America is Taking Over the Climbing World

[@jameshowell8391]

Americans are definitely good but I think we are just scratching the surface of Japanese dominance in indoor climbing.

[@paullier1253]

Couldn't agree more

[@luckynascarcat24]

AI Mori is very talented.

[@jteaaaaa]

Ride the Ai Mori 🚆

[@olivierhuet9860]

I would agree, but I know I have a huge personal bias toward japanese team and I am less informed about other teams. However the depth of the competition climbers field in Japan is just SO impressive. Not only those who are currently in the national team. Even the very best (Tomoa, Yoshiyuki, Kokoro, Natsuki, Miho ...) have to fight hard on the national circuit to be and stay on the team. Only Ai Mori seems to be "comfortably" ahead of her competitors. It does not seem impossible to me at all that in 2024 we will have young japanese climbers on the team the we have heard much of yet.

[@mardev2967]

Also you could argue Shawn Raboutou is the best outdoor boulderer right now. Probably deserves a mention

[@letitflow898]

I watched the Alphane video twice holy crap

[@ascentionism]

Yeah, that's a great point!! I have a Sean video over on Climbers Crag - this one was mostly focused on competition climbers, but you're right, he definitely deserved a mention. Dude's insane and I can't wait to hear confirmation on Megatron (some rumours are that it could be harder than Alphane - still v17 but harder)

[@PIXEL7atm]

nah that title belongs to aidan roberts

[@mihuuuu]

@@PIXEL7atm aidan is sick but i dont think he has nearly as much the amount of FA's and hard ascents as Shawn in general, talking V15+

[@Nano71896]

@@mihuuuu Aidan sent alphane really fast dude

[@drstrangelove85]

"The IFSC camera work and production quality spiked". That's a bold statement for "camera work" that in football (soccer) terms, would show the audience during a penalty kick in the final of the world championship.

[@ascentionism]

Yeaaaaaaaah they still have a long way to go (and trust me I get as annoyed as anyone when I'm trying to show a cool move and they decide to zoom in on a handhold)

[@LokeSenpai]

Why no one speaks about French climbers is mind blowing

[@bendingriver7101]

This makes me think a lot about a kid I met at the gym. He's 18, just graduated, going to college in Colorado to climb competitively and completely crushes everything in his wake. I'm sure everyone knows of that one kid at their gym but for reference, he warms up on V8/V9 routes and his best grade is V13. He has so much room for growth and potential at his age. He's wicked strong and thoughtfully training. He strength trains to improve and over all is just a very strong climber. My point isn't to say he's the next Ondra, but to point out that a LOT of gyms have kids just as strong as him, and one of those kids will be one of the next greats, and that's what is crazy to me.

[@darkotp7108]

American people have such a crazy ego. It remenber me like when Margo did 9a+ and you get so crazy, meanwhile in the same year europan girls did 9bs without so much marketing.... you live in a buble

[@martairla9578]

Yeah, it fells the same to me. Laura Rogora is the same age as Brooke and Natalia, and her last outdoors seasons were just insane.

[@offeringsoffire]

like michael buble?

[@alexweitz]

10:40 I think you forgot about Ai Mori.

[@adamsharma3219]

Speaking of visibility, yes maybe. It is mostly due to the fact that mellow is american. But when it comes to maximum performances usa is just a country among others. For exemple, in bouldering: -Will Bosi, Aidan Roberts, Charles Albert, Giuliano Cameroni, Tomoa... In rockclimbing: -Adam, Alex, Seb Bouin, Will Bosi, Jorge Diaz Rullo, Jonathan flor... It’s my humble opinion...:)

[@yuteyang6811]

Nathalia beated Janja !? When? When Janja didn't sign up boulder competitions?

[@wille9400]

Boulder where Grossman flashed all 4 and Janja flashed 3 because she slipped on one. So really just a product of bad setting

[@KirstenRietveld]

And Janja also flashes basically everything so I feel it's unfair he said that Natalia is the best onsight climber alive right now. Janja just didn't compete in boulder but that doesn't make her any less good, lmao

[@123amsterdan456]

America != The United States

[@jacquimac6867]

To answer the question in the title, NO!

[@harrisonfalls]

I'm currently on the Elite climbing team at ABC, and although most of these insane climbers are no longer on the team, there are some absolute legends who are on the younger teams who are going to make a name for themselves. Robyn is an absolutely amazing coach, and being able to learn from her and the other amazing coaches gives me another level of understanding on how these climbers managed to get so good, and one day I hope that me and my teammates, along with the younger athletes as well, can follow in their footsteps to bring America back to the forefront of climing.

[@laclimber3892]

Great video! Being that you were talking about comp climbing you nailed it! Being from the US it has been exciting to finally have some US competitors to cheer on! Excited to see what the future holds.

[@blancheladera-puncer]

what a funny title. Natalia grossman had a chance to be number one when Janja took a break, then came Ai Mori.

[@gatosospechosop3]

Bro really forgot Ai Mori

[@bluepalmsmusic]

I had to laugh at 3:41 Perhaps it has improved, but there is still plenty of room for improvement in that regards

[@ascentionism]

Oh trust me I chirp the IFSC for their camera work as much as anyone (@IFSC pls don't copyright strike me though) I'm just saying it got BETTER. They spiked from a 2/10 to a 6/10

[@Bobbzorzen]

Always love your videos and yeah as others have mentioned, the outdoor boulderers to look out for seem american as well atm, with Shawn, Jimmy and Daniel out there setting up new V17's

[@ascentionism]

Yeah, totally agree!! America has basically ruled the bouldering scene for the past two decades (with some obvious exceptions like Nalle, Ashima, Dai, etc) and they're still sort of in the lead, although with people like Giuliano and Aidan coming up it's going to be fun to watch the scene in the next couple of years!

[@flowerletters]

@@ascentionism hey I think you've made a pretty embarrassing assumption. Ashima is American with Japanese heritage.

[@Bobbzorzen]

@@ascentionism Yeah I've been watching Aiden's stuff lately and that guy looks superhuman can't wait for what he can do when he reaches his peak :D

[@ascentionism]

@@flowerletters You're 100% right, that's totally on me. Dumb error to make and that shouldn't have happened, I appreciate you pointing it out!

[@ascentionism]

I REALLY want him to get BoD and compare it to Alphane

[@MF-CLIMB]

Japan says hello

[@ashleykane2895]

glad you’re back!!!

[@Jagknorr]

America is good, but Japan still sweeps 😂

[@phoenixcqcq]

Both USA and Japan are great, but if there is one country to dominate, it's still Slovenia. Considering their population is 60x lower than Japan and 150x lower than USA that's insane how great Slovenians are... Janja Garnbret, Mia Krampl, Lucka Rakovec, Vita Lukan, Domen Skofic, Jernej Kruder, Luka Potocar... Oh man... So many crushers!

[@gabriellasmith1213]

Do you watch the World Cup?! Sure Slovenia has less people, but the reality is they don’t dominate. Aside from Janja Japan dominates the finals and the podium, and the most recent World Cup is a perfect example.

[@petricm]

I have a bit of problem with the argument that the US team is the "next generation" or at all that it is a different generation. Given the examples in your video 1950-60 John Brown born 1930 Don Whillans born 1933 1970 Jim Bridwell 1944 Lynn Hill born 1961 John Bachar born 1957 John Long born 1953 80 - 90 Jerry Moffatt born 1963 Wolfgang Güllich born 1960 Alexander Huber born 1968 Thomas Huber born 1966 2000 Chris Sharma born 1981 Dave Graham born 1981 Daniel Woods born 1989 Ethan Pringle born 1986 now Janja Garnbret born 1999 Stefano Ghisolfi born 1993 Adam Ondra born 1993 Seb Bouin born 1993 Team US Brooke Raboutou born 2001 Natalia Grosman born 2001 Nathaniel Coleman born 1997 Jesse Grupper born 1997 Colin Duffy born 2003 Janja is 2 years older than Brooke and Natalia, this is certainly not a generational change. It might seem as a generational difference because Janja won her first WC at 17 and in our perception she is longer around. Stefano, Adam and Seb are 4 years older than Nathaniel and Jesse, which I would also argue not a different generation. The only person who might really be of a "different generation" is Colin.

[@i3dont3care3]

Yea, and I feel it's kinda dishonest the way the Japanese climbers are almost like an honorable mention. With the exception of pretty much only Janja, the competition bouldering scene has been dominated by Japan these last couple years. On the IFSC website they are even ranked number 1 as a nation for both boulder and lead in 2022 so far, and I'm willing to bet the past couple years will have looked similar. There's also a lot of stock put into the results of the Olympics, which I feel gives a misguided view. Not only is the whole combined format rather controversial, but it's also simply one competition. If you look at the totality of competitions these last couple years, Japan clearly has no competition. I wouldn't be surprised if on average there's at least 2 to 3 Japanese climbers in every final, which as a nation would be insane. And I'm willing to bet there are plenty of insane outdoor crusher's as well, like Ryuichi Murai, and even Tomoa when he climbs on rock. Long story short, Japan has this proverbial torch at the moment. Again, Janja being the exception lol

[@connorpollard2009]

It’s American, very ego-centric, anything outside the U S of A doesn’t matter

[@ascentionism]

Yeah, that's a great point! Janja kind of breaks the mold of what I'm trying to get at here because she's SO young and she came onto the scene so hot, so it already feels like she's an incumbent. I guess that's more what I was trying to get at - less about the age they were born and more about how long they've been on the scene. Janja came on in 2017 and we saw her going against a lot of the older climbers (Kim Jain, Alex Puccio), and it was sort of a 'passing of the torch' moment. Ever since then, there's really been no one who could touch her at bouldering - but now, in the last couple of years, she's got competition, and (at least to me) it does feel like we're coming into a new 'era' in the bouldering scene, what with Akiyo retiring and a bunch of young climbers (Camilla, Hannah, etc) With all that said, though, you are right - it's not as much of a generation gap as it was in the past. In my head, though, it does feel like a new era, and that's all I was trying to get at. Re: Japan - yeah, looking back, I should have given them more screen time and talked about how they've dominated in the past and, looking forwards, could continue to dominate (Yoshiyuki, Kai, Ai, and Futaba is a pretty insane lineup). Really, all I can say is that this video was already long for me to edit and I had an advertiser deadline, so the finished product isn't as good as it maybe could have been. I appreciate the feedback!!

[@НиколайТобиас]

@@i3dont3care3 also it felt kind of weird to hear that Natalia is the best female onsight boulderer (actually more than once) over Janja and not hearing any sort of mention that main reason she dominated the year was Janja not competing (same as Janja dominated lead before Ai Mori came, but more obvious) - she won over Janja once in her life on attempts

[@i3dont3care3]

@@ascentionism in all fairness, I do get why you came up with the video idea. It definitely feels like the US is having a revival of sorts with crusher's such as Natalia and Colin coming up, and Brooke and her brother Shawn too, who has been on a tear outdoors. Just thought Japan needed some (more) representation, but from your reply you get that :) Also, I apologize if my comment came over as accusatory or hostile in any eay, it wasn't my intention. I realize it may have come across as a bit blunt haha in any case, don't be discouraged by comments such as mine is all I'm trying to say. Keep doing your thing! :)

[@androgynousmaggot9389]

If Janja and Ai messed up, maybe Americans could have a chance? In men? Shubert, Ondra, and Narasaki from the old guard, Roberts, Anraku, Schalck, Lopez and then Duffy...But its one competition, and like in Tokyo for men, even not favourites could win

[@luckynascarcat24]

Poland in the womens speed climbing is very good. Miroslaw climbs fast like a spider

[@IdDuncan]

and then there is Ai Mori !

[@robbory]

Amazing video man I loved this

[@DIYToPen]

America would love to be the best. Unfortunately they aren't. Edit: you summed up all my thoughts at the end.

[@ClimbingEasy]

Starting a climbing video talking about Greek gods is not weird, it's actually quite appropriate. 13:29 lololololol

[@ascentionism]

I got sick of Climbers Crag bleeping me so I just decided to throw a swear word in there for fun

[@ClimbingEasy]

@@ascentionism f*ck yeah 😁

[@sgtwanderer]

You talked about Brooke and Natalia but what about Kyra? I'm not super well-informed but i know she was right with or beyond them for a while, like in 2019. Would love to see her in the 2024 games.

[@jesusaraneta4578]

Yes you have an American bias, but you are upfront with it. Also your bias seems to be just from how much you love the upcoming American athletes without needlessly smearing the athletes of other countries. ^^ Keep on cheers.

[@DreIsGoneFission]

I don’t follow pro climbing nearly as closely as you or most people who will watch this video, but I can tell you that Americans love climbing right now. It seems like the trendy thing to put in dating bios, the subculture with the coolest clothes, a physique goal for guys who don’t want a dad-bod, etc. obviously, there are better reasons to like climbing, and this isn’t my mentality, so it’s easy to get annoyed with the people who are latching onto the sport for a reason that seems shallow or misled. But I AM saying, that usually when America decides that something is cool, we end up being the best at it. It’s hard to compete with the industrial might and sheer number of people of the USA

[@BeorOng]

Its frustrating being in a country that doesnt really have access to programs that help develop athletes, in this case climbing. The commercialized nature here just make it so that there is a higher focus on safety and fun rather than developping which really hurt our athletes to compete at a higher level on a world stage. This on top of the lack of emphasis on building national champions through a team is why I think countries like japan, and america really stand out. Thats not to say you need it - ie europe i think all train individually as well, but again i think this is where their access to higher end facilities and setting makes a really big difference

[@noahjeffery5670]

My gym doesn't have a spray wall just a tension board without hold set c( the smaller holds)

[@amethyst8399]

just like literally every other sport but soccer, cricket, and rugby

[@hashiramasenju5001]

Percy Jackson is the most badass protagonist to ever be. And that's a lot comming from me

[@ascentionism]

Heroes of Olympus was mostly trash but 7th book Percy was the coolest Percy

[@ashleykane2895]

I will NOT thirst over Nathaniel Coleman in the comments section.

[@ascentionism]

The 'Try not to thirst over Team America Challenge' is getting pretty difficult tbh

[@yaboinightwing]

No love for Sean Bailey? Shawn Raboutou?

[@doruso5610]

British dominance. Period.

[@alexnadasanu4457]

I would add Sean Bailey to this list as well.

[@ascentionism]

I mention him right at the end does that count??? In all seriousness, Sean is insanely good. The video was just dragging and I suck at editing so I didn't want to make it any longer

[@markgilbertson6564]

She also weights 5pounds lol