Chris Sharma

Chris Omprakash Sharma (born April 23, 1981) is an American rock climber. In 2007, NPR wrote that Sharma was considered the world's best rock climber. He is known for being the world's first climber to redpoint a 9b (5.15b) route (Jumbo love, 2008) and the second to climb a 9a+ (5.15a) and a 9b+ (5.15c) route (respectively, Realization in 2001 and La Dura Dura in 2013). He is also known for climbing the world's first 9a+ (5.15a) and 9b (5.15b) deep-water solo routes (Es Pontàs in 2007 and Alasha in 2017). He bolted and first ascended many of the hardest lines of the Catalonia region in Spain. In 2015, he opened the gym Sharma Climbing BCN in Barcelona. In 2019 he plans to open Europe's largest climbing gym in Madrid, Spain.