Climbing
Get to know all about Felipe Camargo's incredible climbing career
The only way is up for Brazil's top rock climber. He's ticked-,off 5.15b, V15 and freed big walls in a varied career so far, but what’s next for the man from São Paulo?
15 min
The good fight: Felipe Camargo
Felipe Camargo is determined to be the first South American climber to make a 9B climb.
"He just dropped the hammer," Alex Honnold said of Felipe Camargo when, in 2016, they travelled to Getu, China to climb one of the longest, hardest cave routes in the world. Camargo dispensed the 8-pitch 5.14b Corazón de Ensueño quickly, leaving Honnold to catch up. "He crushed everything," Honnold said.
This past summer, Camargo, 28, climbed his hardest route to date, the 5.15b El Bon Combat in Oliana, Spain, further solidifying his position as one of world's best. He's a strong boulderer as well, who authored the first V15 in his home country. He's also repeated Chris Sharma's V15 Witness the Fitness in Spain.
Watch Dedicate – The Good Fight in the video above to see Carmargo's El Bon Combat attempt.
Felipe Camargo
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Camargo became a household name in his own country of Brazil when, in 2017, he won the sports-reality TV show Ultimate Beastmaster, which made him a superstar. The obstacle-based competition was ideally suited to Camargo's athletic prowess and his climbing abilities also proved useful in the crossover.
"After that, people started seeing me on the streets and my Instagram blew up. A lot of people in Brazil started climbing because of that," he says.
How Camargo got into climbing
When Camargo began climbing, at age 10, gyms in Brazil were dungeon-like square rooms with low ceilings. That's what makes Camargo's journey unique. Despite his access to old-school climbing gyms with uninspiring routes, he built up immense finger strength, explosive power and the precision of a surgeon. As a teen, he dominated the Brazilian Championships, sweeping the competition five times.
At just 14, Camargo won his first international title
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
In 2014, he put up Brazil's Fortaleza (V15/V14) on the São Paulo coast. Two years later, Camargo partnered with Sasha DiGuilian to make the first free ascent of Pedra Riscada. Known as the 'Yosemite of Brazil', their 650m route Planeta dos Macacos (Planet of the Apes) went free at 5.13c.
5 min
First ascent: 650m Planeta dos Macacos face
Sasha DiGiulian and Felipe Camargo realized the first ascent of 650m vertical face in Brazil
Ever since, he's pushed his boundaries even further, freeing 5.14 on big walls and climbing multiple 5.15 routes, including El Bon Combat.
Camargo's ink
You can't miss Felipe Camargo's tattoos. Artwork decorates his arms, the backs of his hands and fingers. "I love tattoos," he says. "I got my first one at 17, a map of the world on my right shoulder. I think tattoos mark a phase in your life. I got one after the route I did in Getu, China. I also got one in Spain. I've gotten them in Brazil, too. I'll always remember those times."
All of Felipe Camargo's tattoos tell a story
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Losing climbing friend David Lama
In April 2019, top alpinists Hansjörg Auer, Jess Roskelley and David Lama died in an avalanche in the Canadian Rockies. Camargo heard the news the night before he sent El Bon Combat and it gutted him. Lama was his close friend and his climbing partner. "We did a lot of comps together," Camargo says. "We raged together. He was always a party guy and I am, too. I'm really sad. He was a genius, a fascinating person."
Camargo dedicated his El Bon Combat ascent to David Lama
© Martin Hanslmayr/Red Bull Content Pool
That reality TV show
When Camargo got the call in 2017 to compete in Season 1 of the Ultimate Beastmaster series on Netflix, he almost declined. He'd never done an obstacle course and it was climbing season in Brazil and he had routes to do. "My friends were like, 'you can win some money'," he says of the $50,000 purse. "I figured the publicity would be good too. People would see me there, so whatever I make out of this will be good."
It hooked him right away. "It was like a real-life video game," Camargo recalls. Over eight nights, he competed in the obstacle course in Santa Clarita, California and each night he advanced to the final route and went on to win the entire season. He became a sensation in Brazil, where households across the country tuned-in to watch him.
Training for El Bon Combat
Two years after his success at the Ultimate Beastmaster, Camargo flew to Spain to test himself against his hardest project yet – Chris Sharma's El Bon Combat. For two months, Camargo worked on the line of overhanging crimps and when his trip came to an end, he replicated the hardest moves at his home gym. After training, he returned for the send.
Camargo's El Bon Combat preparation was thorough
© Marcelo Maragni
Hold positions are replicated to what he might experience on the climb
© Marcelo Maragni
Practice makes perfect and aids muscle memory
© Marcelo Maragni
His new climbing gym
When we caught up with Camargo in late October, he told us about his new climbing gym that opened on Halloween. Because of the viral success of Free Solo and the attention Camargo brought to the sport at the Ultimate Beastmaster, climbing is experiencing rapid growth in Brazil, mainly in São Paulo. Camargo's full-scale bouldering gym Fabrica Elsclada will be the city's fifth, where he expects a full house. "The other four climbing gyms in town are packed," he says.
Future plans
We asked Camargo what's in store after his gym opens. "There are many routes in Spain I want to do, with the lifetime goal to climb Perfecto Mudo 9b+ (5.15c). I also want to go bouldering, too. I want to go to Switzerland to try Off the Wagon (V16). I also want to go back to China and climb another great arch."
The next adventure is never too far around the corner
© Marcelo Maragni
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