Who are the prodigies in climbing?
Meini Li, a couple months shy of her 11th birthday, became an internet sensation. She redpointed a 5.14a sport route (equivalent to french grade 8b+) called China Climb at White Mountain, Yangshuo, China.
I personally watched a clip of one of her attempts on Instagram, as she fought her way through the cruxes, screaming in exasperation to hold on to the next slab, before falling off and crying out of sheer frustration and disappointment.
If you are someone who is used to indoor climbing, outdoor climbing will bring you a whole new level of endurance and mental strength. Coupled with external factors that you can’t control such as the weather, the sturdiness of the rocks, grime…..and mosquitoes, it is not the best place to be. I have never been showered with so much affection at once the way mosquitoes do.
What constitutes a prodigy in rock climbing? The World Cup allows climbers who will be or are at least 16 years of age on the same of year of the event they will be participating. Many of these athletes have trained since young, so how does one stand out from the rest?
Who Are The Prodigies In Climbing?
Brooke Raboutou
Brooke Raboutou needs no introduction as the daughter of former World Cup champion climbers. Climbing since the moment she could walk, she has collected an impressive resume over the years. You can say she’s an Olympic finalist, World no. 3 in the IFSC Boulder World Cup Season and World no.5 in the Lead World Cup in 2022 and now winning her first IFSC World Cup in bouldering in 2023.
At a tender age of 9, she was already doing boulders at V10 and later on, became the youngest female climber to send an 8c at aged 11. Her performance on the world stage has always been consistent with her flexibility and beta-breaking moves, and is the one to watch especially with her results at the start of the 2023 season.
Ai Mori
Ai Mori is becoming a crowd favorite ever since she shocked the world with her impressive lead climbing performance in the World Cups and later on, becoming the youngest Japanese climber with a podium placing in the World Championships at the age of 15.
Climbing since she was 7, she has also won lead competitions where Janja Garnbret was a finalist. Anybody will know if you can surpass the GOAT, not once but twice, you are going to be spotlighted. However despite all the fame, Ai Mori is noticeably shy, and is a man of few words due to the language barrier.
Her tiny frame doesn’t stop her from being a beast on the wall both in lead and boulder especially with her crazy endurance in lead climbing and her static moves.
You can watch Ai Mori also competing with Tomoa Narasaki here to see how strong she is:
Mejdi Schalck
French climber Mejdi Schalck’s charismatic bouldering style has secured many World Cup podiums and recently won back-to-back games in the IFSC World Cup at Hachioji, Japan and Seoul, South Korea. His perseverance, explosive energy, and mental game rivals many climber veterans in the field.
Surprisingly, Mejdi Schalck started climbing at the age of 15, which is a rather late age to turn professional, although he mentions that climbing has always given him a sense of freedom since he was a kid. His instinctive climbing makes him a truly gifted climber and a joy to watch.
How difficult is it to climb an 8b+ grade route?
To understand the structure of climbing grades, here’s a breakdown of how I think grades should be:
As an amateur climber, I categorize anything about 7b+ as God-like and can hope that if I can ever get past that level, that I could look as cool as Jain Kim on the wall.
On a serious note, 9C is the highest climbing grade. On a 9b+ and higher, there are six people in the world who sent this grade. Most professional climbers will celebrate once they clear an 8b bouldering route. For example Oriane Bertone waves sending an 8B+ bouldering problem at the mere age of 12. It took her 4 years to reach such heights before getting recognized.
Is Ashima Shiraishi Still Climbing?
Ashima Shiraishi, who sent her first 8c+ route at 11 years old, is still climbing. Most of her social media posts consists of her doing outdoor climbing and collaborating with fashion brands like Brain Dead and Evolv. Her last IFSC appearance was at Briancon, France in 2021 where she placed 4th for Women’s Lead.
Who Is The Youngest Climber Ever?
The youngest rock climber is Sam Baker who made a world record as the youngest to scale El Capitan in California, USA at 8 years old. He has been climbing since the age of 3 years old.
Conclusion
The question that most people ask is, do these child prodigies end up rising to the top? Or did they bloom too early? I am sure in the coming years there will be younger climbers with higher ambitions and succeed. For now, what Meini Li did, was worth the commemoration.
Check out the video of Meini Li’s climb.
Who will be the next Olympic Climbing champion? Read up on what is next for our climbing hopefuls in the 2024 Olympic Games.