Ethan Pringle

Ethan Pringle established himself as a dominant force in competitive climbing, earning a silver medal in lead at the IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships in 2000. He also secured the American youth national champion title in lead climbing for an unprecedented four consecutive years from 1998 to 2002. Pringle continued his ascendancy in the professional circuit, winning gold in the men’s USA national championships in lead in 2005, alongside silver medals in 2004 and 2006. His versatility was further evident with a bronze medal in the national bouldering championships in 2009.

Throughout his distinguished career, Pringle has achieved numerous groundbreaking ascents. In 2007, he made an early repeat of Chris Sharma’s iconic ‘Realization/Biographie’ (9a+/5.15a) in Ceuse, France, a route then considered among the world’s most difficult. Demonstrating his mastery in traditional climbing, he completed the second repeat of ‘Cobra Crack’ (8c/5.14b) in Squamish, BC, in 2008. Pringle then made the first repeat of ‘Jumbo Love’ (9b/5.15b) in 2015 at Clark Mountain, California, a route widely regarded as North America’s hardest sport climb.

Pringle continued to push boundaries in traditional climbing, achieving the first free ascent of ‘Blackbeard’s Tears’ (8c+/5.14c) on the Northern California Coast in 2016. The following year, he completed the first free ascent of ‘Everything is Karate’ (9a) in 2017. His versatility was once again highlighted in 2018 with the ascent of ‘The Nest’ (V15/8C) in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, followed by an impressive onsight of ‘Moonlight Buttress’ (V 5.12+) in Zion National Park, Utah, the same year. Pringle remains a world-renowned rock climber, consistently performing at the highest echelons of the sport.