It’s normal to wonder whether your height or weight is holding you back, or if you should achieve the ideal size to get you on the right track. In this article, we show you the height of pro and Olympic climbers (both male and female), as well as their weight.
What is the height of Olympic climbers? The average height of the male Olympic climbers who qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was 176.5cm (or just over 5’9″). It is estimated that the average height of the Olympic female climbers was 163.4cm (or just over 5 feet 4 inches).
How much do professional climbers weigh? The average weight of male Olympic climbers who qualified for the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics 2021 was 142lbs (or around 64.5kg). A female Olympic climber’s average weight was 109 pounds (or 49 kilograms). There were eight climbers who qualified for both the male and female categories, but only five male and six female weight measurements were available to calculate these figures.
Check out the following article to learn more about the heights and weights of pro climbers, and whether your weight or height matters if you want to improve your climbing ability.
Table of Contents
What Is the Height of Olympic Climbers?
There were three different disciplines at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing and they were combined to determine an overall score. The following table provides the heights of the male and female climbers who reached the quarterfinals of the Olympics in these combined disciplines.
A total of eight males and eight females climbed, and all sources provided the heights of their climbers. Additionally, the median average height of these climbers (adding up the heights and dividing by 8) has been given for both men and women.
What is the height of men’s Olympic climbers?
The average height of the male climbers listed below was just under 5 feet 9 inches. Additionally, we have listed which climbers won Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the combined disciplines.
| Name | Height (cm) | Height (approx. in feet, inches) |
| Alberto Ginés Lopéz (G) | 169 | 5′ 7″ |
| Nathaniel Coleman (S) | 180 | 5′ 11″ |
| Jakob Schubert (B) | 176 | 5′ 9″ |
| Adam Ondra | 186 | 6′ 1″ |
| Mickaël Mawem | 179 | 5′ 10″ |
| Tomoa Narasaki | 170 | 5′ 7″ |
| Bassa Mawem | 184 | 6′ 0″ |
| Colin Duffy | 168 | 5′ 6″ |
What Is the Height of Women’s Olympic Climbers?
Among the female climbers below, the average height was just over 5 feet 4 inches and in this table are also included the climbers who achieved Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the combined disciplines.
Other Heights of Pro Climbers Who Didn’t Make The Olympic Quarterfinals
The following are the heights of some professional and competition climbers who didn’t qualify for the Olympics or were not in the Olympics at all. For example, Shauna Coxsey and YiLing Song came 10th and 12th respectively, while Sean McColl came 17th. This will, hopefully, give you another perspective on the heights of professional climbers, regardless of whether they are in the Olympics.
Male
| Name | Height (cm) | Height (approx. in feet, inches) |
| Alex Honnold | 180 | 5′ 11″ |
| Chris Sharma | 184 | 6′ 0″ |
| Sean McColl | 169 | 5′ 7″ |
Female
| Name | Height (cm) | Height (approx. in feet, inches) |
| Shauna Coxsey | 163 | 5′ 4″ |
| Fanny Gibert | 165 | 5′ 5″ |
| YiLing Song | 164 | 5′ 5″ |
What is the Ideal Climbing Height?
It seems that the ideal height for a male climber is between 5′ 6″ and 6′ 1″. Based on the quarter-finalists at the 2021 Olympics. The ideal height for female climbers seems to be anywhere between 5′ 2″ and 5′ 7″. This number was also taken from the quarter-finalists at the 2021 Olympics. Thus, climbers of many different heights can compete in competitions and climb professionally. Someone’s height should not prevent them from improving or enjoying their climbing experience.
How Much Do Professional Climbers Weigh?
Weights for Olympic climbers in 2021 are a bit harder to find, but we included those who reached the quarter final. The average weight of the five male Olympic climbers was 142 lbs, while the average for the five female climbers was 109 lbs.
How Much Do Male Pro Climbers Weigh?
| Name | Weight (lbs) | Weight (kg) |
| Alberto Ginés Lopéz (G) | 128 | 58 |
| Nathaniel Coleman (S) | 163 | 74 |
| Jakob Schubert (B) | 139 | 63 |
| Adam Ondra | 154 | 70 |
| Tomoa Narasaki | 128 | 58 |
How Much Do Female Pro Climbers Weigh?
| Name | Weight (lbs) | Weight (kg) |
| Janja Garnbret (G) | 104 | 47 |
| Miho Nonaka (S) | 117 | 53 |
| Akiyo Noguchi (B) | 108 | 49 |
| Aleksandra Mirosław | 108 | 49 |
| Seo Chae-hyun | 106 | 48 |
| Jessica Pilz | 115 | 52 |
How Much Does Weight Affect Climbing?
The main thing to remember from this is that the heavier you are, the harder it is to pull yourself up the wall. Due to the weight you’re carrying, you’ll need to be stronger. Having said that, a heavier person may find climbing quite a bit harder than an average-sized (or smaller) person.
Heavy climbers such as Don Whillans and John Dunne didn’t let their weight affect their ability to climb. However, the question then becomes, if they weighed less, could they have climbed better routes? Let me leave that up to you, since we have no idea about the answer!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
How much do pro climbers weigh?
You’ll find answers to all your rock climbing and weight-related questions here. Elite male rock climbers tend to weigh between 150 and 170 pounds, are very lean, and have a high strength-to-weight ratio. Rock climbers come in all sizes and shapes, from thin to heavy.
How tall are pro climbers?
The median height of the male Olympic climbers qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was 176.5cm (a little over 5 feet 9 inches). The Olympic female climbers’ average height was 163.4cm (or just over 5 feet 4 inches).
How tall is Alex Honnold and how much does he weigh?
In pounds, Alex Honnold weighs 160 pounds and 73 kg. 180 cm is his towering height, making him a famous rock climber.
What is Alex Honnold salary?
In addition to earning around $200,000 a year, Honnold probably earned more from the release of Free Solo.
