Ashima Shiraishi

Ashima Shiraishi
Personal information
Nationality American/Japanese
Born (2001-04-03) April 3, 2001
New York, NY
Occupation Student and Rock Climber
Climbing career
Type of climber Bouldering, Sport Climbing
Highest grade

Ashima Shiraishi (born April 3, 2001 in New York, NY) is an American rock climber. She is known for being one of the strongest young climbers - male or female - of all time. She started climbing at age six in Central Park and at Manhattan Plaza Health Club. She often climbs at Brooklyn Boulders.

The New York Times has called her a "bouldering phenom".[1] Outside Magazine has described her as a "young crusher".[2] At age 13 she became the second[3][4] female, and youngest (male/female), to climb a sport route with a difficulty grade of 9a+ (5.15a).[5] Very few athletes in the world can climb at this level. In 2016 she became the first female to send an 8C boulder problem, which she did at Mount Hiei in Japan.[6]

Biography

Ashima was born in New York, NY in 2001. Her parents, Tsuya and Hisatoshi Shiraishi, immigrated from Japan in 1978 to New York, NY. Her father, Hisatoshi Shiraishi was trained as a dancer in Butoh. When Ashima was 6, her parents took her to Central Park and she discovered Rat Rock where she first started to rock climb.[7]

Ashima first made a name for herself by bouldering at a very high level at a very young age. At age 8, Ashima climbed the challenging boulder problem Power of Silence (V10). At age 9, she sent Chablanke (V11/12), Roger in the Shower (V11), and several other difficult boulders. At age 10, Ashima climbed Crown of Aragorn (V13). She is the youngest person ever to climb this grade, and one of very few females to climb a confirmed V13.[8]

Ashima has also excelled in sport climbing. In October 2012, at age 11 she sent Southern Smoke at the Red River Gorge, a grade 5.14c sport climb. Ashima is the youngest person to climb a sport climbing route of this difficulty.[9]

In 2013, Ashima continued to excel at both bouldering and sport climbing, adding 5.14a at Céüse,[10] then two more V13s with One Summer in Paradise[11] and Automator,[12] and finally two 5.14c's (24 Karats and 50 Words for Pump)[13] to her already impressive ticklist. In July 2014, she climbed what might be her first V14, Golden Shadow; however, there is a suggestion Golden Shadow is V13 or V13/V14.[14] She is only the second officially recorded female climber (after Tomoko Ogawa) to successfully send a V14 problem.[15] On the first day of 2015, Ashima sent her second V14 (V13/V14), The Swarm, claiming the first female top-out of the problem.[16][17][18]

At age 13, Ashima climbed her first 5.14d/9a, 'Open Your Mind Direct R1' in Santa Linya. The route was thought to be harder at the time because of a broken hold near the top,[19] but on Christmas day of 2015 Edu Márin Garcia climbed the route past Ashima's end point to the second top and confirmed Ashima's route as a 5.14d/9a.[20]

In the same climbing trip Ashima climbed 'Ciudad de Dios', making her the youngest athlete, male or female, to climb a 5.15a/9a+ and the second female to climb at this level if the grade is confirmed.[5][19][21] The route has been climbed by 6 other athletes, but there is still no definite consensus on the grade.

In 2015 Ashima won the IFSC World Youth Championships for both lead and bouldering in the Female Youth B category.

In 2016 she became the first female to send an 8C boulder problem, which she did at Mount Hiei in Japan.[6]

She is sponsored by Evolv, The North Face, Clif Bar, and Petzl.

Notable ascents

Bouldering

Lead climbing

References

  1. ↑ Doyne, Shannon (2012-04-12). "Bouldering Phenom". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  2. ↑ Roy, Adam (2011-07-09). "Science of Young Crushers". Outside. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  3. ↑ MacDonald, Dougald (May 11, 2005). "Josune Climbs Possible 5.15". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Josune Bereziartu repeats a 9a+". UKClimbing.com. UK Climbing. May 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ciudad de Dios, 9a/+, by Ashima". UK Climbing. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 Planetmountain (22 March 2016). "Ashima Shiraishi claims first female 8C boulder with Horizon".
  7. ↑ Bosman, Julie (2012-05-12). "Ashima Shiraishi, 11, Conquers Difficult Bouldering Climbs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
  8. ↑ Fox, Amanda (2012-03-21). "10 year old repeats crown of aragorn". Climbing. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  9. ↑ Climbing, DOM (2012-10-26). "Ashima Sends Southern Smoke". DPM　Climbing. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  10. ↑ Larson, Jens (2013-07-26). "Céüse 8b+ by Mirko (12) and Ashima (11)". 8a.nu. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  11. ↑ Parker, Chris (2013-08-15). "12-Year-Olds Mirko Caballero and Ashima Shiraishi Send V13 in Magic Wood". Rock and Ice. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  12. ↑ Kahn, Chris (2013-09-25). "Ashima sends Automator V13/8B". Rock and Ice. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  13. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (2013-10-07). "Ashima Shiraishi Makes First Female Ascent of 24 Karats (5.14c) in the Red". Rock and Ice. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  14. ↑ "Golden Shadow". 27 Crags.
  15. ↑ Leslie Hittmeier (11 July 2014). "Ashima Shiraishi Becomes Second Female To Climb V14". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "The Swarm". 27 Crags.
  17. ↑ "Ashima Shiraishi and Paige Claassen Join The North Face". 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  18. ↑ "Ashima Shiraishi Earns FFA of The Swarm". cruxcrush.com. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Shiraishi Becomes First Female to Climb a 5.15". Outside. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  20. 1 2 Fernández, Isaac. "Edu Marín hace 'Open your mind direct' 9a+: "2015 ha sido uno de mis mejores años"". Desnivel.com. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 "Reaching new heights: girl ascends to rock-climbing royalty – at only 13". Guardian. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Red River Gorge: Adam Ondra 9a flash and Ashima Shiraishi 8c+ redpoint - Planetmountain.com, climbing, News, mountaineering". www.planetmountain.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  23. 1 2 "Ashima Shiraishi Makes First Female Ascent of 24 Karats (5.14c) in the Red". www.rockandice.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  24. 1 2 3 Cusidó, Oscar (2014-07-26). "Ashima Shiraishi, la niña araña" (in Spanish). Am14. Retrieved 2014-07-30.

External links

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