It’s tough to climb 5.14+ — so difficult that most will never come close to doing it. On the other hand, Martina Demmel only needed 4 years of rock climbing to get there.
In 2017, Martina Demmel was a decorated competition skier. Then one day, a friend invited her to go rock climbing. The 15-year-old picked it up immediately.
“It never gets boring,” she says in EpicTV’s new video, which spotlights her rapid trip through the grades. Demmel started in the gym as a beginner climber but soon headed outside. Once she found her niche outdoors on real rock, she never looked back.
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And even though she can climb very, very hard, that’s not where her focus lies. Instead, aesthetic routes and a vibrant relationship with nature keep her motivated.
Demmel’s rock climbing looks flexible, calm, and fluid. It’s not every day you come across such a new climber who’s also so fluent. Watch her explain (and crush) it all, from Briancon to Oliana.
Runtime: 9 minutes