When I started climbing in 1994, bouldering was just blowing up and no one had even heard of deep-water soloing, but the sport climbing revolution was in full effect. All of the work done by the early sport-climbing pioneers—discovering new cliffs, developing trails, and bolting hundreds of routes—appeared to be paying off because those climbers who had accepted the new rules of the game, despite their atrocious fashion sense, were free climbing harder than anyone had ever imagined.

Three years before, in 1991, Wolfgang Güllich, of Germany, had set the bar high with the world’s first 5.14d, Action Directe, on his home turf. Then, the French climber Jibe Tribout established the first 5.14c on U.S. soil: Just Do It, at Smith Rock, Oregon, in 1992. Each year, it seemed, more routes emerged on longer sweeping faces with super-complex, athletic moves that just flowed into each other. These routes and climbers inspired and motivated me most in those initial years. (I never understood the Lycra tights, however.)

I continued to cut my teeth sport climbing, but increasingly found myself being pulled toward the boulders. First and foremost, I’ve always been intrigued by cool, gymnastic movement on rock—this is what bouldering is all about. I’d go out each day and try to pull as hard as I could on the smallest holds possible, if only to see just how hard a single three-move sequence could be. Bouldering is amazing: no ropes or gear—it’s just you and the rock. It is simultaneously the simplest and the most complex type of climbing there is.

After almost exclusively bouldering for years, in 2004 I took a trip to the Spanish island Mallorca to try my hand at the relatively new sport called “deep-water soloing,” which is climbing up sea cliffs with nothing but the turbulent ocean waves to keep you safe if you fall. The locals in Mallorca, however, call it psicobloc, as in “psycho bouldering,” an apt name since it feels more like an extension of bouldering than anything else.

Discovering psicobloc really brought me a whole new level of motivation. To have the sea as a crash pad gives you the freedom to explore any cliff (up to about 60 feet) as you please. Unlike a sport climb, which has bolts and an anchor at its end, there is no delimited path in psicobloc. It’s cool because in one fraction of a second, you go from climbing on this solid thing, this earth, to floating in its polar opposite. All of the elements are there: the stone, the air when you’re falling, the water, and the fire inside.

While psicobloc is really similar to bouldering, cliffs of these heights are really more like sport climbs. During my stint in Mallorca, climbing over the Mediterranean Sea, I found myself reconnecting to the flow of continuous movement and the fight of being pumped out of your mind—exalting sensations only experienced on a hard sport route. Deep-water soloing ignited something within, and I unexpectedly felt myself being pulled back to sport climbing. In this sense, I guess, I’ve come full circle back to my “routes.”

As of 2009, I’ve been sport climbing exclusively, yet things have changed over the years. Everything I’ve learned from bouldering about extreme movement on the rock, and re-learned from the process of working an entire deep-water solo, has made me feel as if I am seeing sport climbing with new eyes.

What does it look like? Routes that aren’t just a ladder of holds, but demand that you really dig deep to unlock bouldery sequences; the fluidity of moving up a big, bad cliff; and the strategy needed to connect the moves before the ticking time bomb of our forearms explodes. Finally, it means giving back to the community through the creative process of bolting and climbing new routes. It’s something I find extremely satisfying on all levels.

And as I get older, there’s one thing I appreciate about sport climbing more than anything: its friendliness on the body. While bouldering is all about holding on as hard as you can to the most painful, small holds, sport climbing allows you to breathe and relax. You connect to the rock with as little grip—both mental and physical—as possible in order to conserve your energy. It’s a type of climbing for all ages and all levels, and it’s never too late to start. I know many people in their mid-50s who climb 5.14, and some of them didn’t start climbing until they were in their late 30s.

The true essence of sport climbing means giving 100 percent, something you can do regardless of how hard you climb. Some of the most inspiring climbers I know project 5.11s, but their motivation is pure and they love what they’re doing. In the end, it’s all about having a good time with your friends, being in a beautiful place, and doing a little climbing.

Take the time to enjoy the process, be safe and hopefully your climbing will come full circle, too.

This essay was first published in Sport Climbing: From Top Rope, to Redpoint, Techniques for Climbing Success, which won the 2010 National Outdoor Book Award: Best Instructional.

About the Author

Chris Sharma’s preternatural climbing ability and visionary first ascents have earned him an enduring reputation as one of the world’s best rock climbers. This American professional athlete, ambassador and entrepreneur from Santa Cruz, California, has been on a global odyssey, now two decades in the making, in search of the planet’s most difficult and beautiful rock climbs. Sharma has dedicated years of his life to discovering and climbing singular, aesthetic and seemingly impossible routes—always with his humble, meditative approach and powerful, dynamic style of movement. Today he continues to climb at the world standard, pushing the limits of what’s possible and always reimagining the direction of his remarkably storied climbing career.

Sharma’s contributions to the sport are numerous; including climbing the first routes rated 5.15a and 5.15b in the world, and establishing the grade of 5.15c. Over the years Sharma has popularized various genres of climbing, from bouldering to sport climbing to “psicobloc” (aka deep-water soloing). Psicobloc involves climbing ropeless up the sea cliffs of the Spanish island of Mallorca with nothing but the ocean to protect you in the event of a fall. His signature route here is Es Pontas, which climbs the underbelly of a magnificent arch in the middle of the ocean.

Sharma has been a leading force in the climbing industry. He is the lead shoe designer at Evolv, and has developed several award-winning models of climbing shoes. He is a founder of the PsicoBloc Masters—the first and only deep-water solo competition in the U.S.

In 2013, Sharma partnered with his sponsor Walltopia and opened his first signature rock-climbing gym: Sender One, in Los Angeles, California. With 25,000 square feet of climbing space, Sender One is the premier indoor-climbing facility in Southern California, and one of the many ways that Sharma, who discovered climbing for himself in a gym, is giving back to the community.

Sharma is partnered with Petzl, prAna, Walltopia, Clif Bar, Momentum, Sender One, Sanuk, Evolv, Sterling Ropes, and The Sharma Fund.