Ashima Shiraishi (白石阿島, ''Shiraishi Ashima'', born April 3, 2001) is an American

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. 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 ...

. Shiraishi started climbing at the age of six at Rat Rock in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, 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). The ''New York Times'' referred to her as a "bouldering phenom". ''

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is an American company and magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of ''Outside'' was published in September 1977. History Outside founders were Jann Wenner (the first editor in chief), William Randolph Hearst III (its first ...

'' described her as a "young crusher". And ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called her "a Gretzky of the granite". At age 13 she became the second-ever female, and youngest person, to climb a sport route with a difficulty

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

of 5.14d/5.15a (9a/9a+). In 2016, she made the second ascent of ''Horizon'' in Mount Hiei, Japan and became the first-ever female to solve a boulder.

Biography

Shiraishi was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on April 3, 2001. She is the only child of Tsuya and Hisatoshi Shiraishi, who immigrated from Japan in 1978 to New York City. Her father, Hisatoshi "Poppo" Shiraishi, was trained as a dancer in

Butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founders ...

. When she was 6 years old, her parents took her to Central Park, where she started climbing at Rat Rock. She later climbed at Brooklyn Boulders in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Shiraishi began climbing competitively at age 7, in 2008, and paired with coach Obe Carrion, an accomplished climber. Their partnership ended in 2012, largely due to tensions and disagreements between Carrion and Shiraishi's father, who has coached her since. At age 8, Shiraishi climbed the classic

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

problem ''Power of Silence'' (V10), in Hueco Tanks, Texas. At age 9, she climbed ''Chablanke'' (V11/12) and ''Roger in the Shower'' (V11) in Hueco Tanks, and several other difficult boulders. At age 10, she climbed Fred Nicole's notorious ''Crown of Aragorn'' (V13) also in Hueco Tanks. She is the youngest person ever to climb this grade, and one of very few female climbers to climb a confirmed V13. Shiraishi also excelled in

lead climbing Lead climbing is a climbing style, predominantly used in rock climbing. In a roped party one climber has to take the lead while the other climbers follow. The ''lead climber'' wears a harness attached to a climbing rope, which in turn is connecte ...

. At age 11, in October 2012, she climbed ''Southern Smoke'' at the Red River Gorge, a grade 5.14c (8c+) sport route, becoming the youngest person to climb a

route Route or routes may refer to: * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland * ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film * Ro ...

of this difficulty. In 2013, Shiraishi continued to excel at both bouldering and lead climbing, adding to her ticklist a 5.14a (''Slow Food'' at Céüse) two more V13s (''One Summer in Paradise'' and ''Automator'') and finally two 5.14c's (''24 Karats'' and ''50 Words for Pump''). In July 2014, she climbed what might be her first V14, ''Golden Shadow''; however, there is a suggestion that ''Golden Shadow'' is V13 or V13/V14. She was the second officially recorded female climber (after

Tomoko Ogawa is a Japanese boulderer. In 2012, she sent ''Catharsis'', a boulder route in Shiobara established by Dai Koyamada, and confirmed by Daniel Woods, to become the first-ever woman to climb a route. Since then, only three other women -- Ashima Sh ...

) to successfully climb a V14 problem. On the first day of 2015, she climbed her second V14 (V13/V14), ''The Swarm'', claiming the first female top-out of the problem. At age 13, Shiraishi climbed her first 5.14d (9a), ''Open Your Mind Direct R1'' in

Santa Linya Les Avellanes i Santa Linya is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, design ...

. The route was thought to be harder while Shiraishi was attempting it, for a few months earlier a hold had broken off near the top. However, on Christmas Day of 2015, Edu Márin Garcia climbed the route past Shiraishi's end point to the second top and confirmed Shiraishi's route as a 5.14d (9a). In the same climbing trip, Shiraishi climbed ''Ciudad de Dios'', making her the youngest athlete to climb a 5.14d/5.15a (9a/9a+) and the second female climber to climb at this level. The route has been climbed by 6 other athletes, but there is still no definite consensus on whether the grade is 5.14d or 5.15a. In 2015, 2016, and 2017 Shiraishi won the IFSC World Youth Championships for both Lead and Bouldering in the Female Youth B category. In March 2016, at 14 years old, she climbed the boulder problem ''Horizon'' (8C/V15) in Mount Hiei, Japan. She is the second person ever to finish this problem. With this achievement she became the first female climber as well as the youngest climber to climb this bouldering grade. A few months later, she climbed ''Sleepy Rave'', another V15 (or V14 according to some), in Grampians National Park, Australia. In 2017, she was the winner of the female sport category at the USA Climbing Sport & Speed Open National Championships (SCS nationals) held in Denver, Colorado, and placed second at the USA Climbing Bouldering Nationals (ABS nationals) to 10-time champion

Alex Puccio Alex Puccio (born Alexandrea Elizabeth Cocca on June 15, 1989 in McKinney, Texas) is a professional climber specializing in bouldering. She competes in climbing competitions and split her time between climbing outdoor and indoor. She finished t ...

. In the same year, she started competing in the

Climbing World Cup The IFSC Climbing World Cup is a series of climbing competitions held annually and organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). The athletes compete in three disciplines: lead, bouldering and speed. The number of competit ...

as an adult. She is sponsored by Evolv,

Arc’teryx Arc'teryx is a Canadian high-end design company specializing in outdoor apparel and equipment headquartered in North Vancouver, Canada. It focuses on technical apparel for mountaineering and Alpine sports, including related accessories. The c ...

Clif Bar Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces energy foods and drinks. The company's flagship product, CLIF Bar, was created by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas. The company is based in Emeryville, California and was privately held until ...

Petzl Petzl is a French manufacturer of climbing gear, caving gear, work-at-height equipment, and headlamps based in Crolles (near Grenoble), France. The company was created by the cave explorer Fernand Petzl in the mid-1970s. Their three specialtie ...

, Coca-Cola Japan,

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had mo ...

and

Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...

. In 2021 she announced plans to enroll at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Rankings

Climbing World Championships

Youth

USA Open Championships

Notable ascents

Boulder problems

: :* ''Horizon'' - Mount Hiei ( JPN) - 2015 :* ''Sleepy Rave'' -

Grampians National Park The Grampians National Park commonly referred to as The Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd. The national park is situated betwee ...

( AUS) - 2016 : :* ''Jade'' -

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

) - 2021. :* ''Phenomena'' - Hinokage ( JPN) - 2015 :* ''Nuclear War'' -

(

) - 2015 :* ''Golden Shadow'' -

Rocklands (South Africa) Rocklands is a popular bouldering destination in South Africa. It is located under 200km from Cape Town, on the edge of the Cederberg Mountains. The area is known for its abundance of bright-orange sandstone boulders. Boulderers have frequented Ro ...

- 2014 : :* ''Wheel of Chaos'' -

(

) - 2021 :* ''Mana'' -

( AUS) - 2016 :* ''Terre de Sienne'' -

Hueco Tanks Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains and historic site in El Paso County, Texas, in the United States. It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains to the east. ''Hueco'' is ...

(

) - 2015 :* ''The Swarm'' -

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

(

) - 2015 - Some say this may be 8B/+(V13/14). :* ''Blood Meridian'' - Bishop (USA) - 2014 :* ''Beta Move'' -

- 2014 :* ''The Automator'' -

(

) - 2013 :* ''One Summer in Paradise'' - Magic Wood ( ) - 2013 :* ''Fragile Steps'' -

- 2012 :* ''Steady Plums Direct'' - Topside ( ZAF) - 2012 :* ''Crown of Aragorn'' -

(

) - 2012 - Youngest person to climb the 8B (V13) difficulty. Other Bouldering Achievements: :* ''The Shining'' - :* ''Lethal Design'' - - flash :* ''Chablanke'' - V11/V12 (8a/8a+) :* ''Ashimandala'' - :* ''Roger in the Shower'' - :* ''Power of Silence'' -

Redpointed routes

9a or 9a+ (5.14d or 5.15a): :* ''Ciudad de Dios'' -

(

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

) - March 23, 2015 - First female ascent. The route has been repeated by several others, but they have not reached consensus about its

: :* ''Open Your Mind Direct R1'' -

(

) - March 17, 2015 - First female ascent. The route was initially graded , but later a hold broke off leading to speculation that the route might have become harder, possibly 9a+. Shiraishi was the first climber who climbed it after the hold had broken. However, in December 2015 Edu Márin Garcia climbed the route past Shiraishi's end point to an higher top and confirmed the initial rating for Shiraishi's route. : :* ''Southern Smoke'' -

Red River Gorge The Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the Red River in east-central Kentucky. Geologically it is part of the Pottsville Escarpment. The gorge lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest and was subsequently designated the Red River Gorge ...

(

) - September 2012 :* ''Lucifer'' - Red River Gorge (USA) - September 2012 :* ''24 Karats'' - Red River Gorge (USA) - October 2013 :* ''50 Words for Pump'' - Red River Gorge (USA) - October 2013 :* ''La Fabela'' -

(

) - March 2014 - First female ascent : :* ''Digital system'' -

(

) - March 2014 :* ''Rollito Sharma extension'' - Santa Linya (ESP) - March 2014

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiraishi, Ashima 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from New York City American sportswomen American sportspeople of Japanese descent American rock climbers Female climbers 21st-century American women