R.O.X. presents Climbing Partners James Pearson and Caroline Ciavaldi Visits Manila to Talk About Their Passion
The Philippines makes a great setting for outdoor exploration and Recreational Outdoor eXchange (R.O.X) has been instrumental in inspiring people to go out on these adventures by being a premium source for world-class outdoor products and equipments.
Dubbed as “Southeast Asia’s Biggest Outdoor Superstore,” R.O.X. culls a strong following for its vibrant in-store designs and its dedication to nurturing the outdoor community. It is by pushing for environmental conservation and hosting events that advocate various outdoor activities and sports that ultimately bond the community and increase outdoor converts.
Initially a component of mountaineering, rock climbing has come to be an incidental activity as mountaineers attempted more challenging climbs and terrains. And much recently, bouldering and sport climbing is slowly emerging as a flourishing sport in the country as national-scale events encourage more and more climbers from various regions to test each other’s mettle.
In line with its mission to promote various kinds of outdoor sports, R.O.X. is compelled to exhaust its efforts to increase public awareness on sports climbing/ bouldering and support the local community as it makes its mark in the international arena. As such, R.O.X. presented two sports climbing/bouldering athletes through a talk for them to share their experiences as seasoned athletes. Though relatively unpopular, the earliest records of rock climbing in the country can be traced back to the 1980s.
Working together for quite a while now, James Pearson and Caroline Ciavaldi are The North Face athletes that travel and climb together as much as they make projects together under the team “Once Upon A Climb”.
Caroline grew up on the tiny island of La Reunion amid the South Indian Ocean. She discovered climbing at the tender age of 12 at school and quickly began competing globally. For the first 10 years of her career, she focused on the Lead World Cup Circuit, training hard, traveling the world but climbing mostly indoors. But after realizing her dreams of competition, she has redirected her motivation towards outdoor climbing, regarding it as her “second life” as a climber.
From conquering On-Sight climbs at Mind Control 8c+, Spain, Aaron 8c, Turky, and Metaphysique des Tubes 8c, Synes, she went on to become one of the very best female Trad climbers in just less than three years, conquering Point Blank E8 in Pembrokeshire, Chicama E9 in Angelsey, and Chupacabra E9 in Pembrokeshire, where she is just one among the very few females who’ve climbed the site. Caroline continues to explore climbing as she obsesses over Multipitch climbing and bouldering where she equally excels on a superlative manner.
Meanwhile, her partner James Pearson grew up in the Peak District. At the age of 15, James donned his first pair of rock shoes and quickly started climbing some of Gritstones hardest and boldest routes. From conquering some of the world’s hardest traditional routes, James shifted his interest to include bouldering, sport, and multi-pitch, and is currently exploring the quest to climb hard rock all over the world.
Not an ordinary climber, James is known for taking things to a whole new level by conquering ascents like Muy Caliente E10. He was one of the first guys in the world to flash V13 with ascents of The Ganymede Takeover, Brione, CH, the Great Shark Hunt, Chironico, CH, and the Schule des Lebens, Chironico, CH.
Ultimately, it was when he met Caroline that he began taking sport climbing seriously – conquering ascents such as Escalatamasters 9a, Spain, Aquaphobie 8c+, Reunion, Le Blonde, Le Brute, et les Manouch 8c+, France, and Love 2.1 8c+, Austria among others.
Known for being such passionate climbers who’ve always lived on the edge, the duo will conduct a talk about why and “what they climb for,” to which the two were quoted answering, “For those special moments that make you happy years after when you think about them. This is about magic moments, where you don’t really know why things went so well, why you made it happen. These stories are the magic of climbing, that we want to share.”
An inspirational talk that aimed to motivate climbing/bouldering athletes to continue dreaming big, R.O.X. hosted the intimate gathering at R.O.X. Bonifacio High Street last February 15. Indeed, R.O.X., once again, went beyond what is expected from it as it strives to keep the fire of adventure burning among everyone.
Through the extraordinary stories of Caroline and James, R.O.X. was able to articulate the wonder of pursuing one’s dreams no matter how impossible or difficult it may seem – all of which in the hopes of inviting more and more people to discover that a whole new life is waiting outdoors if only they are brave enough to take the first steps.
Marking its plight towards promoting outdoor sports to a wider audience, R.O.X. will be hosting the annual R.O.X. Zero Gravity: National Bouldering Competition on March 22 to 23.
R.O.X. (Recreational Outdoor eXchange) is owned and operated by the Primer Group of Companies, Asia’s next retail giant. Develop your love for the outdoors, visit R.O.X. at the following locations: R.O.X. Bonifacio High Street (Taguig City), R.O.X. Ayala Center (Cebu City), R.O.X. Marquee Mall (Pampanga), R.O.X. Camp John Hay (Baguio), R.O.X. Ayala Centrio Mall (Cagayan De Oro), and R.O.X. The District North Point Mall (Silay City). Visit www.rox.com and https://www.facebook.com/roxphilippines for more details.
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