Chris Omprakash Sharma is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of Realization/Biographie, the world's first-ever redpoint of a consensus 9a+ (5.15a) graded route, and ushered in what was called a "technical evolution" in the sport. Sharma carried the mantle of "world's strongest sport climber" from Wolfgang Güllich, and passed it to Adam Ondra.
Realization, also called Biographie, is a circa 35-metre (115 ft) sport climbing route on a limestone cliff on the southern face of Céüse mountain, near Gap and Sigoyer, in France. After it was first climbed in 2001 by American climber Chris Sharma, it became the first rock climb in the world to have a consensus grade of 9a+ (5.15a). It is considered an historic and important route in rock climbing, and one of the most attempted climbs at its grade.
Ramón Julián Puigblanque is a professional Spanish rock climber specializing in competition lead climbing and sport climbing. He won two World Championships, in 2007 and 2011, three European Championships, in 2004 2010 and 2015, and one Lead Climbing World Cup in 2010. From 2001 to 2016, he participated in 16 seasons of the World Cup, winning 21 World Cup stages. He has also redpointed several sport routes above 9a (5.14d), and made the first free ascent of La Rambla.
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.
La Rambla is a 41-metre (135 ft) sport climb at the limestone El Pati crag in Siurana, Catalonia in Spain. Originally bolted and climbed by Alexander Huber in 1994 as a 35-metre (115 ft) route, the bolting was later extended by Dani Andrada to a 41-metre (135 ft) route, which was eventually climbed by Ramón Julián Puigblanque in 2003. While there has been debate about La Rambla's grade, there is now consensus that it meets the 9a+ (5.15a) threshold. It is an important and historic route in climbing, and is part of the coveted "9a+ trilogy" with Realization and Papichulo.
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).
Ethan Pringle is an American rock climber with notable ascents in sport climbing, in traditional climbing, and in bouldering. He has also been active in competition climbing, winning the American national competition lead climbing championships in both youth and adult formats, and silver at the World Youth Championships.
Alexander Megos is a German rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering and competition climbing. In 2013, he became the first-ever climber to onsight a 9a (5.14d) graded route. He has made the first free ascent (FFA) of some of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world, including two 9b+ (5.15c) routes, three 9b (5.15b) routes, and several boulders with a boulder 8C (V15) rating.
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.
Jakob Schubert is an Austrian professional rock climber, specializing in competition climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. He was four times World Champion and three times World Cup winner in lead climbing. In August 2021, he won bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. As of the end of 2022, Schubert had won the most men's IFSC gold medals of any male competition climber in history. In addition to competition climbing, Schubert is the only climber in the world to have redpointed a 9c (5.15d) graded sport climbing route and climbed a 9A (V17) graded bouldering problem.
Stefano Ghisolfi is an Italian professional rock climber, who specializes in competition climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. In competition climbing, he completes in competition lead climbing, competition bouldering, and competition speed climbing, with lead being his strongest discipline. As a sport climber, he has redpointed sport climbing routes of grade 9b+ (5.15c), onsighted routes of 8c (5.14b), and solved boulder problems at grade 8B+ (V14). In December 2018, after climbing Perfecto Mundo, he became the fourth climber in history to redpoint a 9b+ (5.15c) route.
Sachi Amma is a Japanese professional rock climber and sport climber. He won the IFSC Climbing World Cup twice, in 2012 and 2013.
Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza, best known as Patxi Usobiaga, is a Spanish professional rock climber, sports climber and boulderer. He is known for winning two Lead Climbing World Cups in a row, and for being the first-ever climber in history to onsight an 8c+ (5.14c) route.
Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou, is an American rock climber and rock climbing coach. In competition lead climbing, she is a 4-time World Cup champion, and won the biennial World Championships in 1995. She is the third-ever woman in history to redpoint a 5.14a (8b+) graded sport climbing route. She has coached several competition climbers, including Megan Mascarenas, Margo Hayes and her daughter, Brooke Raboutou.
Laura Rogora is an Italian rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and in competition climbing. In 2021, she became the third-ever female climber in history to redpoint a 9b (5.15b)-graded sport climbing route, with her ascent of Erebor in Italy.
Sean Bailey is an American professional rock climber, who specializes in competition climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering. He has represented the United States in the IFSC Climbing World Cup in lead climbing, and has two podium finishes in bouldering at individual legs of the World Cup, including a win at the Salt Lake City leg of the 2021 World Cup.1 and three in lead climbing, including two gold medals, at the Villars leg, and Chamonix leg, in July 2021.
Matthew Jacob Hong is an American rock climber, filmmaker and photographer. In 2018, he became the fourth American to climb a route graded at 5.15b (9b). As a filmmaker, he directed the 2017 film Break on Through, which documented Margo Hayes completing the first-ever female ascent of a 9a+ (5.15a) graded sport climbing route, and is featured on the Reel Rock Film Tour.
Sébastien Bouin, nicknamed Seb Bouin, is a French rock climber born in Draguignan. By 2022, Bouin is regarded as one of the strongest sport climbers in the world, being only the second-ever climber to establish a route graded 9c (5.15d), with DNA in 2022, and one of only a handful of climbers to create a new route at the grade of 9b+ (5.15c). Bouin is also regarded for his documentary series on the history of extreme sport climbing in France.
Jonathan Siegrist is an American rock climber who is regarded as one of the world's most prolific extreme sport climbers, and who has redpointed, and made numerous first free ascents, of a large number of sport climbing routes at and above the grade of 9a (5.14d). Siegrist's breadth of experience at the world's most extreme sport climbing grades, means that he is often looked to for guidance regarding the grading of extreme sport routes in America. While principally known as a sport climber, he has also repeated some of the world's hardest traditional climbing routes.
