Ethan Pringle (born May 30, 1986, in San Francisco, California) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

with notable ascents in

sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

(his 2015 repeat of ''

Jumbo Love ''Jumbo Love'' is a very long sport climbing route, on remote limestone cliffs on Clark Mountain in the Mojave Desert. Bolted by American climber Randy Leavitt in the 1990s, he invited Chris Sharma to attempt it in 2007. When Sharma completed ...

'', the world's

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

9b-graded route), in

traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places removable protection while simultaneously ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber ...

(his 2016 ascent of ''Blackbeard's Tears'', one of the world's hardest traditional climbs), and in

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

. He has also been active in

competition climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock climbing, rock-climbing competition held indoor climbing, indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition ...

, winning the American national

competition lead climbing Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition climbing disciplines are lead ...

championships in both youth and adult formats, and silver at the World Youth Championships.

Early life

Pringle was born and raised in the

Mission District, San Francisco The Mission District (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission (Spanish language, Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Fran ...

, and started climbing when he was 8 years old and began

when he was 12. By age 12 he had redpointed his first , and by age 13, had redpointed his first .

Climbing career

Competition climbing

Pringle was the American youth national champion in

lead climbing Lead climbing (or leading) is a technique in rock climbing where the 'lead climber' Glossary of climbing terms#clip in, clips their rope to the climbing protection as they ascend a pitch (climbing), pitch of the climbing route, while their 'seco ...

for four consecutive years from 1998 to 2002. In 2000, he won silver in lead at the

IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships The IFSC Youth World Championships are the annual World Youth Championships for competition climbing organized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). The first competition was held in Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Bas ...

in lead climbing. Pringle won the gold in the men's USA national championships in

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

in 2005, silver in 2004, and bronze in 2009. He won the silver at the men's USA national championships

in 2006 and 2012. He also won bronze in the men's USA national championships in

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

in 2004. In 2009, Pringle suffered a severe tear of his labrum at the men's USA national championships in

, which nearly ended his professional climbing career, and from which he only recovered over a year later.

Sport climbing

Pringle came to international attention with his September 2007 repeat of

Chris Sharma Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...

2001 route, '' Realization/Biographie'' , in Ceuse, France. At the time, 9a+ was the highest recognized consensus grade for a

route in the world. He followed his up with a short visit to

Rodellar Rodellar is a locality located in the municipality of Bierge, in Huesca province, Aragon, Spain. As of 2020, it has a population of 54. Geography Rodellar is located 64km east-northeast of Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain ...

in Spain, where he

onsight Glossary of climbing terms relates to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and to ice climbing. ebook: The terms used can vary between different English-speaking countries; ...

ed several routes up to , including ''Iron Man'' (this was just before the

Patxi Usobiaga Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza (born September 7, 1980), best known as Patxi Usobiaga, is a Basques, Basque Spanish professional rock climbing, rock climber, sport climbing, sports climber and bouldering, boulderer. He is known for winning two IFSC Climb ...

made the first-ever onsight of an graded route in December 2007). During 2007, Pringle and Sharma spent weeks trying to make the

first free ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers focused ...

(FFA) of ''

'' at Clark Mountain. Injury caused Pringle to withdraw from the project, and in September 2008, Sharma freed the route, which is now regarded as the first-ever graded sport climb in history. Recovering from his serious injury in 2009–2010, Pringle began to make FFAs of routes including ''Spicy Dumpling'' (2010, China's hardest sport climbing route) and ''Arrested Development'' (2012). In 2015, Pringle completed the first repeat of ''Jumbo Love'', and later that year visited the famous

Hanshelleren Cave Flatanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is Lauvsnes. Other villages incl ...

in Norway, repeating

Adam Ondra Adam Ondra (; born February 5, 1993) is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. In 2013, ''Rock & Ice'' described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondr ...

's 2012 route ''Thor's Hammer'' , and making his own FFA of ''The Eye of Odin'' at . The following year, Pringle made the FFA of ''Everything is Karate'', one of America's hardest sport routes at the time at .

Traditional climbing

Pringle is also known for

. In October 2008, Pringle made the second repeat of ''

Cobra Crack Cobra Crack is a long traditional climbing route on a thin crack up an overhanging granite rock face on Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. The route was first ascended by Peter Croft and Tami Knight in 1981 as an aid climb. Afte ...

'',

Sonnie Trotter Sonnie Trotter (born 15 November 1979) is a Canadian professional climber, known for his strength in many rock climbing disciplines – particularly traditional climbing – and contributing to hundreds of first free ascents around the world. C ...

's famous graded

route; considered one of the world's hardest at the time. In 2016, Pringle made the FFA of ''Blackbeard's Tears'' on the Redwood Coast in California, which at , was regarded as one of the hardest – if not the hardest – traditional climbing routes at the time.

Notable ascents

Sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

: :* ''

'' – Clark Mountain (

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

) – May 2015. First repeat of

's 2008 route. : :* ''Empath'' –

Kirkwood, California Kirkwood (formerly Kirk, Kirkwood's, and Roundtop) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Alpine County, California, Alpine and Amador County, California, Amador counties, California, United States. Kirkwood's main a ...

( US) – June 2021. Fourth repeat of Carlo Traversi's 2020 route. :* '' Realization'' – Ceuse (

FRA Fra is a title of a friar. Fra or FRA may also refer to: Codes * fra, the ISO 639-2 code for the French language * FRA, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for France * FRA, the IOC country code for France at the Olympics * Framingham station, Amtra ...

) – September 2007. Fourth repeat of

's 2001 route. : :* ''Everything is Karate'' –

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...

( US) – April 2017. First ascent. :* ''La Reina Mora'' – Siurana ( ESP) – March 2016. Repeat. :* ''Arrested Development'' –

Mount Charleston, Nevada Mount Charleston is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 357 at the 2010 census. The town of Mount Charleston is named for nearby Mount Charleston whose Charleston Peak ...

( US) – June 2012. First ascent. :* ''Spicy Dumpling:'' – Yangshoo ( CHN) – December 2010. First ascent of

's bolted line, and China's hardest sport climb.

Onsight Glossary of climbing terms relates to rock climbing (including aid climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing), mountaineering, and to ice climbing. ebook: The terms used can vary between different English-speaking countries; ...

: :* ''Iron Man'' –

( ESP) – October 2007. Repeat onsight. : :* ''Pequena Estrella'' –

( ESP) – October 2007. Repeat onsight. :* ''Philipe Cuisinere'' –

( ESP) – October 2007. Repeat onsight.

Traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places removable protection while simultaneously ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber ...

: :* ''Blackbeard's Tears'' – Redwood Coast, California (

) – September 2016. First free ascent, and was considered to be probably the hardest traditional climbs in the world at the time; and still one of the most difficult. : :* ''

'' –

Squamish, British Columbia Squamish (; , ; 2021 census population 23,819) is a community and a district municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the British Columbia Highway 99 ...

( CAN) – August 2008. Second repeat of

's famous 2006 route, and still considered to be one of the world's hardest traditional climbs.

Bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

: :* ''

The Wheel of Life ''The Wheel of Life'' is a long sandstone bouldering route on the roof of the Hollow Mountain Cave in the Grampians of Australia. When first climbed, it was graded at , one of the world's first-ever boulder routes at that grade. With repeats, ...

'' –

Grampians National Park The Grampians National Park, commonly known as the Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd. The national park is situated between ...

( AUS) – June 2010. Second repeat of

Dai Koyamada Dai Koyamada (, born 23 August 1976) is a Japanese rock climber and known as one of the leading boulderers of his generation who established some of the first-ever boulder problems at . He has also established and repeated, some of the hardest ...

's famous 2004 boulder. :* ''The Nest'' – Red Rocks, Nevada ( US) – July 2018. Fourth repeat of Daniel Woods' 2013 boulder. :* ''Kintsugi'' – Red Rocks, Nevada ( US) – April 2019. Fourth repeat of Nalle Hukkataival's 2015 boulder.

References

External links

VIDEO: The Full Send Footage of Ethan Pringle's Jumbo Love (5.15b) Ascent
''

Rock & Ice ''Rock & Ice'' is a magazine published by Outside focusing on rock and ice climbing. The first issue came out in March 1984. The first publisher was Neal Kaptain. George Bracksieck worked for him, beginning in January 1984, and the two became e ...

'' (May 2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Ethan 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from San Francisco American rock climbers Boulder climbers American competition climbers