Lead climbing is a technique in rock climbing where the lead climber clips their rope to the climbing protection as they ascend a pitch of the climbing route, while their second remains at the base of the route belaying the rope to protect the lead climber in the event that they fall. The term is used to distinguish between the two roles, and the greater effort and increased risk, of the role of the lead climber.
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations or indoor climbing walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. Knowledge of proper climbing techniques and the use of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.
Adam Ondra is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. In 2013, Rock & Ice described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondra is the only male athlete to have won World Championship titles in both disciplines in the same year (2014) and is also the only male athlete to have won the World Cup series in both disciplines.
Sean McColl is a professional rock climber from North Vancouver, Canada. In competition climbing, he competes in the competition lead climbing, competition speed climbing, and competition bouldering disciplines, and has won major competitions in all three. He is also notable for his outdoor sport climbing and bouldering ascents.
Katie Brown is an American female rock climber and early competition climber, who also made notable ascents in sport climbing, big wall climbing and bouldering.
Sasha DiGiulian is a professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing, sport climbing and bouldering. She won the gold medal at the 2011 International Federation of Sport Climbing World Championships in Arco, Italy, for Female Overall, placed Silver in Bouldering and Bronze in Duel. Sasha won multi-year PanAmerican championships and is a three-time US National Champion.
USA Climbing is the national governing body of the sport of competition climbing in the United States. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, they promote Sport Climbing which comprises three competition disciplines: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing, in elite, youth and collegiate formats.
Alex Puccio is a professional climber specializing in bouldering. She competes in climbing competitions and split her time between climbing outdoor and indoor. She finished third overall in the 2011 and 2013 World Cup bouldering competition, second overall in the 2014 Climbing World Championship bouldering competition, and has won the American Bouldering Series eleven times.
Shauna Coxsey is an English professional rock climber. She is the most successful competition climber in the UK, having won the IFSC Bouldering World Cup Season in both 2016 and 2017. She retired from competition climbing after competing in the 2020 Olympics.
Ashima Shiraishi is an American rock climber. Shiraishi started climbing at the age of six at Rat Rock in Central Park, joining her father. Only a few years later, she quickly established herself as one of the top boulderers and sport climbers in the world. Her numerous accolades include first-place finishes in international competitions, and multiple first female and youngest ascents. Shiraishi is featured in several short documentary-style films, and is the subject of the documentary short "Return to the Red" (2012).
Magnus Rognan Midtbø is a Norwegian rock climber, competition climber, and YouTube video blogger. He was born in Bergen, Norway. He retired from competition climbing in 2017.
Dmitri Sarafutdinov, also known as Dmitrii Sharafutdinov, is a professional Russian rock climber and competition climber who specializes in competition bouldering. He has won three World Championships, in 2007, 2011 and 2012 and one Bouldering World Cup in 2013.
Mina Markovič is a professional rock climber who specialized in competition climbing, from which she is now retired. She competed in the World Cup and World Championships in competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing, obtaining her best results in lead. She also climbs on outdoor sport climbing routes where she has redpointed to 9a (5.14d).
Jimmy Webb is an American professional rock climber specializing in bouldering. He is one of a handful of climbers who have climbed the boulder grade V16 (8C+).
Janja Garnbret is a Slovenian professional rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and competition climbing, and who has won multiple competition lead climbing and competition bouldering events. In 2021, she became the first-ever female Olympic gold medalist in climbing and is widely regarded as one of the greatest competition climbers of all time. She is also the world's first-ever female climber to onsight an 8c (5.14b) graded sport climbing route. As of 2023, Garnbret had won the most IFSC gold medals of any competition climber in history.
Anak Verhoeven is a Belgian rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and in competition lead climbing. She has repeatedly won the Belgian National Championship in lead climbing. In 2016, she ranked first on the IFSC World Ranking List. In 2017, she won both the World Games and IFSC Climbing European Championships. Verhoeven is also one of the strongest female sport climbers, and in 2017, became the first-ever woman in history to establish a new 9a+ (5.15a) route, Sweet Neuf.
Emily Harrington is an American professional rock climber and mountaineer. She is a five-time US National Champion in sport lead climbing, runner-up in the 2005 IFSC Climbing World Championships, and has made the first female free ascents of several 5.14 (8c/+) routes.
Natalia Grossman is an American professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She represents the United States at IFSC Climbing World Cup in competition bouldering and competition lead climbing. She won gold and silver at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships, and has 19 podium finishes at World Cup events, including nine golds. In October 2023, Grossman qualified for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris by winning the boulder & lead combined competition at the 2023 Pan American Games.
Emma Hunt is an American competition climber who specializes in competition speed climbing, and holds the American women's speed record with 6.67 seconds, set at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Bern in August 2023.
