Chris Sharma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Chris Omprakash Sharma (born April 23, 1981 in Santa Cruz - California) is an American rock climber.

Contents

[edit] History

Chris Omprakash Sharma[1] was raised in Santa Cruz, California[1], son of Gita Jahn and Bob Sharma[1]. He started rock climbing when he was 12[1]. Chris went to Mount Madonna school and attended Soquel High School for one year.

At age 14, Sharma won the Bouldering Nationals[1]. A year later, he completed a 5.14c climb, which was the highest-rated climb in the American rating system at the time[1].

Sharma moved to Bishop, California[1], where he climbed The Mandala[1].

In July 2001, Sharma completed the route Realization, in Ceüse, France, an extension to an existing line called "Biographie" (Realization is called Biographie by most Europeans). He has since established or completed a few routes thought to be 5.15, including La Rambla and Es Pontas (a deep water soloing project in Mallorca). In 2008 Sharma climbed the 250 ft line, Jumbo Love, at Clark Mountain in California, claiming 5.15b for the grade.[2]

[edit] Notable ascents

  • Necessary Evil (5.14c) [4]
  • Practice of the Wild (8c/V15) First Ascent. Only one repeat by Tyler Landman so far
  • Witness the Fitness (V15/8c). First ascent. A 40ft roof problem in the Ozarks.(Broken and maybe unclimbable.)[7][6]
  • Dreamcatcher (5.14d). 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. Unrepeated. [7]
  • Es Pontas (5.15a/b?). First ascent, September 26, 2007 A deep water soloing line in Mallorca, Spain, it features a 7ft dyno (dynamic move, or leap) that took Sharma over 50 attempts to stick. Unrepeated. [8]
  • 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. [9]
  • Jumbo Love (9b/5.15b?). First Ascent, September 11, 2008. First featured in the film King Lines as an undone line at Clark Mountain, this route is 250 ft long, and thought to be at least 5.15b. Sharma has called it his hardest send 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 or more. Unrepeated. [2] [10]
  • 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. Unrepeated.
  • Demencia Senil (9a+/5.15a?). First Ascent, February 20, 2009. (Margalef, Spain). Unrepeated. [11]
  • French Gangster (8c/5.14b) Onsight without chipped hold, possibly harder? Originally named American Gangster but renamed after the French climber who chipped the hold. Hardest Route in China at the time

[edit] Awards

  • U.S. Bouldering Nationals[1]
  • 1999 X Games - Bouldering - Gold Medal[1]
  • 2007 Mammut Bouldering Championships[12]
  • 2008 Mammut Bouldering Championships[12]

[edit] Sponsorships

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Metroactive - Rock Star
  2. ^ a b Climbing - Sharma Redpoints Clark Mountain Project
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Mountain Zone - Necessary Evil
  5. ^ Climb and More
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ [4]
  9. ^ [5]
  10. ^ Jumbo Love - Big Up Productions
  11. ^ [6]
  12. ^ a b Climbing - Sharma, Puccio Win SLC Comp
13. The Players trailer

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sharma"
Personal tools