Alicia Saunders

29/03/2016

Mr. Laughton

PAD30

14 Year Old Achieves Hardest Boulder Climb Ever Done by a Woman

By:Andrew Bisharat

Rate: *****

Ashima Shiraishi is a fourteen year old girl from New York City who recently climbed Horizon; a large, smooth, V15 boulder in Mt. Hiei near Miyazaki in Japan. Shiraishi is now the youngest person, and the first female to climb a V15 boulder. (*Boulder problems are measured on the “V-Scale”  which currently ranges from V0 - V16 but it is open ended)

Climbing these near impossibly difficult boulder problems seems in part due to talent but mainly due to hardwork, Shiraishi practises every day after school at the Brooklyn Boulders, a climbing gym that focuses only on bouldering.

Shiraishi goes to these extraordinary places in search of challenging climbs during her breaks from school, and is able to complete them within days. Shiraishi is only the second person to have climbed Horizon, after skilled climber Dai Koyamada who is referred to as one of the best boulderers of all time. It took Koymada three years to finally successfully complete Horizon whereas Shiraishi sent it over the course of her spring break.

This is not the first record Shiraishi has set; last spring break Shiraishi became the first female to reach level 5.15a in sport climbing. She did this when she went to Catalonia, Spain and climbed Santa Linya, achieving an ascent of 5.15a. Also, in 2014 Shiraishi became the second female to ever send a V14 boulder. She accomplished this over the course of a few days on a trip to Rockland, South Africa.

            This relates directly to what we are currently learning in Outdoor Ed. Shiraishi’s accomplishments are due to her raw talent and hard work, and hopefully her story can inspire anyone to strive for greatness in rock climbing as well.

Source:

Bisharat, Andrew. "14 Year Old Achieves Hardest Boulder Climb Ever Done by a Woman." Beyond the Edge. National Geographic Society, 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/22/14-year-old-ashima-shiraishi-climbs-hardest-boulder-problem-ever-done-by-a-woman/>.