“I began attempting it again in 2017 after climbing Huge Fish. I used to be all the time in search of that subsequent factor, attempting to step it up a notch,” Chris Sharma tells me about his most troublesome deep water solo so far.
He’s speaking about Black Pearl, a 100-foot overhanging line of small, sloping edges with one distinct pocket. It’s additionally the main target of an accompanying video sponsored by Tenaya (distributed by Trango in North America) that may quickly premiere on Reel Rock Limitless.
The route is positioned in Sóller, Mallorca, simply an hour-and-a-half flight from his dwelling in northern Spain. The video premiered on the Siurana Climbing Competition in Spain on Nov. 16 to a full home, and clips of it have gone viral since, reaching thousands and thousands of views on social media prior to now week.
“That clip between Reel Rock and Tenaya—it’s gotten thousands and thousands of views. It’s loopy. The algorithms kicked in in some way,” Sharma says.
We talked over WhatsApp from his dwelling in Garraf, a small city close to Barcelona. Sharma defined how his proximity to the airport allowed him to make day journeys to Mallorca—dropping his youngsters off at college within the morning, flying to work on Black Pearl all day, and returning that very same night to tuck his youngsters into mattress.
The dialog appears like catching up with an previous good friend. I’ve identified Chris (43) since we had been youngsters—we first crossed paths at Northern California comps, later bouldered in Camp 4, and frolicked in Bishop.
Earlier than diving into Black Pearl, he requested about my life and whether or not I used to be nonetheless climbing. I advised him that every one I do is climb, bike, and write, which he understood. “It’s tough, man,” he says. “I really feel actually grateful I’ve been capable of finding a steadiness to climb, maintain tasks alive, and handle household life. It’s not all the time simple.”
It’s 6 p.m. his time, and as his spouse and youngsters (6 and eight) watch X-Males within the background, Chris begins recounting the story of Black Pearl intimately.
Black Pearl is on the rugged west shoreline close to Sóller in Spain’s Balearic Islands. In contrast to different deep-water solos, Chris says, “The wall itself was easy and featureless in so many sections, making it really feel unlikely {that a} route like this might even exist.”
“I noticed this clean, grey wall with an ideal three-finger pocket, and it simply sparked my creativeness. It appeared nearly unimaginable at first. However that pocket in the midst of the wall—it was so distinct, so completely formed—it felt prefer it didn’t belong there, however that’s what made it magical. It’s the form of factor you dream about discovering as a climber. However that one maintain—the pocket—gave me the imaginative and prescient to piece collectively the sequence.”
In an article on Climbing.com, Delaney Miller describes the road’s breakdown: it begins with a 5.13 part resulting in a relaxation, adopted by a 15-move crux capped with a dyno to the three-finger pocket. The crux itself clocks in at 5.14c with a V9 boulder drawback. From there, it continues with 5.13b/c, climbing to the highest, ending at 100 ft.
Sharma despatched the route on Nov. 7, 2023. However social media viewers are desirous to see extra now that quick clips are exhibiting on-line and the video popping out quickly.
I couldn’t cease watching the above clip on repeat as Sharma and I talked—it was mesmerizing.
Two years after Chris first visited the cave holding Black Pearl, tragedy struck whereas climbing there in 2019. Sharma was together with his good friend and mentor Miguel Riera, a Mallorcan climber broadly credited because the founding father of deep water soloing.
“Miguel—he’s the founding father of deep water soloing, proper?” Sharma says. “He’s a Mallorcan climber who began doing that in 1978, like one in every of my greatest associates.”
Riera confirmed Sharma the cave proper after Sharma climbed Es Pontas. On the time, Riera had envisioned a crack challenge close by however had misplaced his motivation for climbing in recent times. “However he acquired fired up once more and was attempting this crack that he had envisioned years in the past. It was actually cool as a result of we had these routes that we had been attempting collectively in the identical place,” Sharma says.
However that afternoon in 2019 didn’t go as deliberate. “The situations are actually sophisticated once you’re climbing proper by the ocean. The humidity and wind path can coat the wall with moisture, making it unimaginable to climb.
“There have been many occasions I went to strive it and acquired utterly shut down due to the climate—it was maddening.”
That day, Riera fell 45 ft onto his again whereas engaged on the crack challenge.
“He was coughing up some blood, which is regular for a fall like that,” Chris says, “however it turned out he had lung most cancers that was in some way triggered or activated.
“It was a loopy and tragic flip of occasions. After that fall, he acquired sick 10 days later, and inside a month, found he had lung most cancers. He handed away simply two months after that.
“We had shared this place, and he regretted not sending his route. I felt this dedication to see by means of what we each began collectively,” Chris says.
“Determining these [DWS] climbs on a rope is far more troublesome than going and bolting one thing,” he says. “You’re doing all these shenanigans—pendulums, tensioning your self off in each path, hook dynos—simply attempting to get to the place it’s essential to be. It’s like this excessive, random rappelling course of.”
As we talked, Chris usually in contrast climbing to enjoying music or making artwork. The imaginative and prescient, dedication, and stage of mastery required to place up routes like Black Pearl.
Of that route, he says, “The shoreline is jagged and dramatic, with cliffs that drop straight into the ocean. There’s no path, no easy accessibility—simply sheer rock assembly the ocean. It’s not like an everyday climbing space the place there are crowds or amenities. You’re utterly alone, and it appears like the sting of the world.”
As for making his artwork, “For me, climbing is a inventive course of—sending a route appears like ending a portray and signing your title on the backside. Discovering the subsequent climb is its personal problem, however when you do, it’s about placing within the effort and time to understand it.”
Sharma locations Black Pearl as his hardest deep water solo so far, however he already has his eyes on one thing new (which he didn’t go into element about however thinks it’s up there with Black Pearl so far as problem).
Black Pearl “is mainly proper up there with Es Pontas and Alasha. It’s laborious to match, however it may presumably even be a bit more durable than each of these.”
In contrast to his earlier deep water solos, Black Pearl is exclusive for its endurance-based fashion making it really feel extra like a sport climb. Right here, Chris combines the technical problem of a 5.15a on a 45-degree overhanging face climb with the psychological and bodily calls for of soloing excessive above the ocean.
It’s totally different from Es Pontas (2006), a 5.15 in Mallorca that includes an iconic dyno throughout an enormous arch, and Alasha (2016), one other 5.15 with a dramatic roof part and excessive publicity.
“It’s not like an everyday crag the place individuals are hanging out. Deep water soloing provides one other layer of complexity to climbing,” he says. “You possibly can’t simply take a relaxation in the midst of the wall. You’re both in it, otherwise you’re falling.”
Persevering with, he says, “You’re out in the midst of nowhere, surrounded by the ocean. It’s wild, distant, and simply this untouched place that feels so uncooked. And it’s important to take care of the ocean spray, humidity, and wind, all of which may utterly shut you down.”
Regardless of exhibiting as much as discover the crag out of situation, he stored coming. “You find yourself questioning all this stuff about what you’re doing. Like, why am I doing this? You get so far the place it feels form of ridiculous, however then you definately discover this deeper drive to push by means of.
“Even with the situations being unpredictable, I dedicated to going each week. I needed to work across the humidity, waves, and timing, however ultimately, it got here collectively.”
“As a lot as I’d like to do extra climbing elsewhere, it turns into very difficult. Tasks away from dwelling require me to be gone for a very long time, which complicates household life,” Sharma says.
“I’ve labored out a routine integrating day journeys into my household setup. I can drop my youngsters at college, fly to Mallorca, climb all day, and be again to kiss them goodnight. Consistency is so necessary. If you happen to let a challenge go chilly, it’s laborious to get again into it. It’s important to maintain the momentum going,” he says. Sharma likens it to “hanging the hammer whereas the iron is sizzling. You have to maintain it alive and sizzling as a result of once you lose the rhythm, issues unravel.”
He notes the challenges and rewards of this balancing act, saying, “I really feel actually grateful I’ve been capable of finding a steadiness to climb, maintain tasks alive, and handle household life.
It’s not all the time simple.” He provides, “I need to be current for my youngsters and don’t need to be away for months on finish, so I give attention to tasks near dwelling.”
Sharma notes the Black Pearl video’s departure from trendy climbing movies. “I really feel like climbing movies are a lot concerning the story as of late, which is cool, however this piece was just about, like, core climbing. It’s extra about simply stepping into the nitty-gritty of going mountaineering.
“We didn’t attempt to overthink it or add layers of storytelling—it’s simply uncooked climbing, which I feel resonates in a different way. It’s refreshing to give attention to the motion and the climb itself with out an excessive amount of extra context.”
Capturing the ship was no simple feat. “With sport climbing or different varieties of route climbing, you’ll be able to return and reshoot stuff, however with deep water soloing, you’ll be able to’t. You really want to seize it after I’m near sending it,” he says. “I can’t simply return and pose down the climb. You possibly can’t clip bolts or something—it doesn’t work like that.”
“It was actually cool that I used to be capable of seize the primary ascent of Black Pearl with Brett Lowell [of Big Up Productions/Reel Rock]. He’s my previous buddy from without end, and he’s documented so a lot of my first ascents. He got here in so we may seize this one.”
“It’s loopy to see one thing I did out in the midst of nowhere immediately being obtained by that many individuals,” Sharma says of the viral success of the video.
“With each new first ascent, I really feel like I’m including to a set of epic routes—a legacy of types,” he says.
“I attempt to do a rad FA yearly, you already know. Like, I don’t must do a bunch of them, however it’s like, I need to do one which feels significant and retains that momentum going.”
Keep tuned for his subsequent epic deep water solo first ascent.
