Chris was born in Santa Cruz, California (USA) in 1981. He started climbing at 12 years of age, won the National Bouldering Championship at 14, and just a year later made the first ascent of ‘Necessary Evil’ 5.14c (8c+) the first route of this grade in the USA and the hardest in the country at the time. In 2001 he made the first ascent of the Ceuse (France) project, Biographie, renaming it ‘Realization’ and thus establishing the world’s first 9a+ (5.15a). Since then Chris has never stopped pushing the limits in creating routes of outstanding character and difficulty — ‘Jumbo Love’ and ‘Golpe de Estado’, both 5.15b (9b) and ‘La Dura Dura’, 5.15c (9b+), being just a few of his most memorable achievements.