Average Height, Weight, and BMI of 54 Professional Climbers

The ideal height, weight, and BMI for climbing is a heavily debated topic. Many climbers believe that the lighter and thinner someone is, the better climber they will be. To see if this is the case, I investigated the height, weight, and BMI of 54 professional rock climbers (32 male and 22 female) and looked for any noticeable trends.

The average weight of professional rock climbers ranges from 132 to 165 lbs (60 to 75 kg) for male climbers and 100 to 123 lbs (45 to 56 kg) for female climbers. The average BMI for professional climbers is approximately 21.4 for males and 19.3 for females.

A lot of the focus in the climbing community focuses around a climber’s weight. While this is helpful to know, it does not tell the full story. A climber who is 6’5″ will obviously weigh more than a climber who is 5’5″. The Body Mass Index (BMI) compensates for this and is a ratio between someone’s weight and height. More accurately, BMI = weight (kg) / height² (m).

The height, weight, and BMI of the 54 professional climbers is provided and discussed further below.

Average Height, Weight, and BMI of 32 Professional Male Climbers

According to the CDC, a “healthy” BMI ranges between 18.5 and 24.9. It should be noted that BMI is not a perfect measurement by any means as it does not account for the percent of body fat vs muscle. As we are only looking at professional rock climbers, they all have relatively high amounts of muscle and low body fat percentages. This will help compare BMI values and will reduce some of its inaccuracy.

Professional climbers throughout various climbing disciplines (bouldering, sport, speed) were included as part of this “study”. All of the professional climbers listed below have either competed in IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) competitions or have become well known by other means.

The following table details the height, weight, and BMI for the 32 professional male climbers included in this “study” organized in alphabetical order by first name.

Climber	Height (cm)	Height (ft/in)	Weight (kg)	Weight (lbs)	BMI
Adam Ondra	185	6′ 1″	70	154	20.5
Alberto Ginés López	169	5′ 7″	58	128	20.3
Aleksei Rubtsov	178	5′ 10″	63	139	19.9
Alex Megos	175	5′ 9″	57	126	18.6
Alfian Muhammad Fajri	166	5′ 5″	59	130	21.4
Chris Sharma	183	6′ 0″	75	165	22.4
Dan Osman	179	5′ 10″	70	155	21.8
Daniel Woods	170	5′ 7″	61	134	21.1
Danyil Boldyrev	190	6′ 3″	78	172	21.6
Dave Graham	179	5′ 10″	63	139	19.7
Dean Potter	196	6′ 5″	83	185	21.6
Jakob Schubert	176	5′ 9″	63	139	20.3
Jimmy Webb	183	6′ 0″	78	172	23.3
Jan Hojer	188	6′ 2″	77	170	21.8
Jernej Kruder	180	5′ 11″	71	157	21.9
Jongwon Chon	176	5′ 9″	60	132	19.4
Kevin Jorgeson	175	5′ 9″	66	146	21.6
Kokoro Fujii	176	5′ 9″	64	141	20.7
Ludovico Fossali	185	6′ 1″	74	163	21.6
Magnus Midtbø	173	5′ 8″	71	157	23.7
Nalle Hukkataival	173	5′ 8″	68	150	22.7
Nathaniel Coleman	180	5′ 11″	74	163	22.8
Patxi Usobiaga	174	5′ 9″	62	137	20.5
Qixin Zhong	170	5′ 7″	68	150	23.5
Reza Alipour	170	5′ 7″	76	168	26.3
Rishat Khaibullin	169	5′ 7″	56	123	19.6
Sean McColl	169	5′ 7″	60	132	21.0
Stefano Ghisolfi	170	5′ 7″	58	128	20.1
Tom Randall	178	5′ 10″	69	152	21.8
Tommy Caldwell	180	5′ 11″	75	165	23.1
Tomoa Narasaki	170	5′ 7″	58	128	20.1
Wolfgang Güllich	178	5′ 10″	68	150	21.5

As seen in the table above, 59% of the professional climbers weigh between approximately 132 and 165 lbs with an average of 148 lbs. The lightest professional climber listed above is Rishat Khaibullin weighing in at approximately 123 lbs (56 kg) while the heaviest is Dean Potter at approximately 185 lbs (83 kg).

In addition to this, 72% of the listed professional climbers have a BMI between 19.9 and 23.0 with an average of 21.4. The climber with the lowest BMI listed above is Alex Megos at approximately 18.6 while the highest is Reza Alipour at approximately 26.3.

Average Height, Weight, and BMI of 22 Professional Female Climbers

As with the selected male climbers, the professional female climbers included in this study have either competed in IFSC competitions (speed, bouldering, or sport) or have become famous for other climbing accomplishments.

The table below details the height, weight, and BMI for the 22 professional female climbers included in this “study” organized in alphabetical order by first name.

Climber	Height (cm)	Height (ft/in)	Weight (kg)	Weight (lbs)	BMI
Akiyo Noguchi	167	5′ 6″	49	108	17.6
Aleksandra Mirosław	162	5′ 4″	49	108	18.7
Alex Puccio	157	5′ 2″	53	117	21.5
Angy Eiter	154	5′ 1″	46	101	19.4
Anouck Jaubert	169	5′ 7″	60	132	21.0
Ashima Shiraishi	154	5′ 1″	40	88	16.9
Chaehyun Seo	162	5′ 4″	48	106	18.3
Emily Harrington	159	5′ 2″	45	100	17.8
Fanny Gibert	165	5′ 5″	51	112	18.7
Iuliia Kaplina	165	5′ 5″	53	117	19.5
Janja Garnbret	164	5′ 5″	47	104	17.5
Jessica Pilz	165	5′ 5″	52	115	19.1
Julia Chanourdie	164	5′ 5″	52	115	19.3
Kyra Condie	162	5′ 4″	54	120	20.6
Laura Rogora	152	5′ 0″	41	90	17.7
Lynn Hill	157	5′ 2″	50	110	20.3
Miho Nonaka	163	5′ 4″	53	117	19.9
Molly Thompson-Smith	159	5′ 3″	49	108	19.4
Petra Klingler	162	5′ 4″	59	130	22.5
Sasha DiGiulian	157	5′ 7″	45	99	18.3
Shauna Coxsey	164	5′ 5″	58	128	21.6
Steph Davis	165	5′ 5″	54	120	19.8

As seen in the table above, 73% of the professional climbers weigh between approximately 100 and 123 lbs with an average of 111 lbs. The lightest professional climber listed above is Ashima Shiraishi weighing in at approximately 88 lbs (40 kg) while the heaviest is Anouck Jaubert at approximately 132 lbs (60 kg).

In addition to this, 64% of the listed professional climbers have a BMI between 17.8 and 20.8 with an average of 19.3. The climber with the lowest BMI listed above is Ashima Shiraishi at approximately 16.9 while the highest is Petra Klingler at approximately 22.5.