Chris Sharma

Chris Sharma, 2015

Chris Omprakash Sharma (born April 23, 1981 ) is a sport climber from the USA who has completed many of the world's most difficult first ascents . He was one of the first to succeed in climbing a route with a level of difficulty 9a + on the French scale, and he is the first to climb several routes with a confirmed level of 9b . Sharma is married to Jimena Alarcon.

Childhood and youth

Chris Sharma was born in 1981 as the only child of massage therapist Gita Jahn and Bob Sharma, caretakers at the University of California, Santa Cruz . Both parents are students of the Yogi Baba Hari Das , who they also trusted and gave them the name Sharma . Chris's middle name Omprakash was also given to him by Hari Das.

Climb

Sharma grew up in Santa Cruz , California and began climbing at the age of twelve. At the age of fourteen he won the national climbing championships, and when he was fifteen he made his first ascent in the American grade 5.14c ( Necessary Evil ). In the same year he was able to climb many of the toughest climbing routes in the United States and took second place at the World Championships in Paris .

In 2001 Chris Sharma was able to climb his long-term project Realization , a route in the Céüse climbing area in France , which was then considered the toughest route in the world. The path is an extension of the biography of Jean-Christophe Lafaille's climbing path from 1989. There were two other climbing paths that were more difficult, but their ascent is controversial. Sharma won a bouldering world cup in Munich in 2001 , but was disqualified after testing positive for THC .

In September 2006 he succeeded in his most difficult project to date: a route on a rocky island near Mallorca , Spain, a deep water soloing route. That means: It was carried out without any safety measures, over the water. The actually nameless path is called like the small island Es Pontàs . The route was repeated by Jernej Kruder in October 2016. Other famous routes are the boulder The Mandala in Bishop , California, and the third ascent of the La Rambla route, also rated 9a + - original in the Siurana climbing area in Spain.

In 2008 he achieved another increase in difficulty with Jumbo Love on Clark Mountain and was probably the most difficult route in the world at the time. A little later, with Golpe de Estado and Neanderthal, he achieved two more routes in grade 9b . The Jumbo Love route was repeated in May 2015 by Ethan Pringle, who confirmed the difficulty.

In addition, Sharma succeeded in April 2011 in the “First Round First Minute” (FRFM) after a long trial, which is traded with the difficulty level 9b or more difficult. Said route is located in Margalef, Spain and, in contrast to Sharma's other 9a + and 9b routes, is only around 13 meters long.

On March 23, 2013 he succeeded in the first repetition of the route La Dura Dura , which was also the first repetition of a route in grade 9b + .

In 2015 he opened his own climbing hall in Barcelona (Sharma Climbing).

Climbing routes

• Necessary Evil ( 8c + French / 5.44c ), first ascent in 1997
• The Mandala (V12 / 8a + Fb.), First ascent in 1999
• Realization (9a + French), first inspection in 2001
• Dreamtime (8b + col / V14)
• Neverending Story (8b + col.), First ascent in 2003
• Witness the Fitness (V15), first ascent in March 2005 in The Ozarks , Arkansas.
• Dreamcatcher (9a French/5.14 c / d), first ascent in September 2005 at Cacodemon Rock near The Chief in Squamish , British Columbia .
• Three Degress of Separation in Céüse (9a French), first ascent in 2007
• Es Pontàs (9a + / 9b French), first ascent on September 28, 2006
• La Rambla Original (9a + French), third ascent on December 1, 2006
• Papichulo (9a + French), first ascent of the 45 m long route in Oliana, Spain
• Jumbo Love in Clark Mountain (9b French/5.15b), first ascent on September 11, 2008
• Golpe de Estado (9b French), first ascent on December 17, 2008 in Siurana, Northern Spain
• Demencia Senil (9a + French), Margalef (Spain) 2009
• French Gangster (8c French), Onsight
• Neanderthal (9b French), first ascent on December 18, 2009 in Santa Linya, Catalonia (Spain)
• First Ley (9a + French), first ascent on March 2nd, 2010 in Margalef
• Pachamama (9a + French), first ascent on May 29, 2010 in Oliana
• Era Vella (9a French), first ascent, 2010 in Margalef
• Power inverter (9a + French), first ascent in December 2010 in Oliana
• Catxasa (9a + French/5.15a), first ascent in January 2011 in Santa Linya
• First Round First Minute (9b French), first ascent on April 19, 2011 in Margalef
• Fight or Flight (9b French/5.15b), first inspection in May 2011 in Oliana
• Chaxi (9a + French/5.15a), May 2011 in Oliana
• Duele la Realidad (9a French/5.14d)
• Stoking on fire (9b French), first inspection February 6, 2013 in Santa Linya
• La Dura Dura (9b + French), March 23, 2013
• El Bon Combat (9b / + French), first ascent March 7, 2015 in Cova de Ocell
• Joe Mama (9a + French), inspection in October 2016

Filmography

Chris Sharma has appeared in many different climbing videos. Among other things, he can often be seen in films for the production company Big Up Productions . There are also several clips in which he climbs individual routes.

• Masters of Stone IV; Pure Force (1998)
• Free Hueco (1998, Big Up Productions) - Bouldering in Hueco Tanks, Sharma in Slashface
• Rampage (1999, Big Up Productions)
• Inertia (2000)
• Dosage Vol. 1 (2001, Big Up Productions) - Sharma on The Mandala and Realization
• The Road (2003, MC Productions)
• Pilgrimage (2003, Big Up Productions) - Bouldering in Hampi, India
• Dosage Vol. 2 (2004, Big Up Productions) - Sharma Deep-Water-Soloing in Mallorca, Spain
• Best of the West (2005, MC Productions) - Bouldering in Hueco Tanks, Sharma on Esperanza
• Dosage Vol. 3 (2005, Big Up Productions) - Bouldering in The Ozarks, Arkansas, Sharma on Witness the Fitness
• Big Game (2005, MC Productions) - Bouldering in Castle Hill, New Zealand
• Depth Charge (2006) - Deep-Water-Soloing in Croatia
• Dosage Vol. 4 (2006, Big Up Productions) - Sharma on Dreamcatcher , bouldering in Switzerland and at Hueco
• King Lines (2007, Big Up Productions / Sender Films)
• The Fanatic Search (March 2008)
• Dosage Vol. 5 (2008, Big Up Productions) - Sharma bolting and climbing routes in Spain
• Progression (2009, Big Up Productions) - Sharma sending Jumbo Love
• Reel Rock Tour 2010 (2010, Big Up Productions & Sender Films) - "First Round First Minute"
• Reel Rock Tour 7 (2012, Big Up Productions & Sender Films) - " La Dura Dura "
• Into the Light (2014, Red Bull Media House), film about a climbing expedition to the Majlis al-Jinn cave and the first ascent of "Into the Light" (8b +) with Stefan Glowacz
• Reel Rock Tour 12 (2017, Red Bull Media House) - Above the Sea

Web links

Commons : Chris Sharma  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Chris Sharma's personal website
• Sharma on Eagle Peak
• Video and route info: Chris Sharma La Rambla
• Dreamcatcher

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] Article in ESPN magazine from December 31, 2002
2. ↑ ^{a b} bergstieg.com from December 19, 2009 , accessed on January 8, 2010.
3. ↑ [2]
4. ↑ Entry on bergleben.de from September 24, 2008, accessed on January 8, 2010.
5. ^ Spanish blog by Dani Andrada from December 17, 2009, accessed January 8, 2010.
6. ↑ Entry on bergleben.de from December 21, 2009 , accessed on January 8, 2010
7. ↑ The Era Vella Downgrade Debate - Gripped Magazine . In: Gripped Magazine . April 23, 2015 ( gripped.com [accessed June 8, 2017]).
8. ↑ Chris Sharma succeeds in the first ascent of "First Round, First Minute"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on climbing.de; Retrieved April 20, 2011.  
9. ↑ Chris Sharma climbs 9b and 9a + in one day on www.bergleben.de; Retrieved May 6, 2011.
10. ↑ [3] on www.kletterszene.com.de; Retrieved March 11, 2015.
11. ^ Review by King Lines
12. ↑ Review of Dosage 5