Chris Sharma

Chris Sharma

Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1981-04-23) April 23, 1981 Santa Cruz, California
Occupation	Rock climber
Height	6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m)[1]
Weight	165 pounds (75 kg)[1]
Climbing career
Highest grade	Redpoint: 5.15c (9b+) On-sight: 5.14b (8c) Bouldering: V15 (8C)
Medal record IFSC World Championships 1997 Paris Lead

Chris Sharma climbing in Yangshuo, China

Chris Omprakash Sharma (born April 23, 1981) is an American rock climber. In 2007, NPR wrote that Sharma had been described as the world's best rock climber.^[2]

History

Sharma was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, the son of Gita Jahn and Bob Sharma. He started rock climbing when he was 12^[3] at the Pacific Edge climbing gym. Sharma went to Mount Madonna school and attended Soquel High School for one year.^[3]

At age 14, Sharma won the Bouldering Nationals ∞. A year later, he completed the first ascent of Necessary Evil 5.14c (8c+) in the Virgin River Gorge, the highest-rated climb in North America at the time.^[3][4][5]

Sharma then moved to Bishop, California, where he climbed The Mandala,^[3] a boulder problem graded V12.^[3]

In July 2001, Sharma completed the extension of the established route Biographie in Ceüse, located in the Hautes-Alpes Department of France and renamed it Realization, ignoring the French tradition that equippers and not climbers name routes. At the time of the first ascent, Biographie was widely considered to be the first consensus 5.15a (9a+) in the world. He has since established or completed many routes at or above 5.15 (9a+), including La Rambla and Es Pontas (a deep water soloing project in Mallorca). In 2008 Sharma climbed the 250-foot line (76 m), Jumbo Love, at Clark Mountain in California, claiming 5.15b (9b) for the grade.^[6]

In 2007 he moved to Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain.^[7]

The 2008 film King Lines at the Internet Movie Database follows Chris through various climbs throughout the world and offers his reflections of his past, climbing and life.

In 2013, Sharma opened his own gym Sender One Climbing, located in Santa Ana, California.

In August 2015 he got married to his fiancée, Jimena Alarcon.

Notable ascents

Bouldering

• 8C(V15)
  • Practice of the Wild: 8C (V15). First Ascent, August 2004. Repeated by Tyler Landman, Daniel Woods, Adam Ondra and Dave MacLeod.^[8]
  • Witness the Fitness: V15 (8C). First ascent, March 2005. A 40-foot roof (12 m) problem in the Ozarks. Repeated by Fred Nicole and Daniel Woods.^[9]
  • Catalan Witness the Fitness: V15 (8C). First ascent, January 2016.A tunnel-like, horizontal roof problem at Cova de l’Ocell, north of Barcelona.^[10]
• Other Famous Ascents
  • The Mandala: V12 (8A+). First Ascent, February 2000. Several holds have broken since Chris climbed the Mandala, including the crux holds. These changes have made the problem considerably easier, and it has been widely speculated that when the problem was first climbed, the grade was closer to V14.

Sport Climbing

• 9b+/5.15c
  • La Dura Dura: 9b+ (5.15c). Bolted the route. Made the first Repeat in March 2013 (Oliana, Spain). Currently the hardest sport route in the world together with a "Change" route by Adam Ondra in Flatanger, Norway. First Ascent by Adam Ondra, who Sharma was working the route with.
• 9b/5.15b
  • El Bon Combat: 5.15b/c  (9b/+). First Ascent, March 7, 2015 (Cova de Ocell, Spain). It was equipped by Martí Iglesias Galobart and described by Sharma as the King Line.^[11][12]
  • Jumbo Love: 5.15b (9b). First Ascent, September 11, 2008. First featured in the film King Lines as an unfinished line at Clark Mountain, this route is 250 ft long (76 m), and thought to be at least 5.15b. Sharma has called it his hardest ascent to date. In climbing it, he skipped up to three clips in a row due to the difficult sequences, which resulted in falls of 70 ft (21 m) or more. Repeated by Ethan Pringle May 2015.^[6][13][14]
  • Golpe de Estado: 9b (5.15b). First Ascent, December 17, 2008. Golpe de Estado (Siurana, Spain) is a direct version of Estado Critico (5.14c/d), linking a 5.14d start into 5.14c climbing with a poor rest in between. Repeated by Adam Ondra March 2010.
  • Neanderthal: 9b (5.15b). First Ascent, December 18, 2009.
  • First Round First Minute 9b (5.15b), . First Ascent, April 2011 (Margalef, Spain) Repeated by Adam Ondra.^[15] Repeated by Alex Megos.
  • Fight or Flight: 9b (5.15b). First Ascent, May 2011 (Oliana, Spain). Repeated by Adam Ondra February 2013.
  • Stoking the Fire: 9b (5.15b). First Ascent, February 2013 (Santa Linya, Spain). Repeated by Adam Ondra February 2016.
• 9a+/5.15a
  • Realization / Biographie: 5.15a (9a+). First Ascent, July 2001. Heralded as the world's first 5.15a upon completion.^[16]
  • Es Pontàs: First ascent, September 26, 2007. A deep water solo in Mallorca, Spain, it features a 7-foot dyno (2.1 m) that took Sharma over 50 attempts to stick. This climb, featured prominently in the movie King Lines, repeated by Jernej Kruder November 2016, and is speculated at around 9a+ (5.15a).^[17]
    

    Es Pontàs, a natural arch in the coast of Mallorca.^[18]
  • Papichulo: 9a+ (5.15a). First ascent. 45m route starting with four-bolt 5.13d to no-hands rest followed by continuous difficult climbing on blue limestone in Oliana, Spain.^[19]
  • Demencia Senil: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent, February 20, 2009. (Margalef, Spain). Repeated by Iker Pou Jan 2010, Ramon Julian Puigblanque Oct 2010.^[20][21][22]
  • Pachamama: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent.
  • First Ley: 9a+ (5.15a) in Margalef. First Ascent.^[23]
  • Power Inverter: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent, December 2010 (Oliana, Spain).
  • Catxasa: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent, January 2011 (Santa Linya, Spain).
  • La Rambla: 9a+ (5.15a). Third Ascent, 2006 (Siurana, Spain).
• Other Famous Ascents
  • Necessary Evil: 5.14c (8c+).^[24] When Sharma climbed this route it was considered the hardest climb in North America, despite Sharma being only 15 years old^[25]
  • Dreamcatcher: 5.14d (9a). First Ascent. A granite route on the Cacodemon boulder in Squamish, British Columbia. The route starts on a technical slab that wedges the climber against the start of the overhang. Then a dyno to a sloping rail leads to a bouldery traverse across slopers and incut crimps. The crux of the route comes at the end with a deadpoint to slopers and a jug. Repeated by Sean McColl in 2009.^[26]
  • Era Vella: 9a (5.14d) in Margalef. First Ascent.^[27] This is the most repeated 9a(5.14d) in the world since it was established in 2010.^[28]

Onsight

• French Gangster: 8c (5.14b). Onsight without chipped hold, possibly harder? Originally named American Gangster but renamed as a reference to Michael Fuselier, the French climber who allegedly chipped the hold. Hardest Route in China at the time.

Awards

• U.S. Bouldering Nationals^[3]
• 1997 UIAA World Cup - Kranj^[29]
• 1999 X Games - Bouldering - Gold Medal^[3]
• 2000 Wasatch Open Bouldering Competition^[30]
• 2001 18th Annual Phoenix Bouldering Contest^[31]
• 2001 Munich Bouldering World Cup^[31]
• 2002 Ford Gorge Games^[32]
• 2003 Earth Treks Roc Comp^[33]
• 2004 Earth Treks Roc Comp^[33]
• 2004 ABS Nationals^[34]
• 2007 Mammut Bouldering Championships^[35]
• 2008 Mammut Bouldering Championships^[35]
• 2009 Ilerbloc Open Internacional^[36]
• 2010 Earth Treks Roc Comp^[37]
• 2010 Psicobloc, Bilbao, Spain ^[38]

Filmography

• Masters of Stone IV: Pure Force (1998)
• Free Hueco (1998)
• Rampage (1999)
• Inertia (2000)
• Dosage Vol. 1 (2001)
• The Road (2003)
• Pilgrimage (2003)
• Dosage Vol. 2 (2004)
• Best of the West (2005)
• Dosage Vol. 3 (2005)
• Big Game (2005)
• Depth Charge (2006)
• Dosage Vol. 4 (2006)
• King Lines (2007)
• Dosage Vol. 5 (2008)
• Progression (2009)
• The Scene (2011)
• Into the Light (2013)^[39]
• Point Break (2015)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Sharma.

• IFSC profile
• Climbing profile