Ashima Shiraishi
b. 2001
Former child prodigy climber Ashima Shiraishi comes from the most unexpected of backgrounds: she was born in the concrete jungle of New York City to Japanese artist immigrants — a Butoh dancer and a fashion designer — and discovered climbing at age six at Central Park’s Rat Rock.
Not long after, Ashima quickly caught the attention of the climbing world when she became the youngest person to climb a V10 in Hueco Tanks at just age eight, at age 9 was the youngest to climb a V12, at 14 the youngest female to climb a V14 and the first female to climb a V15 at the age of 14. Ever since then, she has been breaking barriers in climbing, on and off the wall.
One of her biggest motivators is to make climbing a more inclusive sport, and in 2020 Ashima co-founded AllRise— ‘an experimental program in the world of DEI’—in conjunction with Braindead and Long Beach Rising. She has always been breaking the mould of what it means to be a climber; she’s noted for her unique style that blends urban with nature, thrifted vintage with technical gear and regularly shares her passion as a foodie, seamstress, amateur photographer and writer (she also authored the children’s book, How to Solve a Problem: The Rise (and Falls) of a Rock-Climbing Champion).
Currently, Ashima is working on her on projects (creative and rock-based) and serves as a global ambassador for Arc’teryx.