Sport: Why Is This Kid Grinning?
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News from the Field, December 1996
Sport: Why Is This Kid Grinning? Because 15-year-old Chris Sharma is the future of American sport climbing “I think most people are past the age thing,” says Chris Sharma, 15, after another day of hanging from dime-size holds at the Pacific Edge gym in Santa Cruz, California. Well, maybe not everyone. Despite Sharma’s impressive streak of seven 5.14 routes in three weeks last summer–a flurry of top-grade climbing unmatched in this country–World Cup officials aren’t cutting him any In response, Sharma has adopted a don’t-get-mad-get-even approach that will take him to some of the most challenging venues in the western United States just as the World Cup season is building toward its climax. He’ll start with a second ascent of Sonora, California’s Motherlode, a 5.14a route that’s earned a reputation as one of the most difficult in the country, and end with Sharma first made headlines in 1994, only nine months after picking up the sport, and within a year secured the top spot on the men’s open circuit with a win at the 1995 National Championships. Last June, he threatened to upstage a field of seasoned international climbers, finishing eighth at the X Games despite spraining a wrist just before the finals. Injury aside, his 5.14 Does this mean the only thing standing between Sharma and big-wall stardom is a learner’s permit? Perhaps, though the elite European sport climbers, with their precise footwork and methodical stategies, might disagree. Unconventional by classic standards, Sharma’s muscular, explosive climbing style is long on power and short on patience. Still, there’s a lot to be said for his |