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On the afternoon of 10 October 2026, Jakob Schubert clipped the chains of a route called DNA in France's Verdon Gorge while about 180,000 people watched his YouTube livestream (Climbing.com). No judges, no medals, no prize money. But that ascent made DNA the world's first confirmed 9c.
This is the final part of the "Climbing Competitions and Pro Climbing" series. The first seven parts were about competitions. This one is about the other path: proving yourself on the hardest routes outdoors, filming it, and making a living that way. By the end you should be able to explain why top climbers rarely live on prize money, and what headlines mean by a "proposed 9c" or a "downgrade".
For how grades like 9c and 9A work, see Climbing Grades and Protection Ratings. Here you only need to know that 9c is currently the top sport climbing grade, 9A is one of the top bouldering grades, and the further along the numbers and letters go, the harder it is.
The hardest outdoor climbs (as of October 2026)
The lists below come from climbing-history.org's hardest climbs list, with each entry checked against reports of the first ascent or repeat. These lists change quickly, so always check the date.
9c routes: five proposed, one confirmed
| Route | Location | First ascent | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silence | Flatanger, Norway | Adam Ondra, 2017-09-03 | Unrepeated as of October 2026 |
| DNA | Verdon, France | Seb Bouin, 2022-04 | Repeated by Schubert on 2026-10-10; first confirmed 9c |
| B.I.G. | Flatanger, Norway | Jakob Schubert, 2023-09-20 | Unrepeated |
| Duality of Man | Arizona, USA | Sean Bailey, 2025-03-06 (announced 2026-01) | Unrepeated |
| Café Colombia | Margalef, Spain | Jorge Díaz-Rullo, 2026-03-13 | Unrepeated |
- Silence: Wikipedia says it was still unrepeated as of July 2026. Will Bosi climbed the crux section in May 2026 and compared it to a V16 boulder. Lacrux reports that Bosi planned to devote all of 2026 to the route and began livestreaming his redpoint attempts in mid-October.
- B.I.G.: originally called "Project Big". Schubert wrote on his blog that his 20 September 2023 ascent made it the world's third 9c.
- Duality of Man: the first 9c outside Europe (UKC).
- Café Colombia: the world's fifth proposed 9c (Climbing.com).
As of October 2026, nobody has proposed 9c+, the next grade up.
9A boulders: fourteen at 9A, and a 9A+ that has just been suggested for a downgrade
climbing-history.org's 9A list has 14 boulders at 9A. The oldest is Burden of Dreams in Lappnor, Finland, first climbed by Nalle Hukkataival in October 2016.
In November 2025, Italy's Elias Iagnemma made the first ascent of Exodia in Val Pellice and proposed 9A+. PlanetMountain noted that if confirmed, it would be the world's first 9A+.
On 18 October 2026, Adam Ondra made the second ascent of Exodia in four days. He said he respected Iagnemma's proposal, but that to him the boulder is 9A, one grade lower (Gripped). As of 19 October 2026, climbing-history.org still lists it at 9A+ with one recorded repeat. Whether the world gets its first 9A+ depends on who repeats it next.
One ascent closer to Taiwan: South Korea's Sung Su Lee, a former international competitor, made the fifth ascent of Burden of Dreams in May 2025 (PlanetMountain).
Women's top grades
- Sport, 9b+: two women. Brooke Raboutou climbed Excalibur in Drena, Italy, in April 2025, becoming the first woman to climb 9b+ (Climbing.com). Janja Garnbret climbed Bibliographie at Céüse, France, in June 2026 to become the second (UKC).
- Bouldering, 8C+: Katie Lamb climbed The Dark Side in Yosemite in 2025, becoming the first woman to climb 8C+ (UKC). As of October 2026, climbing-history.org's 9A list records no ascent by a woman.
Proposed and confirmed: the first ascensionist doesn't get the final word
Competitions have judges; rock doesn't. The grade of a new route is first proposed by the first ascensionist and then confirmed or revised once others repeat it.
Seb Bouin said as much when he made the first ascent of DNA: "The 9c is my suggestion for DNA, which now needs to be confirmed or adjusted by other climbers." (quoted by Lacrux) Four years later Schubert repeated DNA and agreed with 9c, and only then did the grade count as confirmed.
When repeaters find a line easier, they suggest a downgrade:
- Bibliographie (9c → 9b+): Alex Megos proposed 9c for his 2020 first ascent. Stefano Ghisolfi later found new beta and suggested 9b+, which Sean Bailey, Seb Bouin and Jorge Díaz-Rullo all agreed with after their repeats (UKC). That's why Garnbret climbed a 9b+, not a 9c.
- Box Therapy (8C+ → 8C): this boulder first made Katie Lamb the first woman to climb 8C+. After Brooke Raboutou repeated it, she suggested 8C, and Shawn Raboutou (who repeated it the same day), Drew Ruana and Daniel Woods agreed (UKC). Lamb later took the record back on The Dark Side.
- No One Mourns the Wicked (9A → 8C+?): after repeating it in May 2026, Yannick Flohé suggested 8C+: "I know what other 9As feel like, and therefore I would suggest 8C+." (UKC) climbing-history.org still lists it at 9A. Lists often lag behind consensus.
- Exodia (9A+ → 9A?): after his October 2026 repeat, Ondra said he thinks it is 9A, and declined to say where in the 9A range it sits (Gripped). This is days-old news, and there is no consensus yet.
So when a headline says "world's hardest", check two things: is the grade proposed or confirmed, and has anyone repeated it?
From competition to rock
Many top competition climbers also climb hard outdoors, and they get there by different routes:
- Adam Ondra: ended his competition bouldering career at the 2025 Prague World Cup to focus on lead competitions and rock (Climbing World Cup Prague). Over the 2025–26 winter he flashed four 8C boulders before returning to lead (Gripped), finishing fifth at the 2026 Prague lead World Cup (World Climbing Series Prague). In October he won the Rock Master KO Boulder (part 7), and two weeks later made the second ascent of Exodia.
- Janja Garnbret: climbed her first 9a at 18 (8a.nu) and in 2024 became the seventh woman to climb an 8C boulder (UKC). She started trying Bibliographie after the Paris Olympics and sent it on her fifth trip to Céüse.
- Toby Roberts: climbed Rainshadow (9a) at 15, at the time the youngest Briton to climb the grade (UKC), and later won Olympic gold in Paris.
- Sorato Anraku: rarely climbs outside. In 2025 he climbed Hōtō (8B+) at Mizugaki in Yamanashi and said it was his first outdoor bouldering in seven years (Gripped). For the area, see Japanese Crags: Mizugakiyama.
- Yannick Flohé: one of the climbers bridging competition and rock most successfully right now. He has repeated a 9b and Excalibur (9b+), and was the first person to flash an 8C boulder (UKC).
What professional climbers live on
Prize money: not much
World Climbing's 2026 prize money announcement says the 13 Series events will pay €850,000 net, a record and more than double 2024. But each medal event is worth €20,000, split among the top eight:
| Place | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 30% | €6,000 |
| 2nd | 20% | €4,000 |
| 3rd | 14% | €2,800 |
| 8th | 5% | €1,000 |
The distribution table was developed by World Climbing's Athletes' Commission. For comparison, the 2026 Pro Climbing League event in London paid its winners £10,000.
Even a top athlete who wins several events a season will struggle to cover travel, training and living costs from prize money. Part 5 noted that Taiwanese athlete Yao Ting-chen spent more than NT$1 million of her own money over two years.
National federation support varies widely. Canadian Olympian Alannah Yip told Climbing.com that since 2019, the top tier of the US team has had flights, accommodation and meals fully paid, and that this is common in Switzerland, Austria, Japan and Germany too. She paid her own way to nearly every competition.
Sponsorship: mostly gear
A 2020 Climbing.com Q&A says most sponsored climbers don't get a paycheck. They are paid in gear or gear discounts, with occasional stipends for travel or competitions, and a "comfortable middle class" of pros barely exists. Taiwan national team coach Yang Dong-wei told OUTSiDERS (in Mandarin) that sponsorship in Taiwan is still mostly product sponsorship.
A 2025 report in the French magazine Grimper (in French) says some professional climbers earn €6,000 a year and that money is a big taboo for French athletes. After Caroline Ciavaldini left competition in 2010 and shifted to outdoor climbing and travel stories, her income rose tenfold.
There is no systematic public survey of professional climbers' income. If you see a "World Cup winner's prize" far above these figures, check it against World Climbing's €6,000.
Films and livestreams: another stage
For hard outdoor climbing, the real "broadcast" is film:
- Documentaries: The Dawn Wall follows Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson's 19-day free ascent of the Dawn Wall on El Capitan in January 2015, and premiered at SXSW in 2018. Free Solo won Best Documentary Feature at the 91st Academy Awards.
- Film tours: Reel Rock was founded in 2005 by the makers of The Dawn Wall and The Alpinist and tours new climbing films every year. 2026 is its 20th edition.
- Livestreams: about 180,000 people watched Schubert's DNA ascent live. Bosi is also livestreaming his attempts on Silence.
- Timing releases around films: Sean Bailey climbed Duality of Man in March 2025 and didn't announce it until early 2026 (Climbing.com); the film of the ascent is part of the Mellow Film Tour (UKC).
A confirmed 9c or a good documentary brings exposure that prize money can't, which is part of why some pros spend years on a single route. That doesn't mean rock pays better than competition. In the same Grimper piece, Ciavaldini says she is "almost certain" competition climbers now earn more than outdoor athletes, because the Olympics and bouldering's popularity on social media make brands keener on competitors.
Practice: four scenarios
Answers are under each question. Think first, then check.
1. A headline says "Climber makes first ascent of the world's hardest route, graded 9c". What should you ask first?
Answer
Is the grade proposed or confirmed? 9c is the first ascensionist's proposal; it counts as confirmed only after others repeat the route and agree. As of October 2026, DNA is the only one of the five proposed 9cs that has been confirmed.
2. Bibliographie, which Garnbret climbed in 2026, was once proposed at 9c. Why is she called "the second woman to climb 9b+" and not "the first woman to climb 9c"?
Answer
Bibliographie has been downgraded. Megos proposed 9c for the first ascent; Ghisolfi found new beta and suggested 9b+, and several later repeaters agreed. Its grade is now 9b+.
3. A climber wins three World Climbing Series events in 2026. Roughly how much prize money is that?
Answer
Each individual event pays its winner €6,000, so three wins come to about €18,000 (assuming individual events, not counting speed relay or series ranking prizes). Travel and training costs come out of that, so living on prize money alone is hard.
4. A friend says: "Top climbers all have sponsors, so they must earn a lot." How do you respond?
Answer
The 2020 Climbing.com Q&A says most sponsored climbers are paid in gear or discounts, not salaries, and Taiwan's national team coach says sponsorship there is mostly product. The higher earners tend to be the few with films, speaking work or large followings, and there is no systematic income survey that would give an average.
Series wrap-up
Nine parts in all: part 0 mapped the competition landscape; parts 1–3 broke down scoring in bouldering, lead and speed; part 4 looked at how the Olympics combined them; part 5 came back to the competitions Taiwanese climbers can enter; part 6 looked at Japan; part 7 covered events outside the system; and this part left competition behind.
Next time you watch a broadcast, you can read the scoreboard. And when you see a "world's hardest" headline, you'll ask whether anyone has repeated it.
References
- Jakob Schubert repeats DNA, the first confirmed 5.15d (Climbing.com, 2026-10)
- Hardest sport climbs: 9c (climbing-history.org)
- Hardest boulders: 9A (climbing-history.org)
- Silence (climb) (Wikipedia)
- 9c – these are the hardest sport climbing routes in the world (Lacrux, 2026-10)
- B.I.G. (Jakob Schubert's blog)
- Sean Bailey makes first ascent of new 9c route (UKClimbing, 2026-01)
- Jorge Díaz-Rullo's Café Colombia (Climbing.com, 2026)
- Elias Iagnemma establishes Exodia, possible first 9A+ boulder (PlanetMountain, 2025-11)
- Adam Ondra climbs Exodia, the world's first proposed V18 (Gripped, 2026-10-18)
- Sung Su Lee laps up Burden of Dreams (PlanetMountain, 2025-05-23)
- Brooke Raboutou becomes first woman to climb 5.15c (Climbing.com, 2025-04-09)
- Janja Garnbret becomes second woman to climb 9b+ (UKClimbing, 2026-06-08)
- Katie Lamb becomes the first woman to boulder V16/8C+ again (UKClimbing, 2025-05-01)
- Yannick Flohé climbs No One Mourns the Wicked, suggests downgrade (UKClimbing, 2026-05-06)
- Last boulder dance of Adam Ondra (Climbing World Cup Prague)
- Adam Ondra flashes fourth V15, will now return to competitions (Gripped)
- Tri Ramadani makes Indonesian history, Sanders completes Prague double (World Climbing Series Prague, 2026)
- 8c+ and 9a by Janja Garnbret, 18 (8a.nu, 2017)
- Janja Garnbret becomes 7th woman to climb 8C (UKClimbing, 2024-05)
- Rainshadow 9a by 15-year-old Toby Roberts (UKClimbing, 2020-12)
- Sorato Anraku climbs outside, sends V14 (Gripped, 2025-12-05)
- World Climbing allocates over €1 million in record 2026 prize money (World Climbing, 2026-04-16)
- Olympian Alannah Yip profile (Climbing.com, 2024)
- Ask a Climbing Writer: How much money do professional climbers make? (Climbing.com, 2020)
- Interview: national team coach Yang Dong-wei on Taiwan's competitiveness (OUTSiDERS, 2026-02-05, in Mandarin)
- Grimpeur professionnel : un métier ? (Grimper, 2025, in French)
- The Dawn Wall review (Variety, 2018-03)
- Free Solo (Wikipedia)
- Reel Rock 20 Australia 2026 (Reel Rock Film Tour)