ROCK CLIMBER UNITED STATESIn climbing, gender really doesn’t matter. You’re just facing the wall. Even if you’re bigger or smaller than someone, you’re tackling the same thing. It’s just your determination and focus and dedication, and that’s what makes you stronger.
—ASHIMA SHIRAISHI
Ashima raced ahead of her father. She could see the baseball fields on her left, so she knew the playground was just up ahead. Suddenly, a dark shape caught her eye. A giant slab of gray rock jutted out of the ground to her right. She’d seen the baseball-diamond-size rock before, but she’d never really noticed it. She’d heard her parents call it Rat Rock because the rats of Central Park swarm around it at night. Gross!
She didn’t see any rats there today, just a few grown-ups climbing it.
That looks fun, thought Ashima, heading for the rock. The climbers waiting their turn on a wall smiled at the adorable six-year-old.
“Don’t you use ropes?” asked Ashima.
“Not for bouldering,” said one. “It’s only fifteen feet up, so not too dangerous.” To tiny Ashima, Rat Rock looked enormous. It towered over her like a Manhattan skyscraper.
Her father caught up to her. “Why’d you stop here?” he asked.
“I want to climb it,” Ashima said, pointing at the rock. “Can I?”
“Sure,” he said, “Just be careful.”
Ashima stretched her arm up and grabbed hold of a crack, found a tiny ledge for her toes, and pulled herself up onto the rock. She looked up, searching for more ledges and cracks she could hold on to. As she climbed the rock face, Ashima mapped out her next moves in her head. She could picture a route laid out in front of her.
Down below, Ashima’s father and the other climbers watched in amazement. She looked like a monkey scrambling up the granite wall. It wasn’t an easy climb—especially for a kid who’d never done it before—but in a minute, Ashima reached the summit. She did a little happy dance as the grown-ups below applauded.
Ashima didn’t make it to the playground that day. She climbed Rat Rock over and over again, trying different routes and finding new, harder climbs. She was hooked!1
In the years since Ashima Shiraishi’s first climb, she has traveled the world, tackling some of the most difficult climbing routes any human has ever tried. In just ten years, she’s gone from being a “gumby” (a novice climber) to one of the greatest climbers in the world. And she’s still a teenager!
Ashima was born in New York City to parents who immigrated from Japan. When she first scaled Central Park’s Rat Rock, Ashima’s father, a trained dancer, immediately recognized her gift. From that first climb, Ashima fell in love with the sport and climbed as often as she could.
Within two years of that first climb, Ashima was breaking records in bouldering, which is free climbing without ropes or harnesses. When she was eight, she climbed her first V10, called Power of Silence. A year later, she conquered the V11s and V12s, and at age ten, she got the world’s attention when she successfully climbed Italy’s Crown of Aragorn, a V13. She became the youngest person—and one of very few females—to ever climb a V13. But she didn’t stop there. At thirteen, she tackled her first V14, becoming just the second female to “send” it (in rock-climbing lingo, to do something difficult with style). And in 2016, at Mount Hiei in Japan, Ashima became the first female to complete a V15 boulder climb. There are only a handful of V15 boulder climbs in the world, and only a few male climbers have climbed them. Climb designer Garrett Koeppicus is in awe of her: “She’s like Spider-Woman. She’s just crazy good.”2
Bouldering and rock climbing have different rating systems. Bouldering routes go from V0 (easiest) to V16 (hardest), and rock-climbing routes go from 5.0 (easiest) to 5.15a (hardest). The most difficult bouldering route ever climbed was a V15, and for sport climbing, it was a 5.15a. Ashima has done both.
When she was eleven, Ashima began sport climbing, which uses anchors fixed to the rock, plus ropes and harnesses, and quickly dominated there as well. She became the youngest person to climb a 5.14c when she topped Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. At thirteen, Ashima went to Spain and climbed Ciudad de Dios, making her the youngest climber, male or female, to complete a 5.15a. Only six other climbers have completed the route. Ever!
To excel in climbing, Ashima needs many abilities. First is sheer strength: she has to support her body weight with just her fingertips or her toes and be able to hang by one hand as she swings her body across the rock. Endurance is another, for longer climbs. She is also a gymnast, stretching her limbs, pretzeling her body into impossible positions, and launching herself into space to get to out-of-reach holds (a move called a dyno). Most important, Ashima needs mental strength. She has to figure out the best route up the rock and problem solve quickly as she climbs. To prepare for climbs, Ashima does a ritual her father taught her to achieve “a deep, quiet and strong mind and soul.”3
The ritual must be working—Ashima is unbeatable! In 2015, she won the World Youth Championships for both lead climbing and bouldering in the female youth category. She also won the Sport Climbing National Championships. Climbing magazine named her 2015’s Climber of the Year and Time magazine put her on their list of “The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2015.” She has many sponsors, including well-known brands like The North Face and Clif Bar.
In 2016, Ashima took the biggest fall of her career. At a climbing gym in Georgia, while her dad belayed her (supported her with safety ropes as she climbed), he accidentally squeezed the brake release lever, causing her to drop 45 feet to the padded floor. She was rushed to the hospital and, fortunately, had no serious injuries. She was able to compete again later that week.
Being one of the best rock climbers in the world isn’t easy, however. Ashima trains hard year-round and has to sacrifice some of the fun normal teenagers take for granted. “I have a pretty hard time balancing school and rock climbing,” she says. “I get out of school around 3:00 PM, then I go to the climbing gym for three hours or more. I get home, I do homework, and I’m usually asleep by 1:00 AM. Then I’m up again at 6:30 AM.”4 And then there’s the ever-present risk of falling and getting hurt.
Ashima thinks the risks and sacrifices are worth it, especially if she gets to compete in the Olympics. Climbing is being considered as a new sport in the 2020 Olympics, and when asked about it, Ashima says, “That would be a dream come true. Since I began climbing, my dream was to have it in the Olympics and . . . to be there competing.”5 Whether climbing becomes an Olympic event or not, Ashima will surely keep smashing records. “My goal is to keep on pushing myself as far as I can in rock climbing,” she says.6
Many fans (including other climbers) wonder how much she’ll improve once she’s graduated from high school and can climb all day, year-round, like the rest of the pros. “Ashima is unstoppable right now . . . Imagine what would be possible if [she] devoted weeks, months, or years to climbing something at her absolute limit,”7 said top female climber Angie Payne. Having conquered both a 5.15a sport climb and a V15 boulder climb, Ashima is the first young woman to join a small, elite group of climbers who’ve managed that milestone.
Ashima has the potential to do more than just dominate the sport; she might completely change it. “I think Ashima could be the biggest game changer in high-end climbing,” said filmmaker Josh Lowell. “When you watch her climb it’s like a different sport than what everyone else is doing. Somehow the same laws of gravity don’t apply.”8
Just think of what Ashima has left to accomplish! This teenager is already the greatest female rock climber in the world. And with time, many believe she will become the best climber—man or woman—in history.
Climbing isn’t easy. Much of the time, you keep falling. It’s repetitive falling. But once you stand up, you’re that much closer to getting to the top.
—ASHIMA SHIRAISHI