"'The Walk of Life' kept me on my toes. I worked harder for it than for any other route I've done. It was by far the toughest climb of my life, and it was a long and difficult trip."

A steep slab near the Dyer Vista Point on the North Devon coast provides the scene. It is one of the world's most difficult trad routes, peerless in terms of difficulty, skill requirements, and risk. In other words: Just right for a master of the trade such as James Pearson. So far he has mainly raised eyebrows by climbing extremely difficult terrain. Flash climbing extremely tricky boulders is a case in point.

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