Kai Lightner facts for kids

Kai Lightner (born August 21, 1999) is an amazing American professional sport climber from Fayetteville, North Carolina. He is also a strong supporter of making rock climbing more welcoming for everyone.

Kai's Early Climbing Journey

When Kai Lightner was just six years old, he climbed a 50-foot flagpole in his hometown! A woman who saw him told his mom about a local climbing gym. Just four years later, Kai won his first national championship for youth sport climbing. This was a big step in his climbing career.

Becoming a Champion Climber

In 2014, Kai won a gold medal at the Youth World Championships in New Caledonia. He was in the 14–15 age group. This made him the first American Youth Lead World Champion since 1995!

The next year, in 2015, when he was 15, Kai became the Open Lead Climbing National Champion. This was his first year being old enough to compete in that category. In 2017, he won the Lead Open Nationals again in Denver, Colorado. Overall, Kai has won 10 Youth National Championship titles. He has also earned five medals at the Youth World Championships.

Making Climbing Welcoming for Everyone

Kai Lightner is not just a great climber; he also works to make rock climbing more diverse. In the summer of 2020, after some important events, Kai started a nonprofit group called Climbing for Change (C4C).

The main goal of C4C is to create more chances for people of color to get involved in climbing, both indoors at gyms and outdoors. Kai has said that climbing is often seen as "a white sport." He hopes that by sharing his own story and being in the media, climbing can become a sport where everyone feels welcome.

Other Cool Projects

In 2016, Kai Lightner was featured in a film called Young Guns. He appeared alongside another famous climber, Ashima Shiraishi, in the Reel Rock 11 movie.

As of 2020, Kai was studying at Babson College.

Amazing Outdoor Climbs

Kai Lightner has also completed some incredibly difficult climbs outdoors. Here are a few of his impressive achievements:

• Ciudad de Dios (5.14d/5.15a) in Santa Linya, Spain
• Direct Into Your Fabelita (5.14d) in Santa Linya, Spain
• Death of Villains (5.15a) in Hurricave, Utah
• Life of Villains (5.14d) in Hurricave, Utah
• Era Vella (5.14c/d) in Margalef, Spain
• Lucifer (5.14c) and Southern Smoke (5.14c) in the Red River Gorge

More About Kai