ASHIMA SHIRAISHI
Professional Climber
“By the age of fourteen, Ashima became possibly the best female rock climber ever… perhaps the first female climber whose accomplishments may transcend gender, and the first rock climber who could become a household name.” - The New Yorker
“The 30 Most Influential Teens” TIME Magazine
Top 10 Athletes of the Future: GQ
TED Talk “Just Climb Through It”
Featured, GQ Body Issue
Current major sponsors: The North Face, Clif Bar, Petzl, Coca-Cola Japan, All Nippon Airways, and Nikon.
BIO
At the age of 13, Ashima was the first woman to summit one of the most difficult climbs in the world, a route most professional men don’t dream of completing. When she completed the climb she was annoited rock-climbing royalty… and that was just the beginning. Now at 20 she is still winning competitions, and breaking records.
Ashima was born and raised in New York City, the daughter of two artistic Japanese immigrants. The Shiraishi’s have always done things differently, which explains how Ashima has come to be such a disruptor in her sport. Rock climbing has an archetype that’s gone relatively unchallenged since the beginning: buff, mostly white, hippie-leaning.
Ashima is the new generation: a wholly plugged-in, Air Force 1-wearing fashion enthusiast and Instagram influencer. Two of her biggest mentors are not fellow athletes, but actor Ansel Elgort (they met at the rock climbing gym as kids) and entrepreneur Jeff Staple (an early social media connection). She’s a New York girl, through and through. “Honestly, I feel like I'm not exactly the type of athlete that people expect. Climbing is the biggest thing in my life right now, but I'm also interested in a lot of other things. I love fashion and I still go to school. I wanna do more than just climb.”
