British climber James Pearson secures the second ascent of Echo Wall, the wild trad line on the north face of Ben Nevis. The 70-meter-long line, graded 8c, has minimal protection points, and the top crux is almost impossible to protect.
Echo Wall, the masterpiece of Dave MacLeod am Ben Nevis from 2008, is certainly one of the most demanding trad routes in the whole of the Kingdom. The minimal and unreliable protection requires an extremely stable lead climbing morale in view of the high level of climbing difficulty. This has James Pearson on August 1st. 16 years after the first ascent, he is the first climber to repeat Echo Wall.
Second ascent of Echo Wall: Report by James Pearson
I'm still in a bit of disbelief at the moment. Looking back, the experience was really enjoyable and this process from start to finish was one of my greatest achievements in climbing as I feel like I managed everything pretty well and didn't waste any time.
Looking back, I can also see how lucky I was with the weather up there, and although it rained often, it usually came at quite opportune moments when I needed a rest day or two anyway.
Infamous line
Echo Wall has a serious reputation, both because of the actual climbing and the danger involved, and because of the logistical challenges. It is for these exact reasons that I have not attempted this line before.
After I my own long-term project Bon Voyage in 2023, Echo Wall was suddenly at the top of my list of things to try and I started making plans to visit Scotland.
Echo Wall has always been shrouded in mystery and, like most people, I didn't know much about the route. Since Dave climbed it in 2008, to my knowledge no one else has attempted it. Although Dave wrote a lot about the route on his blog at the time, more recent information from him has painted a slightly different picture, making it hard to imagine what would actually await me up there.
The only thing I knew for sure was that it would probably be a huge challenge to even get there to attempt the route.
James Pearson
Positive first contact with Echo Wall
When I arrived, my first impression of Echo Wall was quite positive. I even managed to climb all the moves and all the individual sections on my first day of climbing and believed at that point that I could put the route together quickly.
However, I wasn't very impressed with the belay options available on the upper wall and found the lower wall really difficult to check out, and even there the belay was less reliable than I imagined.
Over the next few days I realised that putting the sections together would be much more difficult, but at the same time my feelings about the fuses gradually improved.
It's a very intimidating place to climb, and you often have to deal with less than perfect conditions.
James Pearson
Learning to deal with uncertainty
In general, it's really easy to grip too hard and waste energy, and the key to ultimately being able to put it all together was just spending time up there and allowing myself to slowly get more comfortable and confident.
I climbed the route eight times in total. The first time was just to attach a rope, the second time in the rain. On the sixth day of climbing I climbed the route lead. All of this took place over a period of two weeks.
Looking back, I see how lucky I was with the weather, especially after speaking to some locals who told me it was the worst summer they can remember.
All the rain definitely makes the lower part of the route a bit more complicated than it should be and means the upper part of the route takes a few days to dry out completely, but compared to the constant rain it could have been, I'm extremely grateful.
That might interest you
- James Pearson dares to rate E12 for Bon Voyage – Why he exposes himself a second time
- Nerves of Steel: Dave MacLeod repeats the trad route Lexicon (E11, 7a)
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Credits: Cover picture James Pearson