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Climbers: Ashima Shiraishi
Areas: RMNP
Ashima Shiraishi On The Road In Colorado
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Tags: Featured
Climbers: Ashima Shiraishi
Areas: RMNP
14 Responses to Ashima Shiraishi On The Road In Colorado
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Dude, those climbs can’t be that hard if a little girl is sending them…
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I’ll admit that this thought crossed my mind a few years ago when she first came onto the scene, but two things have really changed my mind 1) If it were so easy just because she was a “little girl”, then a lot of girls would be climbing as hard as she is and that is far from the case and 2) I’ve seen her climb now on multiple occasions and she exhibits skill and technique while moving over the rock that is beyond her years. Whether or not she will still be climbing this hard in 10 years remains to be seen and could be impacted by a lot of different factors, but I wouldn’t bet against her.
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Serious question – given Ashima is the youngest climber ever to boulder V13, and her sport climbing grades keep ticking upwards, is it possible that in 10 years time Ashima could be the strongest climber on the planet, male of female?
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NickT- its an interesting question. In principle I am with you, that gender is becoming much less of an issue in climbing, and that its possible that the best climber in the world can be a woman. The one huge wild card for all the young crushers including Ashima is puberty, and how their bodies and minds will change. Another issue is parental involvement, and how healthy the parent child relationship is. Its my understanding that there are a lot of kids who are extremely promising classical musicians at the age of 10, 11 or 12, and who are no longer playing by the time they are out of highschool. Not only do children just develop different interests but also kids burn out when their parents are the ones driving the search for excellence. Then there is also the way climbing tends to treat its young stars. More than one kid has left climbing because they were told that they were the best at a young age and were given the (false) message that they had mastered climbing fairly easily and so the kids feel like they want to move on to a new challenge. I think its very hard for children who are great climbers to transition into adults who are great climbers. It does happen, but there are many cases in which it does not. Best of luck to Ashima regardless!
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how is gender becoming less of an issue in climbing? Lynn Hill was, for a period of years, without a doubt the single best climber on this planet. Since her reign, a woman has not held that spot. It seems to me that gender is becoming, if anything, more of a factor-not less.
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“Lynn Hill was, for a period of years, without a doubt the single best climber on this planet.”
Huh? Lynn was (and still is) rad, but this statement is complete bollocks.
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Agree with everything you say DH. From what I can see (and of course there is much that we don’t see) Ashima is being supported by her parents and Obie in a very positive way, and they are very aware of the dangers of early burn-out. But, yes, there are many unknown factors that make predictions difficult with any individual case.
What I wondering specifically was if there will always be strength deficits with the top female vs top male climbers that cannot be overcome by superior technique, mental strength, etc. Or whether we could conceivably in ten years time see Ashima in Reel Rock 18 competing against Ondra for the first 10a sports climb?
I hope so!
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myself, I don’t really buy the idea that strength differences are the cause of performance differences between men and women in climbing. While there are gender differences in terms of maximum strength (and other variables), it’s not been shown that maximum strength is a predictor of climbing performance level. That is one reason that I expect women to climb just as well as men, climbing isn’t olymipc power lifting, climbing performance level is determined by a number of factors and all these factors are at work in all climbing athletes. I think we are still in the era in which sociological factors are having a huge impact on women climbers. Women need a few decades without constantly being told that they are weaker, and shorter and not as bold, etc as men. Anyway I am totally with you I would love to see Ashima or another woman gunning for the first 10a.
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Doug, it seems reductive to say climbing isn’t Olympic power lifting, so strength differences are not a cause of performance differences. Strength is involved in any number of activities including sprinting, gymnastics, swimming etc. You are, of course, right that climbing is multifaceted sport, and it may be possible for elite women to equal or exceed elite men. But other sports also require multiple physical and technical skills. I doubt any of us can offer anything more than guess work as to whether elite female climbers can match their male counter-parts.
More to the point, strength does play a role in climbing performance and that favors men. Men likely enjoy other physical advantages as well — seeing as how elite men out perform elite women levels in the vast majority of athletic activities, whether or not predominantly strength based (i.e., long distance running, basketball…). I think to say that these performance differences are largely based cultural factors rather than physical ones would require substantial evidence. I do not doubt that culture plays a meaningful role, nor would i be surprised to see cultural changes cause a significant narrowing of the gap between male and female climbers. But, for elite female climbers to match, or even surpass, elite male climbers, they will also need physical characteristics that make up for the relative disadvantage they face in strength (and perhaps in other areas as well). I very much hope that the incredible hard sends of Ashima and other amazing women help us answer these questions.
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Well written, Matt. Strength is a HUGE factor in climbing performance but definitely not the only factor. I think DH is creating false dichotomy–strength or skill. It’s MUCH more complex. I think many well respected training pundits like Eva Lopez and Mike Anderson would argue that finger strength is the most predictive factor in climbing performance (there are most likely many predictive factors though I’d argue not quite as influential as finger strength). I think a more interesting question is whether females can equal or surpass men in finger strength to weight ratio given that females are generally lighter and the forearms are not one of the larger muscle groups where men clearly have an advantage. This is a much more compelling perspective than suggesting climbing is overwhelmingly a skill sport.
Could not disagree more with DH on this one.
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I will take a stupid guy with stupid strong fingers over someone weak with flawless technique any day.
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How strong and how weak? Obviously, if the gap isn’t vast, the weaker but technically better climber can overtake the stronger (my girlfriend redpointed 11d and routinely onsighted 11a before she could do any pullups; I’ve watched dudes who are way stronger fail miserably on routes she would hike). The question at issue is if the absolute strength gap between men and women is so big that good technique and tactics can’t overcome it.
Brains, people; use them.
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Clearly said “stupid strong”
and was talking about fingers.
Everyone says “Oh so and so badass climber can’t do one arms.” “So and so can barely do pull-ups.”
So and so has a nice finger strength to weight ratio. Guaranteed. 100% of the time.
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Ashima has incredible finger strength and body power, 45 pull ups, campus board a whole wall etc… Her strong and quiet mind is her advantage, she knows what is going to happen before she steps up to the wall. Most younger climbers are hoping to be successful, Ashima knows what she needs to do and she executes. She is now 15 and her list of amazing accomplishments is long and unmatched. Stay tuned world, she is just getting started.
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