Jimmy Webb (born November 7, 1987) is an American professional
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 an ...
specializing in
bouldering
Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help se ...
. He is one of a handful of climbers who have climbed the boulder grade .
Webb was the men's winner of the
2013 Psicobloc Masters Series held in
Park City, Utah
Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...
. He beat several of the world's best climbers to win the event, including
Chris Sharma
Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April, 1981) 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 '' Real ...
,
Daniel Woods
Daniel Woods (born August 1, 1989) is an American professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering and is considered one of the most important climbers in the history of bouldering. Woods has climbed over thirty bouldering problems graded ...
,
Dave Graham, and
Tommy Caldwell
Tommy Caldwell (born August 11, 1978) is an American rock climber who has set records in sport climbing, traditional climbing, and in big-wall climbing. Caldwell made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Capitan in Yosemite Natio ...
.
In spring 2014, Webb climbed ''The Understanding'' and ''Practice of the Wild'', both routes, within a week of each other.
In November 2014, he repeated ''Defying Gravity'', which was first climbed by
Daniel Woods
Daniel Woods (born August 1, 1989) is an American professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering and is considered one of the most important climbers in the history of bouldering. Woods has climbed over thirty bouldering problems graded ...
a year before.
Webb has
flashed six boulder problems graded or higher. Dead Point Magazine says "it’s not a stretch to consider Jimmy the world’s best flash boulderer."
On December 15, 2018, after 11 days of effort, Webb completed the
first ascent
In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...
of ''Sleepwalker'' in Black Velvet Canyon,
Red Rocks
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind th ...
, suggesting a grade of ; he grade was confirmed by
Daniel Woods
Daniel Woods (born August 1, 1989) is an American professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering and is considered one of the most important climbers in the history of bouldering. Woods has climbed over thirty bouldering problems graded ...
in January 2019. This marked his second V16, along with ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' in
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 ...
. A few months later he got his third V16 with ''Ephyra'', in Chironico.
Notable ascents
Boulder problems
:
:* ''Poison the well'' - Brione (
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
) - March 2020 - Second ascent.
:* ''Off the Wagon Low'' - Valle Bavona (
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
) - February 2020 - Second ascent.
:* ''Ephyra'' - Chironico (
CHE) - March 2019 - First ascent,
repeated by Niky Ceria.
:* ''Sleepwalker'' - Black Velvet Canyon (
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 ...
) - December 2018 - First ascent. Repeated by Daniel Woods.
:* ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' - Upper Chaos Canyon, (
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 ...
) - August 2017 - Third ascent.
:* ''Le Pied à Coulisse'' -
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
(
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) - February 2016 - Second ascent.
:* ''Livin Large'' -
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 ...
- July 2015 - Second ascent. (Originally graded V15 by Nalle Hukkataival in 2009).
:
:* ''Lucid Dreaming'' - Bishop (
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 ...
) - January 2020 - Fifth ascent.
:* ''Virgo'' - Tahoe (
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 ...
) - October 2019 - First ascent.
:* ''Spray of Light'' - Rocklands (South Africa) - August 2019.
:* ''The Finnish Line'' - Rocklands (South Africa) - June 2019 - Seventh ascent.
:* ''Primitivo'' - Ticino (
CHE) - April 2019 - First ascent. Repeated by Giuliano Cameroni.
:* ''From Dirt Grows the Flowers'' - Chironico (
CHE) - March 2019 - First ascent by Dave Graham in 2005.
:* ''The Outer Limits'' - Tahoe (
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 ...
) - May 2018 - First ascent.
:* ''
Dreamtime
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology, Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Ja ...
'' - Cresciano (
CHE) - February 2018.
:* ''Kintsugi'' - Red Rocks (
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 ...
) - December 2016 - Second ascent.
:* ''The Big Island'' -
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
(
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) - February 2016.
:* ''The Game'' - Colorado (
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 ...
) - January 2016.
:* ''The Matriarch'' - Rocktown (
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 ...
) - December 2015 - First ascent.
:* ''Defying Gravity'' - Thunder Ridge, (
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 ...
) - November 2014 - Second ascent.
:* ''The Understanding'' - Magic Wood (
CHE) - April 2014 - Done in one session, First ascent by Nalle Hukkataival.
:* ''Practice of the Wild'' - Magic Wood (
CHE) - April 2014.
:* ''The Multiverse'' - Wyoming, (
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 ...
) - March 2014 - First ascent, unrepeated.
:* ''
The Story of Two Worlds'' - Cresciano (
CHE) - March 2014.
:* ''The Nest'' - Red Rocks (
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 ...
) - 2013 - Second ascent.
:* ''Delirium'' - Mount Evans (
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 ...
) - September 2013 - First ascent.
:* ''The Wheel of Wolvo'' - Mount Evans (
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 ...
) - September 2013 - First ascent.
:* ''La Rustica'' - Val Bavona (
CHE) - 2013 - First ascent. (Originally proposed by Webb as V14, but later confirmed as V15 by Nalle Hukkataival and Daniel Woods)
Redpointed routes
9a+ (5.15a):
* ''Empath'' - South Lake Tahoe, California - October 19, 2020.
:
* ''Dreamcatcher'' - Cacodemon boulder (
Squamish,
CAN) - September 2, 2018.
Awards
* 2013 Psicobloc, Park City, Utah
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Jimmy
1987 births
Living people
American rock climbers
Boulder climbers
Golden Piton winners