Natalia Grossman ( ; born June 22, 2001) is an American professional

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 ...

who specializes 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 ...

. She represents the

United States 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at IFSC Climbing World Cup in

competition bouldering 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 ...

and

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 ...

. She has had 22 podium finishes at World Cup events, including 11 gold medals, and is the only climber to have won four consecutive overall titles in bouldering.

Early life

Grossman grew up in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

and at age six, began climbing at the Pacific Edge climbing gym where

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 ...

also climbed in his youth. She joined the Zero Gravity team that trained at Berkeley Ironworks, a gym that was an hour and 45 minutes away in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. Following Zero Gravity's disbanding in 2014, her family moved to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

in 2015 so she could train with Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou's Team ABC.

Climbing career

Competition climbing

Grossman finished second in the bouldering and combined disciplines at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships in Arco, Italy, where she also finished fourth in speed climbing and sixth in lead climbing. She went undefeated in the 2019-2020 bouldering National Cup Series and won the USA Climbing 2020 Bouldering Open National Championship.

2021 World Cup Season

In 2021, Grossman finished first in bouldering and second in lead climbing at the USA Climbing National Team Trials in March, qualifying for the USA national team in both disciplines. In April, she won her first IFSC Climbing World Cup medal with a bronze at the Boulder World Cup in

Meiringen Meiringen () is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides the village of Meiringen, the municipality includes the settlements of Balm, Brünigen, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Prasti, ...

. In May, across two IFSC events held in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, she won her first two World Cup gold medals, topping all four boulders in the final in the first event and flashing all four final boulders in the second, beating Janja Garnbret, who also topped all four boulders, on attempts and thereby becoming the first woman to beat Garnbret in a Boulder World Cup since 2018. In June, she won a silver medal at the Boulder World Cup in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, winning her first overall title in the Boulder World Cup. In lead climbing, Grossman finished on the podium in four of five events, winning two silver and bronze medals each and finishing in second place in the overall rankings of the Lead World Cup. She closed out the season with a gold medal in bouldering and a silver medal in lead climbing at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

2022 World Cup Season

In 2022, Grossman won the overall title in the Boulder World Cup by earning a place on the podium at every event that season, winning five gold medals and one silver medal. She also finished in third place in the overall rankings of the Lead World Cup after six straight appearances in finals and two bronze medals.

2023 World Cup Season

In 2023, Grossman won two gold medals and one silver medal on her way to securing her third consecutive overall title in the Boulder World Cup. Later that year, she qualified for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by winning the combined bouldering and lead climbing event at the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

2024 World Cup Season

In 2024, Grossman suffered a knee injury on her way to winning a gold medal at the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City in May. Due to her injury, she did not compete again until competing at the Olympics in August, where she finished in eleventh place in the semifinals of the

combined event Combined track and field events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events, earning points for their performance in each event, which adds to a total points score. Outdoors, the most common combined events ...

and did not move on to finals. After winning another gold medal at the Boulder World Cup in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and finishing in fourth place at the Boulder World Cup in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Grossman won the overall title for the 2024 Boulder World Cup, becoming the first-ever climber to win four consecutive season titles in bouldering.

2025 World Cup Season

Because of injury, Grossman did not compete in 2025.

Rock climbing

With competitions in 2020 canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Grossman focused on outdoor climbs for the first time in her career, sending four rated boulders in the

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is s ...

and redpointed the rated

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 ...

route, ''Positive Vibrations''. Grossman recorded the top overall score (242.8) at the 2021 BFL Climbing Combine, showcasing elite strength and endurance ahead of her breakout 2022 season. Her combine dominance preceded a landmark year on the IFSC circuit, where she captured multiple World Cup golds and secured the 2022 Bouldering title.

World Cup results

Rankings

Podiums

Lead

Bouldering

Bouldering & Lead

Personal life

Grossman attended the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

and graduated in 2022. In January 2021, she moved to Salt Lake City to train at USA Climbing's national team base while she continued taking classes online. Grossman's mother is from

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

, Mexico, where her family visited in summers and winters during her childhood. She carries small mementos that remind her of loved ones, including a miniature climbing shoe keychain from a friend and a photo of her late grandmother, which she brings on trips for comfort and a sense of protection. Grossman emphasizes the importance of staying emotionally open and being present with her feelings rather than suppressing nerves or stress during high-level competitions.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Natalia American female climbers Living people 2001 births American rock climbers Sportspeople from Santa Cruz, California Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado University of Colorado Boulder alumni 21st-century American sportswomen Sport climbers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games IFSC Climbing World Championships medalists IFSC Climbing World Cup overall medalists Sport climbers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Boulder climbers Sportspeople from Salt Lake City American competition climbers American sportspeople of Mexican descent