Chris Sharma

Chris Sharma

Personal information
Name	Chris Sharma
Nationality	American
Born	(1981-04-23) April 23, 1981 Santa Cruz, California
Occupation	Rock climber
Height	6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m)[2]
Weight	165 pounds (75 kg)[2]
Climbing career
Highest grade	Redpoint: 5.15c (9b+) On-sight: 5.14b (8c) Bouldering: V15 (8C)
Medal record IFSC World Championships Silver 1997 Paris Lead

Chris Omprakash Sharma (born April 23, 1981 in Santa Cruz, California) is an American rock climber. In 2007, NPR wrote that Sharma had been described as the world's best rock climber.^[3]

History

Chris Omprakash Sharma was raised in Santa Cruz, California, son of Gita Jahn and Bob Sharma. He started rock climbing when he was 12^[4] at the Pacific Edge climbing gym. Sharma went to Mount Madonna school and attended Soquel High School for one year.^[4]

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.^[4][5][6]

Sharma then moved to Bishop, California, where he climbed The Mandala,^[4] a bouldering problem graded V12.^[4]

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.^[7]

In 2007 he moved to Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain.^[8]

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, located in Santa Ana, California.

Notable ascents

• Necessary Evil: 5.14c (8c+).^[9]

• 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,^{[citation needed]} and it has been widely speculated that when the problem was first climbed, the grade was closer to V14.^{[citation needed]}

• Realization / Biographie: 5.15a (9a+). First Ascent, July 2001. Heralded as the world's first 5.15a upon completion.^[10]

• Practice of the Wild: 8C (V15). First Ascent, August 2004. Repeated by Tyler Landman, Daniel Woods and Adam Ondra.

• Witness the Fitness: V15 (8C). First ascent, March 2005. A 40-foot roof (12 m) problem in the Ozarks. Repeated by Fred Nicole. Daniel Woods made the third ascent on January 5, 2013.^[11]

• 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.^[12]

Es Pontàs, a natural arch in the coast of Mallorca.^[1]

• 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 at the Internet Movie Database, remains unrepeated, and is speculated at around 9a+ (5.15a).^[13]

• 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.^[14]

• Jumbo Love: 5.15b (9b). First Ascent, September 11, 2008. First featured in the film King Lines at the Internet Movie Database 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. Unrepeated.^[7][15]

• 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.

• Demencia Senil: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent, February 20, 2009. (Margalef, Spain). Repeated by Iker Pou Jan 2010, Ramon Julian Puigblanque Oct 2010.^[16][17][18]

• 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.

• Pachamama: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent.

• Neanderthal: 9b (5.15b). First Ascent, December 18, 2009.

• First Ley: 9a+ (5.15a) in Margalef. First Ascent.^[19]

• Era Vella: 9a (5.14d) in Margalef. First Ascent.^[20]

• Power Inverter: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent, December 2010 (Oliana, Spain).

• Catxasa: 9a+ (5.15a). First Ascent, January 2011 (Santa Linya, Spain).

• First Round First Minute (at least 9b (5.15b), grade still to be confirmed). First Ascent, April 2011 (Margalef, Spain).^[21]

• 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).

• La Dura Dura: 9b+ (5.15c). First Repeat, March 2013 (Oliana, Spain). Currently the hardest sport route in the world. First Ascent by Adam Ondra.

Awards

• U.S. Bouldering Nationals^[4]
• 1997 UIAA World Cup - Kranj^[22]
• 1999 X Games - Bouldering - Gold Medal^[4]
• 2000 Wasatch Open Bouldering Competition^[23]
• 2001 18th Annual Phoenix Bouldering Contest^[24]
• 2001 Munich Bouldering World Cup^[24]
• 2002 Ford Gorge Games^[25]
• 2003 Earth Treks Roc Comp^[26]
• 2004 Earth Treks Roc Comp^[26]
• 2004 ABS Nationals^[27]
• 2007 Mammut Bouldering Championships^[28]
• 2008 Mammut Bouldering Championships^[28]
• 2009 Ilerbloc Open Internacional^[29]
• 2010 Earth Treks Roc Comp^[30]
• 2010 Psicobloc, Bilbao, Spain ^[31]

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)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Sharma.

• IFSC Profile