Professional Climbers to follow on Instagram
- Adam Ondra – Widely considered the best climber in the world. Has the first and only ascent of a 5.15d (9c). Has more 5.15 (9a+) and above sends than anyone else, by far. Won 1 boulder and 3 lead World Championships and has won 14 lead World Cups and 4 boulder World Cups.
- Janja Garnbret – The best female comp climber … ever. First person to sweep a bouldering World Cup season, has 11 bouldering World Cup wins, 15 lead World Cup wins, won the lead season in 2016, 2017, and 2018, won the bouldering season in 2019, won the lead World Championship in 2016, won the boulder and combined in 2018 and got a hat trick (lead, boulder, combined) of golds at the 2019 World Championships. Needless to say, the favorite to win gold at the Olympics.
- Magnus Midtbø – Has a legendary YouTube channel. His hardest redpoint is a 5.15b. A cool dude.
- Jongwon Chon – Another cool dude. 5 time World Cup winner in bouldering. Won the 2015 and 2017 bouldering World Cup seasons.
- Margo Hayes – First woman to send a 5.15a (9a+) with her ascent of La Rambla. Then later that year sent another, Biographie. Then this year sent another, Papichulo. Won the American lead nationals in 2019.
- Ashima Shiraishi – First woman to send a V15 (8c). Youngest person to climb a 5.14d/5.15a (9a/9a+). Won the American bouldering nationals in 2019, and won the youth lead and boulder World Championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
- Daniel Woods – Has climbed more than 20 V15 (8c) boulders. Has 5 V16 (8c+) boulders to his name, four of which were first ascents. Also has a tattoo of an eye on his neck, make of that what you will 🙂
- Jimmy Webb – Another prolific boulderer. Done 9 V15s and 3 V16s; two of his V16s were first ascents. Regarded by many as the world’s best flash boulderer.
- Alex Megos – Mr. Yellow T-shirt, the German powerhouse. One of only four people to have sent 5.15c (9b+) with his first ascent of Perfecto Mundo. Was the first person to on-sight 5.14d (9a). So far he’s only won one lead World Cup, but he has qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as well.
- Miho Nonaka – Has won three bouldering World Cups, and has 19 World Cup medals in total. Won the entire bouldering World Cup season in 2018. One of the two Japanese women qualified for the Olympics.
- Alex Puccio – Ahh where do I start with her? She’s won two bouldering World Cups, and has 13 total World Cup medals. She’s won the American Bouldering Series 11 times. She likes to hurt her knee and then come back even stronger. One of the strongest climbers of all time.
- Tommy Caldwell – Completed the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall, missing a finger. Known as one of, if not the best Yosemite climber.
- Alex Honnold – Did that free solo thing you may have heard of. Another one of the best Yosemite climbers.
- Nalle Hukkaitaval – The first person to send a V17 (9a) with his ascent of Burden of Dreams. Has a lot of other ascents too, but sadly Wikipedia doesn’t list them.
- Tomoa Narasaki – Has 4 World Cup wins in bouldering and 17 medals in total from boulder World Cups. He won the 2016 and 2019 bouldering World Cup seasons. Won the combined World Championship in 2019. One of the two Japanese men qualified for the Olympics, and a favorite to win gold.
- Brooke Raboutou – The first American to qualify for the Olympics in climbing! In addition to that, she’s the youngest person to have climbed 5.14b (8c).
- Akiyo Noguchi -Been dominating the comp scene for ages, and has a trophy cabinet to reflect it. With 21 bouldering World Cup wins, 58 bouldering medals, 8 lead medals, and 4 bouldering World Cup season wins the only thing that has alluded her in competition is a World Championship win. The other Japanese woman qualified for the Olympics, and another favorite to win gold.
- Kai Harada – A youngling, but still won the bouldering World Championships in 2018. The other Japanese man qualified for the Olympics.
- Shauna Coxsey – Another big comp climber, she’s won 11 boulder World Cups, and won the bouldering World Cup season in 2016 and 2017.
- Kyra Condie – Won the first American Open Combined National Championship and the Pan American Combined Championship. The second American woman to qualify for the Olympics, and many people’s biggest hope for an American medal.
- Jain Kim – Won 29 lead world cups, with 55 lead medals in total and 2 Lead World Championship golds. Only Janja and Akiyo can come anywhere near her prolific competition record.
- Alberto Ginés López – Bursting onto the adult scene this year, the 17-year old has already claimed a spot in the 2020 Olympics, got a silver and bronze medal in lead World Cups, and finished the lead season 2nd over all. BFFs with Adam Ondra, actual puppy dog. Watch out for this young gun at the Olympics.
Our Instagram following is also a great resource for some awesome pro climbers to follow!
Best Climbing YouTube Channels
- Erik Karlsson Bouldering
- Magnus Midtbø
- Bouldering Bobat
- Climbing Daily
- Mellow
- If you want to re-watch any old World Cups or World Championships: IFSC Youtube
Best Climbing Videos
- Break On Through
- La Dura Dura Complete: The Hardest Rock Climb in the World
- Epic Climber Series
- Adam Ondra’s Silence
- The North Face’s Climbing Videos
- Alex Megos Climbs “Lucid Dreaming” (8C/V15) in Bishop
- Sleepwalker (8C+/V16) First Ascent
- Comfort Zone
- 11-Year-Old girl Shatters Climbing Records
- Age of Ondra: Part 1
- Young Guns: Part 1 and Part 2
- Adam Ondra 2 V16s
- Cracking Cobra
- Slaydies
- Wide Boyz
- Rotpunkt
- Adam Ondra’s Road to Tokyo #2: Lead, Bouldering, Speed + The Olympic format
- How to be a Rock Climber
- Tommy Caldwell’s Dawn Wall is on Netflix
- Valley Uprising in an incredible documentary about the history of climbing in Yosemite and is on Amazon Prime Video
- And I mean… Free Solo… Obviously. It’s on Hulu if you haven’t seen it!