Timur was inspirational; so much so that I decided to try to flash the route on our final day in Malaysia.  Whilst I didn’t make it look quite as pretty as Caro, I was happy to climb fairly well – moving fast and efficiently, quickly dealing with the few mistakes for my first 8b+ flash!’

Source www.jamespearsonclimbing.com

James is sponsored by The North Face, Wild Country, La Sportiva, Beal, Eat Natural, Adidas Eyewear, Waxx Underwear