Ethan Pringle facts for kids
Ethan Pringle, 2021
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| Personal information | ||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Piledriver | |||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||
| Born | May 30, 1986 San Francisco, California |
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| Occupation | Professional rock climber | |||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in | |||||||
| Weight | 150 lb | |||||||
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| Highest grade |
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| Known for | First repeat of Jumbo Love | |||||||
| First ascents |
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Medal record
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| Updated on 28 July 2023. | ||||||||
Ethan Pringle (born May 30, 1986) is an American professional rock climber. He is known for his amazing climbs in different styles, like sport climbing, traditional climbing, and bouldering. He was the first person to repeat a super hard route called Jumbo Love. This climb was one of the first in the world to be graded 9b, which is extremely difficult.
Ethan has also done very well in competition climbing. He won national championships in the US for both youth and adults. He also won a silver medal at the World Youth Championships.
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Early life and start in climbing
Ethan Pringle grew up in San Francisco, California. He started climbing when he was just 8 years old. By the time he was 12, he began competing in climbing events. He quickly became very good, completing his first 5.13a graded climb by age 12. A year later, at 13, he had already climbed a 5.14a route. These are very high-level climbs for someone so young!
Ethan Pringle's climbing career
Competition climbing achievements
Ethan was a top competitor in lead climbing for many years. He was the American youth national champion four times in a row, from 1998 to 2002. In 2000, he won a silver medal at the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships for lead climbing.
As an adult, Ethan continued to succeed. He won the gold medal at the USA national championships in lead climbing in 2005. He also earned silver in 2004 and bronze in 2009. In bouldering competitions, he won silver at the USA national championships in 2006 and 2012. He even won a bronze medal in speed climbing in 2004.
In 2009, Ethan had a serious injury during a national bouldering competition. This injury almost ended his climbing career. It took him over a year to recover and get back to climbing at a high level.
Sport climbing highlights
Ethan Pringle gained international attention in 2007. He successfully climbed Realization/Biographie in France, which was graded 9a+. At that time, this was one of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world. He was only the fourth person to complete it.
Soon after, he visited Spain and managed to onsight several routes up to 8c. Onsight means climbing a route perfectly on the first try, without any practice or falls.
Ethan also spent weeks trying to be the first to climb Jumbo Love in California. An injury forced him to stop, but his friend Chris Sharma later completed it. Jumbo Love became known as the world's first 9b graded sport climb.
After recovering from his injury, Ethan made some impressive first ascents (FFAs). These are routes that no one has ever climbed before. In 2010, he completed Spicy Dumpling in China, which became the hardest sport climbing route there. In 2012, he did the FFA of Arrested Development.
In 2015, Ethan made history by being the first person to repeat Jumbo Love. Later that year, he climbed Thor's Hammer (9a+) in Norway. The next year, he completed the FFA of Everything is Karate (9a), one of America's toughest sport routes.
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Traditional climbing achievements
Ethan Pringle is also very skilled in traditional climbing. This style uses removable gear for safety, making it more challenging. In 2008, he was the second person to repeat Cobra Crack in Canada. This 8c graded route was considered one of the hardest traditional climbs in the world.
In 2016, Ethan made the first free ascent of Blackbeard's Tears in California. This route was graded 8c+ and was thought to be one of the hardest traditional climbs globally at the time. It is still considered incredibly difficult today.
Bouldering achievements
Ethan has also made his mark in bouldering, which involves climbing short, difficult routes without ropes. In 2010, he completed The Wheel of Life (V15) in Australia. This was only the second time someone had repeated this famous boulder problem.
He also repeated other very hard V15 boulder problems in Nevada, USA. These include The Nest in 2018 and Kintsugi in 2019.
Images for kids
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Ethan Pringle on the first ascent of Spicy Dumpling (5.14d) in China. This climb became China's hardest sport climbing route.
