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.
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
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