Elite climber Chris Sharma shares his struggles and breakthroughs in Training, Nutrition, Tactics, and Mental Game.

Chris needs absolutely zero introduction but it’s worth hitting a few of the highlights because it’s so absolutely mind boggling when you’re reminded what he has achieved in this sport. At just 14 years old he won the adult US bouldering nationals. At 15 he freed the hardest route in North America at the time, 14c Necessary Evil. At just 20 years old Chris sent the world’s first consensus 5.15a, Ceuse’s Biographie / AKA Realization. He was also the first to climb 15b with Jumbo Love, and the second to climb 15c, just after Adam Ondra, as the two of them worked together on La Dura Dura. Chris also took deep water soloing to groundbreaking new levels when he sent the king line of Es Pontas, 15a, in Mallorca. He later put down a 15b deep water solo, Alasha, which is the hardest of the discipline. Chris has been dominating for so long, that it might be easy to simply refer to his groundbreaking contributions in the past tense… but that would be a mistake. Chris, just a couple months ago, sent his HARDEST route EVER, Sleeping Lion in Siurana, of which he gave the grade of 5.15c.

Chris climbs with such flow, and carries himself with an almost mythical yogi demeanor, it’d be understandable to just assume there hasn’t been a whole lot of struggle for him throughout his three decades at the top of the sport. But as you’ll hear today, there’s been plenty of struggle, both physically and mentally. Today Chris opens up with stories that I don’t believe he’s ever shared before.

Follow along on Instagram @chris_sharma and @thestruggleclimbingshow.

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This show is produced and hosted by Ryan Devlin. The Struggle is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a diverse group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.

The struggle makes us stronger. Let's climb hard and do good things in the world!