Chris Sharma has been dominating the sport of rock climbing almost since the day he took it up at the age of 12. In 1996, at 14, he took home top honors at Bouldering Nationals. A year later he became the first person ever to complete a 5.14c climb in North America (Necessary Evil in Utah’s Virgin River Gorge). And just this March, a month before turning 32, he became just the second climber to conquer the 5.15c climb La Dura Dura in Spain, currently the hardest sport climbing route in the world.
After nearly two decades at the top, Sharma is far from done. His latest venture is bringing the thrill of deep water soloing to a competition format. To that end, he’s organized the new Psicobloc Masters Series competition, the first of its kind in the U.S.
Held July 31 to August 2 in conjunction with the Outdoor Retailer summer show in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Psicobloc event features climbers going head to head on a custom-built wall perched over the 750,000-gallon freestyle skiing aerial training pool at Park City’s Utah Olympic Park. “I think in a lot of ways it could be a before and after for competition climbing,” Sharma says of the new highly accessible and thrilling format.
It’s Not Supposed to Be Easy
As climbers, we’re always looking for something that’s just past our level. Sometimes we get frustrated because it’s too hard, but our goal is to try to do something that is beyond our limits. If it feels easy then we’re not actually at our limit.
Go Out and Climb. A Lot
I’ll usually climb four days a week. Other times when I’m just having fun and climbing a little more recreationally, I’ll climb six days in a row.
Ditch the Gym
I’ve never actually trained. I’ve always just been a climber. Some people like to work in the climbing gym or follow a program and then they’ll go out and try to achieve their goals on rock. I’ve always just gone straight out onto the rock and tried these projects over and over again.
Diet by Feel
I’ve never followed a strict diet. I’m not a vegetarian, but I don’t eat a lot of red meat. I try to eat a lot of fish and I’ll eat some chicken and turkey. Once in a while, I’ll have a hamburger. I’ll have a beer or glass of wine for sure. I just gauge it by how I feel.
Supplement Sparingly
Over the last few years, I’ve been taking supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin, plant-based vitamins, and fish oils from Nutriex. When I’m climbing year-round punishing my body all the time it does give me a little bit of an edge.
