Meet Alex Johnson, Professional Rock Climber and Boulderer

From the moment she first clipped into a climbing harness at the age of 7, Alex Johnson knew she was destined to reach heights only few could imagine. Other kids were swinging on monkey bars or climbing jungle gyms. But Alex? She had her eyes set on something bigger — cliff faces, towering boulders, dizzying mountain ranges.

With every climb, she wasn’t just reaching for her next hold; she was reaching for the future she knew she was destined for.

Spoiler alert: it paid off.

Before she was even a teen, she shattered climbing records and has played a huge role in redefining the possibilities for young climbers. Now, with over 20 years of experience, Alex is one of the most revered professional climbers in the world.

We knew that Alex’s fearlessness and passion for her sport would make her the perfect next guest for the Team Ignition Show podcast. In this new video series, we meet remarkable people from around the globe who share a risk-taking, boundary-breaking mindset.

Background: A Birthday Party Turned Professional Passion

A Hudson, Wisconsin native, Alex came into climbing more or less by accident. As a young child, she attended a birthday party for a friend in Minnesota, just across the river from her hometown. And it just so happened to be held at a rock climbing gym called Vertical Endeavors.

That one party soon turned into the occasional visit. Then, week-long camps. Soon enough, Alex was going once a week. Then, every day. At the time, Alex didn’t even know much about the sport. All she knew was that she couldn’t get enough.

“That gym was as big as the world was,” she said.

In 2002, Alex won her first-ever American Bouldering Series Youth Climbing National Championship. The next year, when she was still only a teen, she won the Adult National Championship.

But climbing wasn’t the only area where Alex excelled. Throughout her high school years, she also made a splash in track and pole vaulting. In fact, her pole vaulting skills were so strong that they landed her an athletic scholarship at Minnesota State University.

Although she accepted the offer, she couldn’t escape her yearning for climbing. After a year of college, she dropped out and moved to Boulder, Colorado to pursue her dream full-time.

Career: Climbing the Ladder of Success

Alex knew that, by dropping out of college, she was taking a huge risk. But it rewarded her in ways she could have never imagined.

Alex quickly made a splash, making history in 2008 as the first American to win a Bouldering World Cup on American soil. Two years later, she did it again, winning gold at the Bouldering World Cup in Switzerland. This made her the first American to win a Bouldering World Cup abroad and the first American with two Bouldering World Cup golds.

With such a string of knockout performances under her belt, Alex was at the top of her game. So much so that it caught the attention of the Austrian Climbing Federation–renowned for its rigorous training programs that consistently produce world-class climbers–which invited Alex to live and train with them. She accepted, thrilled at the opportunity.

But Alex soon found herself discouraged and intimidated by the prowess of her training companions.

“When I was living in the US and training in Minnesota, I was the best, and I was the only one. I didn’t have people to compare myself to,” she said. “Going over there, climbing and training with people who are climbing circles around you… it definitely showed in my performance.”

After a string of disappointing performances and a battle with depression, Alex returned home to the US after roughly a year. While the next few years of her career had their downs, she still had her fair share of ups, including claiming the top spot at the UBC Pro Tour Championships in 2012.

Newest Projects: Mentoring the Next Generation of Climbers

In 2016, Alex briefly retired from climbing competitively. She returned in 2019 for a bid at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but unfortunately just missed out on qualifying.

Despite the setback, Alex has still achieved incredible feats in recent years. One of the competitions where she’s made the biggest impact is the North American Cup. There, she earned a silver medal and a bronze medal in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

She also hasn’t slowed down when it comes to outdoor bouldering, having recently put down three V13 (8B) boulders as well as five V12 (8A+) boulders.

In addition to her own climbing, Alex is a dedicated coach for young, up-and-coming climbers.

“Coaching brought me back into loving learning the subtleties of the movement,” she shared. “I think I probably learned as much if not more than the kids did. I owe a lot to them for getting me in shape again and refreshing my perspective.”

An openly queer woman, Alex is also a proud advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and sports equality.

“Coming out is one of my proudest accomplishments because, although I had these things that I did in climbing that made me feel confident… I hadn’t quite felt confident in who I was outside of that yet because I was hiding,” she said.

Fun Facts: What You Don’t Know About Alex Johnson

• Alex is in a relationship with Melina Costanza, a fellow climber.
• Alex has stated that attending a Taylor Swift concert (of whom she wasn’t much of a fan) was one of the main catalysts for trying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
• One of the toughest climbing challenges Alex has ever done is The Swarm. It took her 10 years to climb it, trying for the first time in 2011 and completing it successfully in 2021.
• When asked if she had to get the name of one boulder problem tattooed on her body, Alex replied, “Bruce Lee — it’s a V8 in Yosemite.”

Keep Up with Alex Johnson

The future couldn’t be brighter for this unstoppable climber. To stay up to date on Alex’s latest endeavors, be sure to tune into the Team Ignition podcast where host Leticia Bufoni chats with Alex about her life, career, and more.

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