BURSTChris Sharma began climbing in the 1990s at just 12 years old, winning the US National Championships two years later. He quickly helped reinvigorate American sport climbing, repeating many of the hardest existing routes before establishing his own benchmarks, including Necessary Evil (1997), the first 5.14c in the USA.
He later pushed the sport into the modern era with a series of groundbreaking ascents across Europe and America, with routes like Biographie 5.15a, Jumbo Love 5.15b and even Dreamcatcher 5.14d. Sharma is also one of the world’s best deep water solo (DWS) climbers. He’s climbed and established many of the world’s hardest lines, including Es Pontas, Alasha, Black Pearl, Big Fish and Vision Quest.
Es Pontas 5.15
Es Pontas, a dramatic limestone sea arch rising from the Mediterranean off Mallorca, is one of the most iconic deep-water soloing routes ever climbed. First climbed in September 2006 by Sharma, the 20-metre line was later regarded 5.15a, making it the world’s first deep-water solo at that grade and one of the hardest rock climbs of its time. Sharma’s ascent marked a turning point not only in his career, but in the evolution of the sport itself. After achieving historic success on sport routes like Biographie, Sharma grew disillusioned with competition climbing.
A visit to Mallorca and exposure to deep-water soloing under the influence of pioneer Miquel Riera reignited his passion. Es Pontas embodied what Sharma called a “King Line”: steep, beautiful, and uncompromising. The route demanded extreme power, precision, and commitment, including a seven-foot dyno high above the water where failure meant long falls into the sea. Featured in the 2007 film King Lines, Es Pontas became an enduring image of modern climbing. Sharma later described the ascent as a pivotal life moment, calling deep-water soloing “the perfect form of climbing.” His achievement elevated DWS from a fringe pursuit into a respected discipline and cemented his legacy as one of climbing’s great visionaries.
Alasha 5.14d
In 2016, Sharma made the first ascent of Alasha on Mallorca. Alasha took Sharma five years of projecting, the crux is V13 and the overall grade settled at 5.14d after Jakob Schubert repeated it. Alasha, which he named after his daughter, Alana Sharma, remains one of most difficult psicobloc routes in the world. Sharma said the location of Alasha is rugged and that he took repeated falls from the 20-metre mark. “It needs very subtle body positions, really tricky beta,” he said of the crux. “I finally figured it out to the point where I was like ‘Ok, the moves go, now I can start trying it from the bottom.’”
Big Fish
In 2017, Sharma was back at it with the first ascent of Big Fish in Soller, Mallorca which he has described as “one of the most aesthetic, biggest and hardest deep water solos I’ve ever done.” The climb offers difficulties in the region of 5.14+ and it has a crux 20 metres above the Balearic sea. It was then repeated by Matty Hong and Jernej Kruder.
“I caught one of the best autumn days on Mallorca and closed my project from 2023,” said Kruder about his send. “Back then, I fell from the last jug due to a high humidity. This time, I didn’t come here very well prepared, but the weather conditions and my confidence high above the water made it possible on my third day on the island. Climbing through the head wall, I only saw and thought about the next move. The next thing, I was standing on the top of the cliff. The movements are for sure not the hardest I climbed above the water, but they’re definitely the highest. Crux stops close to 20 meters above the Mediterranean Sea.”
Black Pearl
In 2023, Sharma made the first ascent of Black Pearl at 5.15 in Mallorca, near his 2017 route Big Fish. Sharma explained that the route starts with 5.13a/b, followed by a rest, before a 15-move crux ending with a dyno to a three-finger pocket, which he said feels like “5.14b/c into V9”. The route then finishes with sustained 5.13b/c terrain.
“It’s basically right up there with Es Pontas and Alasha,” Sharma said. “It’s hard to compare… But it could possibly even be a bit harder than both.” He also described feeling “really lucky to find this pathway up the wall,” adding that without one key feature “it would be completely impossible.” Reflecting on the style, Sharma said: “Deep water soloing is so much more than just climbing a hard grade… This climb is maybe 5.15a (9a+), but it’s still very cutting edge for me.”
Vision Quest 5.14d/15a
Chris Sharma made the first ascent of Vision Quest in 2024, another stout 5.14d/15a deep water solo line in Mallorca. He spent over 30 days across six months projecting the route. Sharma explained that he has been developing deep-water solo routes in Mallorca for over 20 years, often discovering lines in unconventional ways. “I found this wall from a boat, marked the spot, and later hiked back in,” he said, adding that Alasha was discovered only after swimming for three hours, while other routes were located by kayak. “Then it’s all about rappelling down with cams, sky hooks, and whatever else I can use. If I had bolted it, it would’ve taken just a few hours, but doing it this way took me six days before I could even start from the ground.”
Describing the process, Sharma said that when he is on the wall it’s “just me, a GriGri, and the moves in my head,” calling the experience pure exploration despite its intensity. “Sometimes I’m hanging absurdly high over the water, burning an hour on just a couple of moves, and thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing up here? This is just crazy.’” While he always climbs from the ground with someone present, he noted that although several 15-metre falls were manageable, a 10-metre fall onto his back was “brutal.” He pushed back against the idea of DWS as vacation climbing, saying it is “super fun, but also seriously hard, challenging work, especially in December.” He added that the route features a hard boulder crux followed by sustained 5.14 climbing: “It might only be 28 moves, but they’re seriously pumpy. I’m super happy with this new addition to the collection of hardcore DWS climbs in Mallorca.”
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